Bill Watterson's Advice on Life and Creative Integrity

Calvin and Hobbes is one of my favorite comic strips. I never tire reading it and  usually end up laughing out loud or with a chuckle.  My respect for Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes went up a lot when i found that he refused to allow his creation for merchandizing.

I recently came upon a post in brainpickings.org titled "Advice on Life and Creative Integrity from Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson". 

While i liked the whole post, the following quote stood out and resonated a lot with me.


"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential—as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.

To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble."

The complete post can be read here