So often it’s the smaller folk amongst us that remind us of the important things, don’t you think? This is certainly true of this story about a nine year old named Caine Monroy. He just did what came naturally, exploring his curiosity about arcades to build one of his very own. Caine’s arcade is constructed entirely of old cardboard boxes, cheap plastic prizes, miles of sticky-tape, reels of yellow arcade tickets…. Oh, and love. A whole lot of love.
It’s a simple thing really, isn’t it? To do something that you love, with enthusiasm. Look at what it resulted in for Caine – a flashmob of arcade customers, a short film, a theme song and a Foundation set up in his honour! I understand that most of us don’t have the time available to a nine year old with a lovely long summer holiday at his disposal. But we do have moments. Half an hour here, an evening without the television on, a quiet Sunday afternoon when the kids are napping. Often we let guilt drive us into doing something we’d rather not do instead. Imagine if we invested it doing something we really loved (like, ahem, not the laundry) Something frivolous, something we are curious about, something seemingly unimportant…
In my opinion this is the most important piece of career advice I could ever offer. Follow your natural enthusiasms. If it interests you, explore it. It might not appeal to someone else, it might even seem ridiculous. It will probably, at first, feel like a major time waster. But I urge you to try it. The most amazing things can happen. For starters, you will begin to feel more and more like yourself.
And that might be the best achievement of all.
(Thank you to Chocolate and Zucchini for posting this inspiring link about Caine.)
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