Musings from the back line

In my never ending search for Pop Culture related noisettes, I constantly read The AV Club website. Oh, and the Pop Eye - hi BeckEye, if you're reading. And recently, whilst reading said AV Club, I came across an interview with Tim Minchin.

For anyone who doesn't know (and I'm guessing that's a fair few of you), Tim Minchin is an Australian comedian/musician, who is currently on tour in the US. His humour tends to concentrate on clever wordplay and, really, not much else. He's pretty popular, even though he doesn't really advertise and doesn't seem to play all that much. I'm not really into him, as I find he takes himself far too seriously.

On the AV Club, much like this site, you can comment on any of the articles they post. And the interview with Tim garnered pretty much universal condemnation. Most comments were of the 'most undeserved career' variety. In other words, Tim Minchin's success is down to luck and nothing else.

This got me to wondering whether that can really be true. There are plenty of people out there I can name, whose success is baffling to me. Kim Kardashian being a prime example. But I'm not sure that any sort of continued success can be due entirely to luck. Just thinking about Tim Minchin; it seems as though he's garnered his success from hard work. I said that he doesn't play all that much but when he does, he plays A LOT. I think he's doing 50 odd shows in the States at the moment and he's done this for the past ten years, at least. That doesn't appear to me to be pure luck. That's hard graft. If you think of all the people that have managed careers in the Arts (and I'm not talking the fleeting fame of a Big Brother or Australian/American Idol) and examine exactly what they've done to achieve that level of career, it would surprise me if any of them actually put it down to pure luck. Or even just the appearance of luck. Personally, I don't believe in luck.

It's very easy to look at someone's life and, through envy mostly, mark them down as untalented hacks who've somehow lucked into a career. I know I do it. Constantly. But I think if I actually sat down and went through all that person has done to get where they are now, I might need to bite my tongue a little harder each day.

Gratification

I was reading Coltin1948's blog the other day and one of his posts got me to thinking. It was the 'Marshmallow experiment' entry.

I'm a 'resigned to the inevitable' kind of guy. I'm a fairly depressed person; without suffering from actual depression, for that would be an insult to people who DO suffer from depression. Let's just say that I'm a negative thinker. I've been that way all my life.

Coltin's entry was about delayed gratification and how, if you can get used to waiting for good things and biding your time working for them, rather than wanting everything now, now, now; you'll have a better chance of a good life in the long run. I'd probably agree with that but I don't believe I've ever really delayed gratification by choice, nor have I run out and gobbled up life/goods/experiences without thought. I'm too afraid for that.

My whole life has been governed by fear and paranoia and that, in turn, has lead to mediocrity and poverty. I grew up poor and have pretty much stayed that way. It's something I've wondered at several times. You always hear stories of kids who grew up poor and worked themselves into such a state that they're now squillionaires but still don't think they have enough.

Of course, there are different types of poverty and, saying that you grew up poor is often no big thing. We always had food; we always had clothes and shoes (even if they were second-hand); we had two cars; we had a house and could afford a mortgage. Yet, there was never any money left over. Mum and dad never had any savings to speak of and there were never family vacations or anything like that. I grew up poor but I didn't grow up poor.

In spite of all this, I never felt like I really wanted for anything. Sure, there were things I wanted: an Action Jackson military jeep, or a new bike, or any of a million things that kids think they want. But somehow, without really knowing why or how, I knew my parents could never afford this sort of thing, so I never pestered them about it. I never threw a tantrum if I couldn't have something because we couldn't afford it; I never thought 'it's not fair.' It was just the way life was and I accepted it. It never instilled in me, a sense of, 'I'm never not going to be able to afford anything again.' I never became Scarlett O'Hara. I just didn't care.

The thing I think it probably did instill in me, is a hatred of money. I fucking hate the stuff. I love getting paid and taking all my money out in cash and budgeting it, because then I have nothing left. A little play money but nothing substantial. I used to be a saver. At one time, I had almost 13,000 dollars in the bank. For me, that was a LOT of money. Nowadays, I'd be like one of those guys you read about who crack the big lottery. 'Tennyson ee Hemingway; a man with only 23 cents in the bank, today won the world's biggest lottery.' The only part of that sentence that's true is the 23 cents. I never have more than a couple of dollars in the bank once payday rolls around. I do save, but usually for something. I don't save just to save. I'm not worried about a rainy day. I don't want to be like my father-in-law; too afraid to spend when on holiday and too afraid to reduce his hours at work because, 'I just don't have enough money to live on.'

I hate that attitude. EVERY DAY can be a fucking rainy day. We're human beings. No matter the circumstances, no matter your fate, no matter WHAT; human beings adapt. That's what we do. It's what we're good at. It's what we're bred for. If I don't have any money, I'll adapt. I'll accept it. I'll work through it.

Sure, I'm going to be a father soon. Yes, probably my attitude will change somewhat. But honestly, if there's one thing I'd like to instill in my daughter, it's the thought that, no matter what; no matter the lack of money/time/whatever, you'll work it out. You can accept it and you can make it ok.