I'm sorry if you dislike the sponsors at the beginning, but since that's how Mr. Vachss makes a living, I think it's important to watch their commercial for the two and a half seconds it lasts.
Reggie Strickland is the king of the stepping stones in professional boxing. Nobody ever believes me when I tell them about his record, but here is the proof. Reggie has lost more fights than anybody else in history of boxing and yet you can count on the fingers of your hands the number of times he's been K.O'ed. The guy is a professional. He's by far not the guy who took the most beatings in the business. The point Andrew Vachss is trying to make talking about him is that people make a living doing things you don't know about. Raglin' Reggie boxed to pay his bills, not for some kind of chimerical glory.
I've been looking into alternative thinking lately (thanks to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast who have been inviting many of those thinkers lately, notably Tim Ferriss and Graham Hancock) and it makes a very good point. If you follow the rules, you will play the game. If you're looking to bend the rules, you might really well beat the game. We're all born and raised within the rules of a game somebody else has created. You have to get a job, work hard and labor all your life to pay for a place you can call home. Even then, sometimes the bank can pull the plug on you. Isn't it maddening to think you're going to work all your life for such little pride and enjoyment.
Where I'm going to with Reggie-Strickland-as-a-metaphor is that Tim Ferriss and Graham Hancock are often regarded as clowns and purveyors of idiotic theories, but both of this guys have been making a living practicing what they preach and in Ferriss' case, he's been living the life everybody else dreams about. We're blinded to so many things by the daily grind. Working repeatedly at the same tasks keep your mind close and your fields of interests narrow. I understand now the benefits of having curiosity and an open mind more than ever in my life. There is a world you don't see because everything in your life outside of work is mediated through what's offered to you on billboards, web site banners and tv commercials. But if it's not offered in gigantic golden letters, it's no reason not to reach for it and it's not because you can't see it that it doesn't exist.
Suddenly, I'm inspired to write a whole lot....