In Pursuit of Interesting Things

The first test I ever failed was in a college accounting course and when I say I failed it I mean I got a 48 out of 100. 

I had never seen a score so low and I was inconsolable. 

If I failed this level 1 accounting course—which at that moment, seemed likely—I wouldn’t be able to retake it before taking Accounting 2 the way I had planned which meant I would either not be able to graduate early as anticipated or I would have to graduate without my marketing minor. My marketing minor on top of my communications degree on top of my writing minor.

I genuinely, sincerely, heart of hearts, truth remember thinking that my future was in trouble. I was 19- or 20-years-old.

At 32, this is very, very funny to me. 

I’m someone who has always tried hard at school and I, generally, think trying hard (at anything) is a cool thing to do. I’m averse to apathy. 

I think it is good and important and smart to try hard in school and to care about your future. But the reason the accounting class breakdown is so funny to me now is because when, in my entire life, have I ever been asked about my marketing minor? 

The other day leaving my American Sign Language (ASL) class, my friend—a friend I met in level 1 class—asked if I and our other friend wanted to go to an art show. While everything my body told me to go home, to pack for an upcoming trip, to get some rest, I found myself moseying down the block to the event. 

An hour or so later as I sat on the train home, I thought about how one of the best things I’ve done in my 30s is start learning ASL. I thought about the friends I’d made there and the way it challenges my brain. I thought of how happy it makes me. 

Then I thought about how one of the best decisions I made in my twenties was deciding to get really, really good at baking. I went vegan in my mid-twenties and while that was easy, losing sweet treats wasn’t. So, I became a really good baker.

This led to me thinking about this decision or that activity. This goal and that dream. I thought about how at 32 I feel like I've already lived so many different lives. And different lives than I thought I might at 19.

As a college student, I think I probably thought that by 32 I’d have a house and a couple dogs and a couple kids. I thought 32 might feel old. Or 32 might feel settled. Or 32 might feel like it is all figured out. 

Instead, 32 feels like a buffet. 

It feels expansive and endless and like opportunities abound. None of that is from a marketing minor. All of that is from being someone who works hard at things that matter.

It’s easy to look back at my younger self and laugh at the things that bothered me then. It makes me wonder if in my current discomforts, my 45-year-old self will look back and laugh. The reality is the discomfort is always going to be valid and real and sincere while you’re living it. 

But perhaps we’d do well not to put so much stock in how we think things should be. Perhaps we should live our lives in pursuit of interesting things. Live truly and authentically and deeply into our values. 

In addition to spending my entire adult live recording daily Happiness is, I’ve also spent my entire adult life in pursuit of stories. Of writing them, sure, but perhaps more importantly, of living them. 

This week, we invite you to do something fun, something interesting, something that matters to you. It may turn into nothing. Or, five years from now, you might realize it was the first step in a fascinatingly beautiful journey.