2-22-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #50 (further info re last blog & M. Henry Jones)

Ah, as our friend Shawn Krushenick Brighton, attests on that ever-friendly FaceBook: “Remember though, trying to finish that stop-animation actually caused Henry a nervous breakdown. He was working 24/7 on it and crashed big time.”

I responded with: Um, yeah, that's right. Too much stress. But I guess I don't (tend to) mention too much of the really difficult stuff when it comes to others. . . I don't know how Henry would feel about telling that, but you're right: he did crash, eventually, and partly because of his perfectionism and doing those kind of difficult things -- before computer graphics & programs that did it for you, he was the hands-on guy, literally! I'll add that in next blog. Thanks. . .

I find it way easier to say the good stuff about individual people, then generalize about the less-than-good traits or habits they took on, and lump that whole category into something that might sound close to moralizing (me, preachy? Never!). It’s just stuff I’ve learned along the way.

And I guess it comes down to philosophy. Do people change? Yes and no; I think, sometimes, if self-aware and motivated enough, people will turn to alternative choices that change them for the better (or sometimes the worse). But mostly, for the better (I just seem to know more positive people than not).

A shy person will always be that way, deep down. They may have altered their behavior along the way, but there you have it. Same with bullies: deep down, they’re always going to have that edge, but if something happens to change that in their lives, their awareness will help them blossom into something better.

I believe that chemical imbalances happen to many people, and many of them are the brightest, most creative, and sensitive people in the world. The artists, poets, musicians and writers who can function often have to overcome more obstacles than we’d like to know about. This is America, land of the rugged individualist and hero, the lone sheriff or lone ranger who sometimes has a sidekick, but no teamwork.

Pah! As with the many group efforts I’ve been a part of, we couldn’t have done it without the team. And because of individuals being different, each team member has/had its own quirks to deal with.

And if Henry had a nervous breakdown doing his work, I’m sure he’s stronger for it. I’ll bet he learned something from it. And you can bet many others have had breakdowns at one time or another -- the lucky ones recover.

The lucky ones, the lucky ones. . . just keep telling yourself, you’re one of the lucky ones.