Good Read | The Happiness of Pursuit

I've just finished The Happiness of Pursuit, by Chris Guillebeau, and I seriously can’t even… in a good way.

(Also, I’ve been binge-listening to @girlwithnojob’s new podcast, “Girl With a Podcast,” and I feel like I’m writing as fast and furious as she talks, so, apologies.)

I didn’t really know what to expect when I started reading this book. I bought it on a whim after seeing someone’s post about it on Instagram. That's not really the stuff great recommendations are made of, but if I’ve learned anything in my life so far, it’s to follow the little sparks of interest.

This spark in particular led me to an all out blaze.

Let’s be honest: I’ve read a lot of self-help books. After a while they all tend to read the same way, and leave me feeling mildly inspired at best.

Chris’s book is more adventurous than introspective, which is immediately refreshing. It’s more how-to than self-help.

How-to what?

How to cultivate a sense of adventure in your life.

"Yes!" I say.

The Happiness of Pursuit tells true stories of individuals who have taken on grand quests—challenges, journeys, goals, etc. It details how they started, where it took them, and where they ended up.

While each person’s story is unique, the common threads are inspiration, determination, and transformation.

Again, yes.

I stormed through this book. I devoured it. Now, as it lays bent up and completely read on the table in front of me, I am brimming with the need to respond.

I need a quest of my own.

The catch is this:

I realized something about myself as I read this book (although in my heart, perhaps I’ve always known).

I’ve learned of other people’s extraordinary ability to hone in on one pursuit, one passion, if you will. They’ve kept a single-minded focus on seething their one grand quest through to completion.

"Extraordinary!" We all think. "Inspiring!"

But I am simply not a one-quest-at-a-time kind of girl.

Never have been.

Do I have disciplne to see things through?

Yes.

Am I able to commit to a task and stay committed, even when it seems unbearably difficult?

Yes.

But I have too many loves, too many passions to give any of them up for the pursuit of another.

I understand the idea of sacrifice, and priorities, and being "all in,” even for a limited period of time, in order to accomplish something meaningful.

But as I’ve contemplated possible quests to take on, I keep getting stuck on what I’d have to give up in order to get it done in record time. And that thought seems so lopsided, with no balance or joy. It's too one-sided for me.

Maybe this is why I've had such a struggle pinning myself to a career. I don’t want to settle down into one job, doing one thing, even if that one thing is a thing I love to do! Because truly, I don’t want to burn out on that love by burdening it with the responsibility of bringing all my joy, or paying all my bills.

It doesn’t seem like a whole-hearted path for me.

Nevertheless, I am brainstorming quests. I’m all fired up. The juices are flowing and so am I. My heart and mind are following all sparks of interest, from Pulitzers to National Parks.

Maybe I’ll follow them all.