David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

I accept others’ amateur media, but I expect myself to be a pro

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I listen to a lot of podcasts and watch a lot of online video, almost none of which is produced by broadcast professionals.

The production values of what I watch and listen to varies greatly. Some are pretty decent, but most are pretty awful compared to something from a traditional broadcast network. The sound quality on most of these shows is terrible. The video quality is laughable. They tend to be poorly edited.

So why do I listen to so many podcasts on which the people are amateurs who sound like average folks sitting in a coffee shop chatting? And why do I watch videos with random backgrounds — laundry or whatever happened to be sitting around when someone started the camera?

Why do I eagerly listen to such shows — such as the one I was listening to on the way home tonight — while I expect myself to produce network-quality audio and video before I can allow myself to move ahead?

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In a vulnerable moment, woman confesses she’s scared to change

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I didn’t get a good look at her face, but I saw enough to be pretty sure it was Elizabeth. She was sitting alone in a black Lexus in the parking lot of the fast food restaurant where I had just eaten. I hadn’t seen her for a couple of months, so I walked toward her car and called her name as I approached the partially open window.

As soon as she turned her face toward me, I regretted approaching her. She looked as though she had been crying. Her makeup was a mess. She looked lost and very alone.

“Are you OK?” I asked. I couldn’t think of something more appropriate, so I asked the obvious.

She looked away and I was afraid she just didn’t want to talk. We don’t know each other that well, after all. I had never seen her in a moment of vulnerability of this sort. I had only known her as a charming, intelligent young woman who always had herself perfectly together.

After a long moment, she turned back to look at me. Her face was almost emotionally blank.

“No, I’m not OK,” she finally said. “Everything’s wrong.”

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VIDEO: Can we do things we love and expect the money to follow?

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I spent a good portion of my afternoon thinking about the disconnect that most of us feel between how we make our livings and the things we would prefer to be doing. Are people lying to us when they tell us we can find our perfect work and that we can do the things we love — expecting the money will follow?

I don’t have answers to those questions, but it’s something I wanted to talk about, so I made a quick-and-dirty video to air my frustrations and thoughts.

Are you doing something you love? Would you rather be doing something else instead? Are you stuck doing something because it’s the only way you know to make a living? I’ve sometimes done things I’ve loved and other times done things simply for the money. I’m still looking for the way to be my best self and be paid handsomely for it.

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