“Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.”
Belva Davis
When I was I kid I used to love to read comic books, and then daydream about being a comic book hero. The idea of fighting evil to save those in need of help was what being a comic book hero was all about! Guess what? There are people in need of help, and they don’t care if you don’t have a cape or wear spandex.
The people of Darfur are still in need of your help. Please take the time to learn about the many ways you can provide help.
It’s time to stop turning a blind eye to the evil that is genocide.
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Author: unknown.
Imagine the Universe?
It’s funny how answers are sometimes found in the strangest places. I recently bought Season 2 of one of my all-time favorite creative stories, “Twin Peaks.” I highly recommend listening to the Log Lady intros, as they contain some very useful insights. Among them is an answer supporting my last blog: “Dreaming With Your Eyes Open.”
Two very powerful forces have no limits or constraints: our imagination and the universe. The internal universe (our imagination) and the external universe are always in balance. The two equal forces connect through us. Think of us as that connection that keeps Siamese twins together. Those of you familiar with the symbol for infinity might understand the true symbolism; we are the middle point connecting the circles.
The less we know about the external universe, the less we know about the internal universe, and vice versa. Thus, the circles on both sides of us remain small. As we explore one universe, the other grows in equal proportion. As we understand one universe, the more we understand the other, and the two bubbles grow. I’ll never forget the day I learned about Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The more I learned about that moon, the more my imagination created all these cool-looking potential life forms. That part of my internal universe did not exist until I learned about Europa (external universe). A prime example and real model of this would be Leonardo da Vinci. I highly recommend taking the time to read books about him and look at his artwork. This should shed some light on my thought process.
Let’s also consider physics, where there is something very similar. For example, physics indicates that if I stand in front of a massive boulder and push with all my strength, an equal amount of force will be pushed back. When I push into my external universe, an equal force is pushed into my internal universe.
So when you sit there and your internal universe (imagination) is not manifesting your desired result, try pushing into the external universe. It’s important to remember we are the ones who control how large these universes grow.
Thanks, Log Lady (Lynch/Frost).
Dreaming with your eyes open. What does that mean? We have all done it at some point, and it is a moment of bliss for anybody who loves creativity. It prompts you to grab napkins at restaurants to jot down your ideas. And then you go out and buy a voice recorder because your ideas are flowing so fast you don’t have time to write them down. Man, those are the greatest moments, ever.
Impossible vs. I’m possible
Believe in yourself and anything is possible!
“It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years!”-Abe Lincoln
Money Mythology
For those of you who read “A Failure to Fail,” consider this the sequel. Ask yourself this question: Does it take money to make my dreams come true? If you answered, “Yes,” hold on and don’t bet the farm. Keep your favorite baseball cards, classic car and autographed Michael Jordan basketballs. Today’s biggest myth is that dreams cannot be built without money. On the contrary, there are many ways dreams can be manifested without spending a dime. Remember when I begged you to grab a shovel and dig up your graveyard of dreams? Notice I did not say, ‘Grab your checkbook.’
Let’s break down our shovel and look at its major components: skill, passion, vision and discipline. All of these components, when combined, will make dreams come true.
Skill: To manifest a very specific idea, we need to have tailored skills. If you have money but lack skills, it’s very hard to turn your dreams into reality. Remember, anybody can learn a skill if he/she has the passion and discipline. Most big-name companies will hire a person based on personality and natural character traits rather than skills, because they know skills can be acquired. Under skills falls experience. The more experience you have using your particular skills, the more likely you will be able to manifest your dream yourself. From here, you will only need to invest time. Consider this: We are all investing time, whether we like it or not.
Passion: Each of us loves to do something, often to the point of being a slave to it. Most of us have no choice but to listen to our passion. When it knocks, we have to answer. Our passion owns us — we do not own it. Do you think you are alone in your passion? If you answered, “No,” you are on the right track. People who share the same passion often can help make each other’s dreams come true. An ant by himself will have a hard time toppling a domino, but when more ants join in, the domino falls pretty quickly. Sharing your dreams means you will likely have to share a portion of your company with partners, but that’s all right. Just ask yourself if you would rather have 70 percent of your dream or 100 percent of nothing. Don’t let greed be an obstacle in your path to achieving your dreams.
Vision: This is our creativity and imagination, and the powerful ability to contrive an idea, path, solution or strategy in our minds. The process of manifesting a dream does not take a straight line from point A to point B. There will be many deterrents to your dreams, and you must be able to develop solutions or create new paths. It is this skill that separates managers from leaders. This is where you must be careful. Ask yourself if your vision is people friendly. If your dream is solely tailored to your likes, you are gambling with it. Again, if you do not sell the farm and simply invest your time and skills, you have nothing to lose. Are you going to be the only one enjoying this dream? To make your dream financially profitable, it needs to be people friendly, but if you just want to manifest it for yourself, make sure you are only investing your time and skills.
Discipline: Did you see the movie, “The Last Samurai”? Recall the scene in which Tom Cruise’s character, Captain Nathan Algren, spars with a samurai for the first time using wooden swords. Captain Algren clearly lacks the skills his opponent possesses. However, every time Captain Algren receives a beating, he proceeds to get back up. My good friend, Bill Mehner, told me an old martial arts proverb: “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” Those with true discipline will get up again. I can guarantee you will fall as you pursue your dreams. But remember, experience falls under the skill portion of making our dreams come true, and even when we fall, we are accumulating experience. If you have the discipline to get up again, I promise you your dreams are not too far away.
Michael Erkiletian
Creative Sanctuary
What is creative sanctuary? It’s very simple and very important in protecting your career. Ask yourself two questions: “Can my job be done overseas?” and “Can my job be done by a computer?” If the answer to either of these questions — or both — is “Yes,” you are in deep, deep trouble. This is an issue that can no longer be ignored. People left and right are losing their jobs to computerization and overseas labor forces. Many of my friends have been victims of this. The problem is not going away, people; in fact, it’s getting worse. All you have to do is sit in a coffee shop and listen for about five minutes, and you will hear the effects of what I’m talking about. This will affect more and more people, because big companies need to successfully compete in order to survive.
Do you remember Rivendale, the majestic and beautiful sanctuary in “The Lord of the Rings,” where Gandalf the White and the Hobbits found safety? I give you the Rivendale of our modern age — it’s called, “creativity.” This will be our sanctuary from the problem at hand.
Computers are not yet capable of creativity; however, I fear the rush to develop artificial intelligence may result in a major threat to our creative uniqueness. Even though people overseas are similarly very creative, we seem to keep these jobs at arm’s length. By being creative in your job, or finding one in which you can express your creativity, you are securing your role in the workplace. You must do your job so creatively it would be impossible to replace you with mass production. Need an example? Take a day and visit Disneyland or Disney World. I recommend going on a weekday, when it’s not as crowded. Sit on a bench and simply observe all the creativity occurring there. No one would dream of saying, “Let’s replace this staff with computers.”
Here is my solution: Invest in us. We want everything so cheap, big companies manufacture at the lowest possible cost. Invest in us by spending that extra bit of money on something made in America. Once large companies see we are willing to pay more to be patriotic, they will bring the work back to America, hoping they will also be seen as patriotic. Think of it as an investment on behalf of your friends and family who have lost their jobs due to computerization or their employers taking their businesses overseas. Please spend a little more money to support companies showing their patriotism. Remember, patriotic companies will not last long if we do not reward them. So, on that note, let us lead by example as the people of America and reward patriotism. We have the power to stop job loss from spreading.
I’ll see you all in Rivendale.
Michael Erkiletian
A Failure to Fail
As you can tell from my last blog, imagination is very important to me — and more importantly, its future. The most critical part of the imagination’s development is during youth. I worry about this stage the most, since our youth listen to what adults have to say.
About four years ago, I ran an aquatic exercise program for individuals with disabilities. More often than not, I had to substitute and teach swim classes as well. At the end of the class, I would hold a contest to see which kid could do the worst possible dive. Each child would be judged on how terrible the dive looked, and the lower the score, the better. For example, a zero was the best score a child could receive for the absolute worst dive. The kids absolutely loved it, but here is my point: Each time we played this game, at least a few concerned parents would comment, “Why are they doing bad dives? Shouldn’t they be doing good dives?” I tried to explain to the parents that children need to learn failure is not a bad thing. In fact, I encouraged it. I always loved the blank looks on their faces, as they could not grasp the point.
After they finish kindergarten and preschool, we bombard children with the idea failure is unacceptable. Schools apply a very strict system that rewards them for not failing. The pressure not to fail is also endorsed by the parents as seen in my example above. A child’s ability is boiled down to four letters: A, B, C and D. The reason I did not mention F is because there is no such thing as failure.
Pick up any child development or psychology book and read about the amount of growth and development a child goes through during the first few years of life. It’s far more advanced than any other stage in human development. But why? Look how frequently failure occurs during early childhood development. Since we do not have fine and gross motor skills, we must learn by error. We fail, and then we try again until we get it right. Each time the child fails, he/she learns something and refines his/her actions until he gets it right. Failure is just as important as achievement — they have equal value. To say failure is not important is like saying the head side of a coin is more valuable than the tail side. They exist together to create one function: experience. Whether or not we fail or succeed, we gain experience from both situations. Isn’t knowing what not to do just as important as knowing what to do? This is why we should not solely focus on achievement as a means of growth, as growing only through achievement is literally impossible.
I get so sad when I see adults who fail once and give up. Why do adults do this? Is it because as children, they were hammered so hard to consider failure unacceptable? Do they think it’s better to avoid the experience altogether in order to avoid failing? In truth, I see a graveyard of dreams — dreams never chased because of that single word: failure. Not even Tim Burton could create a more depressing and morbid cemetery. So, I beg you all, please grab a shovel and dig up your graveyard of dreams. Please dig them up! And if you happen to fail…well then, good for you!
Michael Erkiletian
The End of Pretend
I remember sitting in the classroom in fourth grade, staring at the clock like a hawk. The second that recess bell rang, I ran to the playground shouting, “I get to be Boba Fett!” Does anyone else remember when pretending ruled the land?
I remember hearing the stories of the indigenous people of America looking out to sea and not being able to perceive Columbus’ ships. Since they had never seen something like them before, their brains could not comprehend the scene in front of them.
When I look to the horizon, I see something very frightening: the end of original video games, comic books and movies. Why? Because the core that fuels all of these — imagination — is about to die. All the people who contributed these great gifts pretended as children. This vital part of cultivating imagination is dying.
We have created a double-edged sword. Let me explain why our creations are now hurting us. There are many important factors to cultivating the imagination of a child. One of the most vital is life experiences. The truth of the matter is children are playing video games instead of accumulating life experiences. We must remember the people who created these games, books and films cultivated their imagination through life experiences. What will our video games look like years from now if they are created by people who lack life experiences?
Next, we must look at the two major means by which we cultivate our imagination. First, through an external stimulus, such as a movie, video game or comic book. This form of stimulation is considered external because it is not evoked from within the child. These are constrained and confined by the people creating these forms of media. With external stimulus the child has no control over how their imagination will manifest itself, as it has already been done for them. Second, through an internal stimulus, such as pretending, art, music or writing. In these, the child’s own imagination is key, and there are no limitations. With this stimulus the child has control of how the imagination will manifest itself. This form of stimulation is the most important to cultivating the imagination.
These comments are not intended to bash the industries listed above, but rather to save them. I can’t stand it when people complain without considering solutions to their problems. So, I offer a solution: Parents, sit down with your children and have them design their own video game based on their own life experiences. What if your son wants to make a video game based on a temple in Peru? Pick up a book or watch The History Channel’s “Digging for the Truth” or “Lost Worlds.” Better yet go to a historical museum and see the actual artifacts used by the Moche priests. Afterward, venture outside and pretend you are in Moche temple in Peru. You have just created a life experience and stimulated the imagination using an internal stimulus.
Publishers and movie studios: Art, music, theater and dance are all areas of study that receive the short end of the stick when colleges cut their budgets. Why are VH-1 and Disney the only ones who see the importance of preserving these courses? Help these schools keep their creative departments alive, which will in turn keep you alive.
I see a solemn and old bounty hunter sitting on the sidelines waiting to be free once again. Let’s give the old dog his day in the sun. There are too many Boba Fett helmets sitting on the shelves collecting dust.
Michael Erkiletian