For Every Pathology, There's A Profession: Jim Carroll And Bob Seawright On JUST PRESS RECORD

Every morning I picture myself standing on the edge of a cliff holding a box of parts. I, in real life, sit down at my desk, fire up the ol’ computer, and then in my imagination, I jump. As I punch in the passwords and boot up the apps, I start putting my make-pretend plane together and feel that wonderful old feeling, “I can build this plane before we hit the ground, no problem.”

“You’re sick, you know that?” my wife tells me when I explain this metaphor to her. She doesn’t mean it in a mean way. Its just - there’s a certain level of crazy I kind of love.

I love the high wire acts.

I used to love being on a stage in a town I’d never been in before figuring out how to win over a room.

I learned to love improvising and watching strangers think, “Oh, you can’t do that, game on.”

I still love pressing record on a podcast with two strangers and nothing more than my introduction notes which usually have nothing to do with what we’ll actually talk about, and everything to do with making my guests feel like I’m on the high wire with them, and at the same time, I’ll be the safety net, so they shouldn’t worry because THIS isn’t crazy, I’M crazy, and everything is going to be fine so long as they follow me.

Jim Carroll told me and Bob Seawright a story about a college psychology professor during our Just Press Record. The professor told young Jim, “For every pathology, there’s a profession.” It resonated with all of us.

Who we are, how we’re wired, guides us to the work we do. Our quirks, our obsessions, and even our weaknesses, they’re all there. They’re all part of our path.

Pathology, as a term, makes so much more sense to me now too.

Your greatest potential assets are in those quirks, obsessions, and even your weaknesses. Others might think you’re crazy for leaning into them, but don’t worry. If it feels good, if you’re not hurting others, if you’re not hurting yourself -

Jump.

Don’t miss Jim Carroll meeting Bob Seawright for the first time ever on JUST PRESS RECORD on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel (or wherever you get your podcasts) out now!