Great interview, my favorite line: “Unlike the hollow expertise I developed during my corporate career, the mastery I pursue now feels very rich and rewarding."
The depth of curiosity and obsession with her craft just jumped off the screen when I talked to her.
Another example of self-driven mastery that I had to cut out for concision:
“I've never seen anyone draw with charcoal. So I've been trying to figure out how to do it? How many times do you have to sharpen your charcoal? How sharp does it have to be? What hardness should it be? What paper should it be? All of these things are experiments that I'm having to do on my own, and I just really find it interesting.”
Another fascinating story about an amazing lady! No doubt Sara is a talented and hardworking artist. I actually agree that you need have bread first before you pursuit your passion which may not bring bread. I admire Sara's pragmatic approach to her life and admire her more that she didn't give up her passion and true love after 30 years. There is a Chinese proverb "money is not everything, but without money, nothing can be done".
Sara's story will inspire a lot of people to look into our heart what we really love in our life. Her paintings are extradentary and I am sure there are people like to purchase her art work.
Now I am wondering if Rick's passion is writing because you really write well.
I agree with you 100%. I think our society pushes people into pursuing "passions" that are only related to gainful employment. Thus, we take off so many things off the menu.
Sara's story has so many layers, but her patience and dedication toward her dreams really stand out to me.
And thanks for your support... I really do enjoy the writing (for now!).
It won’t surprise you to know that I love this piece, in part because you’ve been able to portray Sara’s pursuit through the eyes of a relative “stranger,” and thus to see it more clearly than I think I sometimes see it up close. Sara and I retired at the same time, and ever since that day she has been absolutely kicking my ass at it, with dedication and focus and utter commitment. I so admire what she’s doing. Thanks Rick, for seeing her with a stranger’s eyes: it allows me to see her better myself.
Another fantastic piece! Her charcoal drawings are absolutely stunning—so realistic that I found myself squinting to see if they were actually black-and-white photographs. It’s incredible! I can’t imagine waiting and deferring my dreams in such a calculated way, but her story is so inspiring and makes a lot of sense.
I used to draw a lot, something I started in my early 20s and I remember being exhausted by the level of focus it took and family not respecting the work it took, because it didn't have economic value, so this piece resonated with me a lot. I am currently in the phase of trying to make more money, but don't know if I have a passion waiting for me at the end anymore
Thanks for sharing, Jack. Only advice is: you don’t need to have it all figured out! I know that I certainly don’t!
I think Sara’s story just shows one example of how, when we’re unburdened by the need to make money, we open up the world of possibilities for ourselves.
Great interview, my favorite line: “Unlike the hollow expertise I developed during my corporate career, the mastery I pursue now feels very rich and rewarding."
The depth of curiosity and obsession with her craft just jumped off the screen when I talked to her.
Another example of self-driven mastery that I had to cut out for concision:
“I've never seen anyone draw with charcoal. So I've been trying to figure out how to do it? How many times do you have to sharpen your charcoal? How sharp does it have to be? What hardness should it be? What paper should it be? All of these things are experiments that I'm having to do on my own, and I just really find it interesting.”
Another fascinating story about an amazing lady! No doubt Sara is a talented and hardworking artist. I actually agree that you need have bread first before you pursuit your passion which may not bring bread. I admire Sara's pragmatic approach to her life and admire her more that she didn't give up her passion and true love after 30 years. There is a Chinese proverb "money is not everything, but without money, nothing can be done".
Sara's story will inspire a lot of people to look into our heart what we really love in our life. Her paintings are extradentary and I am sure there are people like to purchase her art work.
Now I am wondering if Rick's passion is writing because you really write well.
I agree with you 100%. I think our society pushes people into pursuing "passions" that are only related to gainful employment. Thus, we take off so many things off the menu.
Sara's story has so many layers, but her patience and dedication toward her dreams really stand out to me.
And thanks for your support... I really do enjoy the writing (for now!).
It won’t surprise you to know that I love this piece, in part because you’ve been able to portray Sara’s pursuit through the eyes of a relative “stranger,” and thus to see it more clearly than I think I sometimes see it up close. Sara and I retired at the same time, and ever since that day she has been absolutely kicking my ass at it, with dedication and focus and utter commitment. I so admire what she’s doing. Thanks Rick, for seeing her with a stranger’s eyes: it allows me to see her better myself.
Sara deserves most the credit, I just tried to do her story justice. It makes it so easy when your subject is inspiring, thoughtful, and interesting.
Another fantastic piece! Her charcoal drawings are absolutely stunning—so realistic that I found myself squinting to see if they were actually black-and-white photographs. It’s incredible! I can’t imagine waiting and deferring my dreams in such a calculated way, but her story is so inspiring and makes a lot of sense.
I agree with every point...
I saw the charcoal drawing of Tom for awhile as his profile picture. I had to be told it was done in charcoal to figure out it wasn't a B&W photo!
I used to draw a lot, something I started in my early 20s and I remember being exhausted by the level of focus it took and family not respecting the work it took, because it didn't have economic value, so this piece resonated with me a lot. I am currently in the phase of trying to make more money, but don't know if I have a passion waiting for me at the end anymore
Thanks for sharing, Jack. Only advice is: you don’t need to have it all figured out! I know that I certainly don’t!
I think Sara’s story just shows one example of how, when we’re unburdened by the need to make money, we open up the world of possibilities for ourselves.
Thanks, that helps actually, I definitely don’t have it figured out