Comments on: You Don’t Have to Be Epic

By: cheekyboots · where I’ve been: ambivalence

cheekyboots · where I’ve been: ambivalence — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:58:49 +0000

[...] The long answer is I have been on this quest to figure out what my right work is. And I didn’t want to say anything because what if I was wrong. Or what if people expected more out of me than I wanted to give. Or what if really, my soul just wants to curl up and watch Heroes and not do any life-changing, soul-stirring work at all, thank you, because it’s all too hard and scary and big and I just want to live my small life because there is nothing wrong with small. [...]

By: The Expat Life: Is “Dreaming Big” The Only Option? | Winning Away Expat Tips & Resources

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:40:19 +0000

[...] I stumbled upon this wonderful post on the same subject, over at Tao of Prosperity- it is well worth a read: You Don’t Have To Be Epic. [...]

By: Paige

Paige — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:58:00 +0000

I so agree with you, Emma. I read the Do Epic Shit post and it triggered all sorts of insecurity that I haven’t done epic shit already and oh no I’m still shit, not epic, so thank you for that. I needed an antidote. Glad to have found your blog and what is it about Portland that makes so many bloggers I enjoy congregate there?

By: The Expat Life: Is “Dreaming Big” The Only Option? « Expat Tips and Resources

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:58:17 +0000

[...] I stumbled upon this wonderful post on the same subject, over at Tao of Prosperity- it is well worth a read: You Don’t Have To Be Epic. [...]

By: Louis Dizon

Louis Dizon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:50:21 +0000

I totally agree with you Emma. It is just a matter of following your heart’s desires. Living small can help us appreciate all the small things that life can offer. Living small is connected to having a simple and stress-free life. Living large, on the other hand, can provide a sense of accomplishment and triumph.

Every single person, whether living small or large, is capable of obtaining happiness in life. It’s just a matter of perspective.

By: Emma

Emma — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:21:53 +0000

@Charlie
Heya! Thanks for stopping by.

I agree and what you are writing reminds me of the e.e. cummings quote – “To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

I try to counteract some of our culture’s Calvinist tendencies to equate accomplishment with goodness. There’s always more to do, a bigger way to be, so people end up feeling not good enough.

I think it depends on where you are coming from about it – if you are *blossoming* into biggerness, great. If you are “shoulding” yourself into thinking you need to be bigger – then stop doing that to yourself. Or if you are trying to suppress your fears of inadequacy by accomplishing things – it won’t work. There’s such a deeper healing available in self-acceptance.

I like to think of the Siddhartha book – he does all this Epic Shit – but then at the end he’s just living in a hut on the side of a river, fishing with this old man.

That book always reminds me that no matter how far I go, I’ll still be a farm girl. I grew up with a sense of time that was a lot more about the seasons than about the clock. Life and death marches on and there is a peace in not having to be It, just a part of It.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:35:23 +0000

I’m so glad you wrote this, as it’s the perfect counterpoint to the grandiosity of the post you’re referencing.

The context of “Do Epic Shit” is mainly for those people who are wanting to live life large or who are wanting to tell an interesting story about themselves or their business. I also think “Be remarkable” is a more healthy and holistic framework than “do epic shit,” but we need to hear different things at different times.

Having the wherewithal to follow your North Star, whether that leads you to bigness or smallness, is remarkable, given the pressures we face in our societies. When so many people are lost in themselves and going where the wind blows, it’s remarkable, nay epic, to walk your own path.

And I wish my path would’ve gotten me here a month earlier, but I wanted to say thanks for extending the conversation.

By: Diana

Diana — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:18:35 +0000

Well said! And exactly right. Thanks for saying it.