What do you want to be when you grow up?
As children, we’re all faced with this question, and as adolescents and young adults we struggle not only to find the answer but then to stay honest to it. Throughout my 27 years I’ve had a lot of different responses; “filmmaker,” “musician,” “writer,” “audio engineer,” “disc jockey.” I rotate wearing each of these hats, but too often I’ve felt as though everything I do is disconnected, like listening to ten minutes of non sequiturs and trying to find a common thread.
I’ve played house with the question for years but never made a serious commitment to answering it until recently. After a lot of thought, I’ve decided:
I want to be an “entertainer.”
Yes, it sounds silly to write or say out loud, but I don’t mean it in the way you’re probably thinking I do. That title conjures up images of old vaudeville guys or a bad magician at a kid’s birthday party. Yet look at the stuff I love; it’s all in the service of creating entertainment. I make stuff; I perform. Sometimes it’s goofy, sometimes it’s serious, but in the end it all serves that same purpose. It’s all connected.
Dustin Hoffman explains to Jason Schwartzman how all of my interests are connected
Most important in this designation is the notion of an “umbrella identity,” something I can look to as a way to unite all my interests. And the way I can share them is this blog. Previously, I’ve thought of Argyle Nation as another disconnected project, an independent vehicle. That way of thinking has changed, though. I now see this site as the stage where all my other interests get presented. A playground for my projects.
So…what does this change? Everything and nothing, which is, admittedly, the most infuriatingly pretentious answer I could give. A lot of this realization is just helpful for my own internal thought process, but it will, in turn, help with my organization and productivity….thus, more content here. More stupid stuff, more serious stuff, more pictures of me in weird wigs and videos of me singing songs about food.
So, business as usual, but just…better.
