--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I just started to do my own thing for…" description: "\"I just started to do my own thing for about a year and a half, and I worked in the evening selling phonograph records. Then I said to myself, \"I'm afra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/claes-oldenburg-10596_evening_i-just-started-to-do-my-own-thing-for-ab_3027034.png" --- # I just started to do my own thing for about a year and a… ![“I just started to do my own thing for about a year and a half, and I worked in the evening selling phonograph records. Then I said to myself, "I'm afraid I have to go to New York after all."” quote by Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/claes-oldenburg-10596_evening_i-just-started-to-do-my-own-thing-for-ab_3027034.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/claes-oldenburg-10596_evening_i-just-started-to-do-my-own-thing-for-ab_3027034.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1cb/claes-oldenburg-10596_evening_i-just-started-to-do-my-own-thing-for-ab_3027034.png) > “I just started to do my own thing for about a year and a half, and I worked in the evening selling phonograph records. Then I said to myself, "I'm afraid I have to go to New York after all."” [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes early independence, selling records while fearing relocation to New York. **In simple terms:** Early work and fear of moving to a big city. Key Takeaway Embrace change despite fear. Themes independence career fear urban migration Mood reflective determined Type personal career When to use this quote - selling records - career transition - relocating - personal growth Key Concepts self-reliance entrepreneurship anxiety Questions to Reflect On - What would you pursue if fear vanished? - How does small‑scale work prepare for big moves? A Different Perspective Fear may limit opportunities if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afraid New](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afraid-new-889033/) [Evening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evening/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [Phonograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phonograph/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Said Afraid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-afraid-525168/) [Selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling/) [Selling Phonograph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling-phonograph-4926694/) [Started Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started-thing-996610/) [Year Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/year-half/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [There was an improv class in our high school, and we all ended up taking it and loving it. 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Maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-m-not-afraid-of-new-things-i-m-just-afraid-of-feeling-alone-even/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Brother, these last two months I've found in myself a new man. A new man has risen up in me. He was hidden in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/brother-these-last-two-months-i-ve-found-in-myself-a-new-man-a-new/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [God is not afraid of new things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-is-not-afraid-of-new-things/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [The more people that are afraid when they see new creation, the happier I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rei-kawakubo/the-more-people-that-are-afraid-when-they-see-new-creation-the/) [Rei Kawakubo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rei-kawakubo/) ## More by Claes Oldenburg > [I had no idea what art was. 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An object can be very energetic and active, and then it has a dying phase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/a-life-cycle-can-be-imposed-on-an-object-an-object-can-be-very/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [I don't do abstract art because I don't find it as interesting as I do subjects and depictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/i-don-t-do-abstract-art-because-i-don-t-find-it-as-interesting-as-i/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [Actually, New York is great for playing around. I made a lot of studies for New York-a big vacuum cleaner lying on the Battery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/actually-new-york-is-great-for-playing-around-i-made-a-lot-of-studies/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [I'm always careful to say that I changed everything I found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/i-m-always-careful-to-say-that-i-changed-everything-i-found/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [If you really want to be an artist, you search yourself, and you find a lot of it comes from earlier times. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/if-you-really-want-to-be-an-artist-you-search-yourself-and-you-find-a/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) > [ My work doesn't have the same rules as, say, Andy \[Warhol\]'s work. But it's gathered together for the simple reason that we all worked… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claes-oldenburg/my-work-doesn-t-have-the-same-rules-as-say-andy-warhol-s-work-but-it/) [Claes Oldenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) [Explore all 64 Claes Oldenburg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claes-oldenburg/) ## More Evening quotes > [Once ye made up yer mind to do somethin', 'tis better t'stumble o'er the small hillock of jump-ahead than t'bash yer head on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/once-ye-made-up-yer-mind-to-do-somethin-tis-better-t-stumble-o-er-the/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. 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Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [When I was very young my mother sang to me at bedtime and my dad would often play the banjo or fiddle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-block/when-i-was-very-young-my-mother-sang-to-me-at-bedtime-and-my-dad/) [Rory Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-block/) > [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I don’t know, I don’t know that I’m missing anything. I just think too much sometimes. 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These days, though, I'm trying to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-doescher/i-do-a-lot-of-writing-in-my-capacity-as-the-creative-director-for-a/) [Ian Doescher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-doescher/) > [Tonight I have inundated you with the mystical kundalini. Now, of course, I'm moving into the supra-conscious; it's kind of a doubleheader this evening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/tonight-i-have-inundated-you-with-the-mystical-kundalini-now-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Can You see that as soon as the day breaks I think of You? As evening comes, I am near You. I am near…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-galgani/can-you-see-that-as-soon-as-the-day-breaks-i-think-of-you-as-evening/) [Gemma Galgani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-galgani/) [Browse all 1,949 Evening quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evening/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I just started to do my own thing for about a year and a half, and I worked in the evening selling phonograph records. 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