Yesterday, I got to know a female artist. She lamented that her daughter was not pursuing art further. The daughter had taken art as a GCE O-Level subject at an advanced level. I saw the young lady’s work and was impressed by her high skill level.
I said to the mother: “It’s not the end of her artistic journey. The “art gene” runs in my family too, but both my daughter and I have not chosen to become artists even though we can do it well. You know the desire to do art comes and goes, you can’t force it. It just happens. And you don’t always want to make your passion your career.”
Then, I related to her how in the late 1990s, I was consumed by a burning passion for photography. I made it my job by becoming a photojournalist in the newsroom, and threw myself into it. I had the time of my life and won awards along the way.
Five years later, I was weary after taking countless photos and unhappy with how my photo editor insisted that I do both photography and writing for every news assignment. “Humans cannot multitask this way! I can write well, but I just want to be a great photographer!” I argued with him.
My photo editor was just trying to help me keep my job, given the precarious future of photojournalists (many of them have lost their jobs since then) but I could not see the future like he could. I quit the department and went back to my original job of being a journalist. I would rather stop being a photographer than to end up hating the job I once loved.
My only regret about that decision was that the two of us stopped talking. I don’t know how many people know what it is like for a disciple to walk away from his sifu, and I feel sad writing these words.
The female artist asked, “Are you still shooting?”
“Yes, I take nicer Instagram photos than most people. But I still apply my photography and art skills to everything else that I do. I haven’t really stopped making art.”
We must do what we love, but we must be careful not to let the love turn to hate.
What I wrote in the past week
How to disagree agreeably on LinkedIn.
You can’t control transport fare hikes, but there are other costs you can control.
The more Gen AI embeds itself in our lives, the more we must engage with nature and other people to stay human.
I was very encouraged by this comment from a audience member during my Gen AI webinar for civil servants. I also had the opportunity to do a lunchtime talk for the Monetary Authority of Singapore in the past week.
Google Veo 3.1 has launched and I tested it with a rapping chicken prompt.
Unlocked NYT stories
Silicon Valley Is Investing in the Wrong A.I. (Don’t read this wrongly. Gen AI is immensely useful and I help people apply its strengths, but it’s not the only AI around.)
How America Got Hooked on Ultraprocessed Foods