There are moments when we’re all set on one particular course of action but instead take the other fork in the road when an opportunity presents itself, circumstances change, landscape shifts under our feet…
Given my current involvement with TEDxWarsaw, I’m lucky to be travelling in the company of people who have done one or two interesting things with their lives. This, as they say in America, got me to thinkin’ about exactly how they have got to do those particular things, instead of something else – which in the case of pretty much all of those people would have been equally as interesting and worthwhile so the relative merits of their current vs. possible other occupations are not under discussion here.
Since it’s usually the easiest – or at least quickest – way to start with oneself, I did a rapid audit of the major turning points in my life. This is actually an exercise I have done a few times so it was not as much of a major undertaking as it may seem :) Details, as they say, are not important. The main ‘take-away’ is that, while in journalism school, I was all set to start a news photography cadetship with a major newspaper (not many of those around these days – cadetships, I mean, though the same goes for newspapers) but instead decided to join a rather large community documentary project I read about in my local paper. The project lasted over a year and started to teach me how to work in a team, produce large projects and generally use photography in a range of ways. It also gave me a few life-long friends and resulted in my living in a different country. The path has been somehow parallel to what it would have been had I not followed the “but instead…”, but altogether different.
Today I’m wondering what may have been the “but instead…” point for others and since TEDx is a gathering of some rather brilliant creatures, I’m going to chat to a few of them and get their insights on these turning points and how they have impacted their lives, careers and contribution to this thing we call humanity. The results will be posted here in whatever form they happen to be captured.
Yes, I rather agree. I think the only really sponaneous decision I have made was to run away from my English boarding school at the age of 13 one morning as I woke up. The other four times were not sponaneous but calculated to cause disruption to the system and draw attention to myself and a perceived injustice. Actually, my 5th attempt was by far the most successful in this respect.
Most decisions are premeditated, on the simmer in the unconscious, waiting for the right components to converge. For example, I had long wanted to write a musical but it was only at a dinner at the home of the Chairman of the Italian Communist Party`s Central Committee that the opportunity arose. I asked why Italian children did not sing. Someone asked what I would do about it. Write a musical. They offered me a school. I started a career as a lobbyist for music education and a some time composer.
No disrespect to Mr. Gladwell, but I do not believe in instantaneous decisions. On the big things, the totality of our experience and the sum of our support systems must certainly feed into life and career moves. The exceptions might be that what informs our decision-making might be at a subconscious level or come from what feels like intuition. Another exception might be when an external event (such as my experience of walking away from a car accident that was filled with fatalities) makes decisions clear and expedient.
My big choice (1992) was the go with the Peace Corps to Botswana or work on a Harvard-based research project. I chose the prestige of the university which put me on an academic track for the next 15 years. I have few regrets but do believe I owe the continent of Africa something in the future. For now, I invest in Kiva.org