Modest Ambitions

Originally published on Thursday, September 28, 2006 on perpetual-lab.blogspot.com via the Wayback Machine

I mentioned the other day wanting to blog less and write a book instead. Books are real enduring literature, I told myself. I’d have more readers than now. In a book the reader’s attention is engaged for longer so the impact will be greater. You get paid money for books. Etcetera.

But these arguments have carried little weight with an obstinate part of my being which is impervious to such conventional reasoning, a part which whispers in my ear thus:

“Blogging is a new literary medium. It is foolish to judge it as inferior to books. I feel a loyalty to my readers, few as they are: an affection, even. Though I have no regular employment at present, a 500-word blog every few days is as much as I can currently manage. The discontinuity of the readers’ attention and the discontinuity of the topic flow are intrinsic to the medium. I’m gradually getting the hang of blogging. Like sketching, it’s an art form which demands a lifetime’s dedication. Integrity’s the thing. Money? There are easier ways to make money, in fact almost anything you can think of is an easier way. Having written a book already (it was commissioned), I know a bit about the processes of writing and publishing: enough to hesitate, & be lost. Desperately chasing money is against my principles. I consider the lilies, how they toil not, neither do they spin.”

In short, blogging suits me and the only way I’d consider joining the grown-up writers would be if an agent or publisher bought me a lunch and tried to persuade me otherwise, lunch being the cheapest level of persuasion. Self-promotion is certainly not my strong point. I don’t even tell family, friends or clients about this blog, knowing from experience that my tastes are described at best as “minority”.

In any case, ambition is a major cause of mediocrity. Dr Laurence J Peter in The Peter Principle (1968) said that “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to the level of his incompetence.” Since that date, job insecurity has extended the Peter Principle to everyone, including those whom the hierarchies have spat out to learn new skills and work freelance.

Each of us is promising at something, and it won’t be a waste to spend our life improving our competence. There is far too much ambition in the world. Those of us who can manage without it, should. If we are free from the indignities of poverty, we should attend to the soul’s needs., not by rushing headlong into a hand-me-down system of beliefs, but simply listening.

My best way of listening is when out walking. As soon as I’ve posted this, I’m off to see an ancient earthwork, Grim’s Ditch. There are various Grim’s ditches in England. Some say Grim was the Grim Reaper.

6 thoughts on “Modest ambitions”
Nila-kantha-chandra
Way to go…! Best, rama
dr.alistair
To feed the soul is admirable and deeply satisfying, but to feed the gut is to live another day……It’s all about balance. The Peter principle is about Justifying mediocrity. Certainly we do tend, as a group, to rise to a level of mediocrity, but, again but, who’s in a group? We are individuals and as such can win on any day and we have all of our lives to pick which day to win.I learned early on that you beat 90% just by showing up. Half of the remainder get beaten because you prepare; the final 5% is your real competition. You win there on merit.You have to decide which group you are part of. That which shows up, or the other bunch making coffee.
Jim
That is a beautiful footpath thru a beautiful wood. Grim Reaper eh? With beauty like that, it could be so, inviting, seducing, umm.Do what you can, push if you want to, or relax. If inspired, go for it! If not, you decide the pace.You are a good writer tho, Yves.
Hayden
a fairyland of a photo….a place to lose oneself in dreaming –
dr.alistair
I posted that picture on my blog and I honestly couldn’t remember where I got it from. Another poster showed me it’s from near Goring in Berkshire. I grew up in Tilehurst, not five miles from there. No wonder I was so impressed with the image……Did you take that picture?Vincent
Vincent
No! It was from a [now defunct] site on National Trails, described as from Grim’s Ditch east of Wallingford, Oxfordshire. But I can feel your nostalgia for the places of childhood.