Most people go their whole lives trying not to “get in over their heads”. They guard their precious time and take baby steps, waffle and stutter and in the end don’t do the things that they think about doing. I have taken the opposite approach. I have been trying for a while now to get in over my head. And actually I’m quite pleased with the outcome.
I realized a while back that most of my inhibitions about so called “Getting in over my head” was disappointment. My disappointment, some else’s disappointment in me etc.. etc.. And then I remembered one of my favorite quotes
“You wouldn’t care what people thought of you, if you realized how little they did.”
I’m not sure who said it, but it has stuck with me for years. What it means is that people are not thinking about you as much as you think. It doesn’t mean that they don’t love you or respect you or that they are not your friend or your brother or sister, it just means that they have their own problems and waiting with bated breath to hear about, criticize and vocalize about every little thing you do is not one of them.
Around the time that I met Alanna (2000), I started to realize that the thing keeping me from doing all the stuff that I wanted to do (vacation, make music, get tattoos, learn programming, make art) was really me. It wasn’t time.. It wasn’t resources.. It was my own inability to realize that no one, but me, really cared whether I did it or not. Since then I have made records, I have traveled, I have learned new stuff, played music. I have tried to keep my plate so full of stuff that I can’t possible get all of it done. And the strange thing is… I have been able to get stuff done. lots of stuff.
And when I screw up.. and can’t get stuff done. I say oops sorry, and then try to get it done next time. I highly recommend saying “Yes”, to things. Trying to fill up your plate with as much stuff as you possible can, until it falls off the side and you have to scoop it back on again. Kinda like your plate at Thanksgiving.