Follow your heart

When I met Minnesota writer and book author Phil Bolsta, I could see that he was a person who had found his calling and whose work was his passion. I now follow his blog, Triumph of the Spirit, at http://bolstablog.wordpress.com, and especially liked the points made in his recent post, "Life is Short, Do What You Love!" I thought this was a good reminder of that which can't be said enough. Read the full post here, or this snippet below:

In the late 90s, I was writing catalog copy for Fingerhut, a part-time freelance job which I greatly enjoyed. The woman working next to me, Diane LaMere, was doing the same work but felt very differently about it. She found the work tedious and longed to spend her days painting instead.

One day, after she mentioned again how she didn’t want to be there, I asked if she needed to work at Fingerhut to put food on the table. No, she said, her husband could support them both if need be. “So why are you still here?” I asked. “What’s stopping you from doing what you love?”

The question startled her. She just looked at me and I could see the light bulb go on. In a matter of weeks, she had turned in her resignation and was gone.

Fast-forward ten years to this week when I received an e-mail out of the blue:

I don’t know if you remember but I used to sit next to you downstairs at Fingerhut. I really didn’t like the job much and I remember complaining about it to you and you said why don’t you quit and do something you like. And so I did. I am now a full-time artist. I paint mostly landscapes, some figure work, also. I have a studio in the Northrup King Building and I couldn’t be happier. You can look up my work at www.dianelamere.com. if you so desire. Anyway, thanks for the push.

I love it! There’s nothing better than seeing somebody take a leap of faith and end up in a life they dreamed of. Way to go, Diane!


Take care to do what you like or you will be forced to like what you do.
George Bernard Shaw