From Bill Murray interview in Entertainment Weekly (via TerryStarbucker.com):
“I just really want to work when I want to work. Life interferes, you know. When you’re young and all you have is your career, some of your life can be in second place. And then you want your life to take first place, and other people don’t see it that way. They see it that your life has to take second place, and it’s hard. Life is really hard, and it’s the only one you have. I mean, I like doing what I do, and I know I’m supposed to do it, but I don’t have anything to bring to it if I don’t live my life.”
Starbucker comments:
“Bill Murray [says] my life is in first place. But he adds something worth paying particular attention to, which I will paraphrase here: If I can’t bring my life to my work, I’m not going to do that work. Life is hard enough.
Let’s stop there for a second. That’s an easy thing to say when you already have more money than you can possibly need, and the main tangible output of work (read, money) isn’t an issue. Mr. Murray certainly is in that category.
How does it play out for those of us who aren’t in that situation? There’s the rub, as Hamlet would say.”
Go read the full, inspiring post.
Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) has nearly 25 years of experience in the media & publishing industry. She is the publisher of The Hot Sheet, the essential newsletter on the publishing industry for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2019.
In addition to being a professor with The Great Courses (How to Publish Your Book), she is the author of The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal.
Jane speaks regularly at conferences and industry events such as Digital Book World and Frankfurt Book Fair, and has served on panels with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund. Find out more.