Follow your heart

We can become so consumed with our work that we forget about the things that deep down we yearn to understand, says Ande Schurr in his latest column for freelancers.

"Even more important than keeping our craft sharp and our skills refined, is the need to keep our mind continually growing and stretching."

* * *

I sat on the beach today, after a day out filming, and thought about my dream of travelling to all 195 countries in the world and learning about the characteristics of that country.

In my spare time, my girlfriend and I have been learning the whereabouts of every country and its flag. It's mind-boggling how this simple exercise has changed the way I understand people. Now when friends say they are a quarter Croatian or an eighth Hawaiian I'm interested to know more instead of relegating it to the 'that's interesting' pile!

As freelancers, we become so consumed with our work that we forget about the things that deep down we yearn to understand.

Some people want to understand about Einstein's relativity. I mean seriously how is it possible that time can speed up just because the object is increasing in speed? Others want to make a pin-hole camera and see for themselves how the very first cameras were made before they got all complicated by the microchip. Did you know that the world's newest country is South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011? The newest country before that was Kosovo. It's all very interesting!

Even more important than keeping our craft sharp and our skills refined, is the need to keep our mind continually growing and stretching.

I admire those industry technicians and creatives who have travelled all over the world and have come back more discerning, more understanding, less likely to loose their cool when the pressure is on. That is the goal for us if we ever wish to fulfil our potential as thinking people; to increase our capacities, as my business coach often tells me.

Begin and continue to explore the things that fascinate you. They may likely have nothing to do with your profession. But after a few weeks of enthusiastic study about a particular topic you may find that another topic you didn't fancy becomes more curious to you.

One thing leads to another and before long a much richer life of learning is yours.