Sherlock Holmes and Following Your Dreams

I finished reading the first Sherlock Holmes book A Study in Scarlet. I didn't think I would relate to Sherlock Holmes' character, but I really did. All the movies I've seen have really mangled his character. Generally I expect movies to mangle any character that came from a novel or comic book. This happens to movies based on Marvel comics all the time :(.

The story was exciting and intriguing. I found that I couldn't put the book down. There were several places where I was thinking to myself, "How could Holmes know that?". Of course it was all logically explained and made perfect sense in the end.

The things that struck me about his character which I could relate to was that he was a scientist and that he literally created his own profession despite his colleges thinking that he was mad. Which is pretty cool.

I fancy myself to be a scientist. I find myself most in my element when I am researching something that interests me. Sometimes the funnest thing to do is to find a paper on a cool topic, reproducing the results, and then tinkering with it (hopefully expand on it and make it better). Or coming up with an idea and trying it out. The journey is the biggest reward in both of the above cases and when you are successful at it nothing beats that feeling of satisfaction.

When Watson first met Holmes at the hospital chemist lab, Holmes had just succeeded in one of his experiments and was overjoyed and that is when I started to relate to the character.

A good portion of the first few chapters of the book are about Watson trying to figure out what Holmes does for a living. Watson during these parts describes Holmes as having a wealth of knowledge in several different fields and without having a complete set of skills for any particular profession that he could think of. Later in the book Holmes reveals to Watson that he is a consulting detective. He claims that he is the only one in the world and that he made up the profession.

I really like the idea of people following their dreams and trying to make a living at what they like to do. I think nowadays too many people do things simply for money, which isn't wrong in itself, but I really think you should have joy in what you do.

My field is computer science and I really enjoy programming and certain areas of computer science are exceptionally fun. CS is a field that you have to enjoy working in. If you get into it solely for money you will want to get out of it really quick. It is hard but that is what makes it rewarding.

Like Holmes I am aspiring to create my own niche. I have my own set of goals that want to fullfil. You only live once and if you never try things when opportunities present themselves you'll end up regretting it. Right now I am aiming to live my life well and without regrets :D. Right now like Holmes, I am following my dreams :D.