I drew cartoons day and night when I was a kid. I paid close attention to the art and style of Theodor Geisel, Ub Iwerks, P.D. Eastman, and many others. My Aunt would bring home sheets of letterhead from the office and my dad would gift me these gigantic pieces of butcher paper. They loved to sit and watch me draw. My creativity brought smiles to their faces, and those smiles continued to encourage me to create.
I spent all my time copying the characters from the comics and the Saturday morning cartoons. Without realizing it, artists like Chic Young, Bill Mauldin, and Dale Messick became mentors to me. I loved taking elements from one artist and mixing them with another. Mingling the simplicity of Ted Key with the detail of Rube Goldberg and then adding my own twist.
Unfortunately, growing up has a way of interfering with our imagination and I found myself drawing less and less. I was easily bored sketching without purpose. I lost the love of pencil on paper.
But then, introduced to the inventive genius of people like Bill Jackson and Frank Oz I was reenergized to continue creating and doing things in a different way. I found new inspiration to start sewing, sculpting, building, and more.
I realized that whatever we love to do has the potential of becoming boring. Our paths of passion have many ups and downs and realizing where you are is the first step in finding your “Inner BACON.”
This is true, not only for your hobbies, but it’s the same for your career and your relationships. If these things mean something to you, you have to keep focusing on your direction and desires. You have to find the elements of excitement and understand that driving force.
And here is the MAP.
M – Mastery: There is a certain amount of joy that can be found as you continue to learn and evolve in something that fulfills you. It’s learning more about the ones you love. It’s copying cartoonists. It’s watching educational videos to improve upon your skills and talents. But once you reach a level of satisfaction, mastery can become boring.
A - Autonomy: Isn’t it wonderful when you can take what you’ve learned and put your own spin on it? It’s breaking the rules of recipes and creating courious cuisine. It’s the unconventional answer to, “that’s how we’ve always done it” at work. It’s the joy of saying “what if and why not?” But even all of your acts of autonomy can become ordinary.
P – Purpose: When you’ve learned enough to become a pro, brave enough to break the rules, but still don’t feel fulfilled, it’s time to reflect on the deeper meaning of the tasks. What got you started? How did you fall in love? Why did you choose this career? If you can’t find joy in purpose, it may be time to adjust or make a change and explore mastery and autonomy once again.
Boredom is ignoring this map. But if you learn to jump between Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose, you might just master happiness.
Your MAP of Passion
As seen in Stroll, Hawthorn Woods CC Magazine. Follow “Bacon Bits with Master Happiness” on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Amazon Music, Audible, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
Marty Jalove of Master Happiness is a Corporate Coach, Business Consultant, and Marketing Strategist that helps small businesses, teams, and individuals find focus, feel fulfilled, and have fun. Master Happiness stresses the importance of realistic goal setting, empowerment, and accountability in order to encourage employee and customer engagement and retention.
The secret is simple: Happy Employees attract Happy Customers and Happy Customers come back with Friends.
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