The Reorienting Question 

This creation has multiple layers of backstory. A good friend sent me Alfred Lansing's Endurance after telling me I'd appreciate the introduction. He was right. The introduction by Nathaniel Philbrick detailed author Alfred Lansing's fascination with the voyage of Ernest Shackelton's Endurance. It had been 45 years since the Endurance voyage... about the same amount of time that separated me from the deaths of Jim and Martha Tyrer who I was creating a documentary about. Lansing died in his 50's (I was in my 50's... yikes) and Lansing desperately wanted the story to resonate with the public in a way that the voyage deserved. Again, a parallel. 

Enter another good friend a couple years later. (Yes, I'm blessed with good friends.) This friend and I had been talking about our aspirations. I'd shared that I was thoroughly loving my work, was grateful for it, and yet wanted a higher level of success. He humbly posed the question that this creation is about. It truly provided a fresh peace of mind. I say "truly" because it's not a trite or hoped for peace of mind... the conclusion I reached after asking myself his question is 100 percent, to my bones, honest and validating. I can happily live with the conclusion I reached. I can and will still aspire but aspiring is different than needing. Likewise, financial success in one's career does have its benefits. During the times I've had it I've felt the freedom it can provide. And - perhaps the focus of a different creation - I've come to believe that many of the people who espouse the notion that money can't buy happiness are the same people who haven't felt the strain that a lack of money brings... it's all about matters of degree. But this creation... this realization... is that identity itself does not lie in the public success of one's work. 

Thanks to Russ Florence and Dean Stelow for being the good friends referenced above.