Friends, a story I have been mulling and researching for a long time just appeared in Reason. It begins:
“What did you love doing as a child that you’re still sort of doing today?”
That’s the question I’ve posed to lots of people, including a businessman I briefly spoke with at the TED Talks in Vancouver a few years ago. I didn’t take notes, but the conversation made a strong impression on me.
“Nothing,” I recall him replying.
Nothing?
“I played,” he conceded.
“You don’t have something better than that?” I wheedled.
“Well…” I remember him saying after a pause. “I grew up in Miami. There were a lot of fruit trees.”
As a kid, he would go around picking up the fruit that fell onto public property. Then he’d put it in a little wagon and sell it. That is, he took stuff that other people produced and sold it to someone else. And in a way, he still does.
His name is Jeff Bezos.
Bezos is uncommon. Going from underage fruit salesman to the founder of Amazon is a singular career path. But his trajectory from childhood diversion to adult career is not. So many people who have found an occupation or serious pastime they love were drawn to it at a young age. This wasn’t something they were doing for a grade or a trophy. It was just something they did either because it fascinated them or because it allowed them to get something else they desperately wanted.
Read the rest by clicking here. AND I’d love to hear your story, too, of how a childhood interest is still a part of your life. Drop me at line at Lskenazy at Yahoo.com.
BTW, my childhood passion? I wanted to create a word or catchphrase that would become popular. Hmmm.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash