(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - I came across a short video of one of my favorite writers, John Gierach, talking about what it is to be a fishing writer. In the clip, he’s driving to go fishing, so it wasn’t the contrived interview in a stuffy room miles away from where the interviewee wants to be.

He said he’ll never be rich, but that’s not the point.

“[Being a fishing writer] doesn’t make economic sense, except, you’re having fun. You’re doing what other people do on vacation or when they retire, but you’re doing it for a living,” he said.

That’s a little scary though. In commercials, there are people walking around with large dollar amounts they hope to accrue by the time they reach the stereotypical age for Winnebago shopping or booking cruises to southeast Alaska. Savings. I sometimes wonder if I should have a little (probably a lot) more restraint when it comes to my seasonal spending. But I’m having fun and making a little on the side doing it, so it doesn’t take too much to justify a new fly rod.

Anyway, Gierach’s words makes sense to me, in the way that other insight speaks to others.

I listened to writer, actor, baller and Kayhi alum Jesse Lebeau talk about his journey from the City of Salmon to the City of Angels. He gave students sage advice about digesting criticism and moving on to live a life worth smiling about. It was a big deal, but it shouldn’t have been.

It seems ironic that people should have to be convinced to have a meaningful, fulfilling existence or to simply have fun. But we, the general public, do. This is why kids, hopefully, listened and found what they needed in his words. Motivational quotes don’t just exist to be shared on social media and stapled to walls in classrooms. They want to be used.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I lived a quote full tilt and ended up somewhere else, doing something else. Not that I am at all unhappy, in fact, I’m quite happy with how things have turned out thus far. I just occasionally wonder how things would be different. Would I be covering a college football or basketball team for a big newspaper or working in a sports information department as was the plan before my senior year of college?

I’ve watched the Gierach video a few more times since that first time. Not because it’s beautifully shot or because it is particularly profound, (I’ve read a bunch of his books, so I’m familiar with his view of living life), but because it’s a reminder.

No matter how many times we hear, or see a cliched notion recycled, we often need to be reminded that to really live is to derive pleasure from the seeking of dreams and goals. Maybe that’s making it out of southeast Alaska or to the big screen, medical school, flight school or to a river, to catch a fish, and write about it.

Jeff Lund ©2015

Jeff Lund is a Teacher, Freelance Writer, living in Ketchikan, Alaska
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @alaskalund
Contact Jeff at Email – aklund21@gmail.com

http://www.jlundoutdoors.com

SitNews ©2015
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

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