30th Jul 2006
Envy: Key to Success
A couple of months ago, all the letters to Ms. Theologian seemed to be about jealous in the workplace (I hate my coworker, she gets all the raises. I hate my coworker, her breasts are perkier. I hate my coworker, other people like her more.) I really wasn’t sure what exactly was circulating in the collective unconscious to spur all this envy.
In any case, Debra Dickerson has written an article on Envy, Envy: The Key to My Success.
It was the phenomenal success of the novel “Waiting to Exhale” in the early
‘90s that got me off my comfy couch to start writing, instead of just thinking about it. An awful book, “Waiting to Exhale” sold millions and spawned a literary and cinematic dynasty for its author, Terry MacMillan. I can write at least this well, I thought while reading it. I never resented MacMillan; I just wanted the same thing she had: I want a literary and cinematic dynasty! Seeing her accomplish this made it seem more likely that I could, too. Best of all, we could both be successful writers; a plus mark in her column is not a minus in mine. But if I wanted what MacMillan had, I had to do what she did–write.Envy, then, need not be the dark side of admiration; it can be the catalyst for healthy competition. Envy adds to the luster of those you envy, it doesn’t catch you up to them. You can join them, not beat them.
Since as far as I can tell my blog is read exclusively by writers and theologians, this should give us some food for thought. I’m not convinced that Waiting to Exhale is an awful book, actually, but has something awful ever inspired you?
I was “inspired” to freelance after seeing the work of countless freelancers and thinking, hey, I could do that fairly easily and then I would get this money. But it wasn’t really envy…at least I don’t think it was. It was that I was able to identify something that might make me fulfilled.
Other stories?
