# Doing What You Want By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2025-02-04 It is challenging for one to do what one wants in life. It is even more difficult to do what one wants in life and have it work out to one’s benefit. Much of society is based on conformity. This conformity is far-reaching. It can be subtle. It is part of the dominant ideology. Regarding careers, there is an overwhelming expectation to “play it safe.” Many spend much of their early adulthood attempting to find a “good job” with a viable career path. The desire is to play within the system and “win” an income that affords consumption. Whereas there is nothing inherently wrong with this focus, many discover that this approach is unfulfilling. Tension emerges between being grateful and unfulfilled. At this point, people start to look for something more. Figuring out what one wants to do in life is much more complex than our society pretends. It often isn’t clear at all. Frequently, people have specific notions of what they don’t want. When it comes to work, people generally want to avoid banality, bullshit, and bad bosses. If one is working for somebody else, it is doubtful one will ever be able to escape any of these three b’s, let alone all three. So, what is one to do? It is only through art that humanity escapes the drudgery of subjugating work. In this context, art is not confined to music, painting, sculpture, poetry, and the like. Art is anything one approaches with creative zeal. Art can be anything. Or perhaps art isn’t the “thing” but how one approaches the project. Approaching things artfully is the secret of doing what one wants. There is joy in the creation of artistic works. Using one’s abilities with a focus on what is being created for the desire to develop it is the essence of freedom. Humanity longs for this freedom. Creating something new holds the potential to reveal one’s nature, as it is only through the creation of something one authentically values that one comes to understand what that is. Untangling who one thinks one is, the subconscious vestiges of the dominant ideology, and what is fulfilling can only be accomplished through reflective action. Doing what one wants requires that one does something. Whatever that is, do it artfully. #### Related Items [[Art]] [[Purpose]] [[Work]] [[Fulfillment]] [[Society]] [[The Human Condition]] [[Career]]