by: Nancy K. Eberhardt
Sometimes the universe bombards us with repeating messages.
NPR’s Bullseye interviewed Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis about their work with musical legends Prince, Janet Jackson, Usher, and Gladys Knight. When Jimmy Jam spoke about being fired by Prince, he added, “…or as Terry likes to say, ‘freed’.” They refer to this as the moment they were freed from performing to do what they really love – write and produce music.
In its early September obituary of Robert L. Wolke (nuclear chemist, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, Food 101 columnist, and author of the What Einstein Told His Cook book series), The Washington Post noted his seminal moment. After being fired from an administrative post at the university, Wolke told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “It was the best thing that ever happened to me, because it allowed me to write full-time.”
Two recent examples of the same sage lesson – not just fired, also freed.
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