While listening to Larry Smith’s TED talk Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career, I realized the universe was speaking to me. (Yes, I have a private line with the universe, although it often drops calls.) Smith tells the same story as many before him: Follow your passion. There are very few great careers out there – only one Sheryl Sandberg. The rest are “high-workload, high-stress, bloodsucking, soul-destroying” jobs, Smith asserts. The reason we’re not Sandberg? Excuses, he says. We find excuses to not follow our bliss.

After absorbing Smith’s taunting, I took a moment to stand in my Wonder Woman pose, a la Amy Cuddy’s TED talk Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are. I, indeed, have been following my passion. It is helping me “create the highest expression of [my] talent,” according to Smith. But I most love writing about the arts, entertainment and adventure of Bucks County. Something I have done fairly regularly since 2000. Wouldn’t you know that I was busy putting in my 10K hours (read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers for his 10,000-Hour Rule) while print media was in decline.

Instead of bemoaning that cruel coincidence, I’m creating this spot to highlight entertainment venues, profile artists, review plays and explore adventure opportunities. Perhaps I’ll start creating puzzles again. Whatever it becomes, it won’t be high workload, high stress, bloodsucking or soul destroying. I’ve put in my 10K hours. Let me adopt Cuddy’s winning-the-race pose for the requisite two minutes before I assure you, it will be fun.

— Jodi Thompson