On Blindspots, Shift and Change

I woke up antsy again this morning, a common occurrence for me of late, sensing that I need a shift in life but not sure what to do or where to focus. So I write this with no conclusion planned, no lesson about creativity already identified. I am seeking a personal breakthrough, a change of perspective, right here, right now, fingertips on laptop.

I'm trying to turn toward my peripheral vision to uncover my blindspot(s)--where an answer lies--but what I see and hear instead is this constant barrage from my mind: Get to your 14 things to do, go through those 4 different pending email folders, make those calls, strategize then plan then do then act then go, go, go or you are in trouble. To escape this noise, I click on an email and suddenly find myself reading Will Marre's blog, where he is addressing something similar in his post "Take Back Your Life." He describes the increase of stress in our personal work worlds, and this part speaks to me:

Those who have decided to work for themselves as consultants or starting a new enterprise have so much pressure to outperform that the velocity of our warship has to always be moving at “warp.” If we slow down the immense gravity of our death-star economy will crush us. Whew.

That's it. The pressure I too often feel has put some kind of neck brace on me. I can't turn my head toward a very real force that is trying to get my attention. This is why I'm so antsy. I need to shift but the immense gravity weighs on me and I can't move.

So now I'm trying to access a different part of my being through the less rigid, right side of my brain. I rifle through some writing and find a poem of mine that recalls a long-ago moment in Napa, CA. Yes, this is close to the feeling I'm having.

...I cool against this tree trunk
with the wood-wind in my hair

and the sound of motors

in my mind

I remember the need I felt then to dip my head into some different kind of water:

Right now I crave water that has the texture of birth

and I would dip my head in it to show

what can be replaced

My hair would not turn gold
like the boy from the story

but I would find alloys from this strange land

in the puddle near the drain

of the bin I wash in

to start my day

I just took a shower. I was consciously trying to wash out the "alloys" from my hair in order to feel different, to emerge with a new mindset that would enable me to see what I needed to do in a way I couldn't before. But I discovered that nothing washed out of my hair. The alloys, if anything, were now a more permanent part of me--the gray in my hair. Which I realize I can cover or hide but can never replace.

Opening Day: Creative Renewal or Time-Suck of Distraction?

I live just six blocks from Wrigley Field, and being a life-long Cubs fan I felt compelled to at least mingle with the crowd on opening day this week. So I hit the streets of blue early Monday afternoon. But I went also mulling over a big question for me this season: Is spending Cubs time helping or killing my creative life? I know willing to embrace failure is certainly a key creativity principle--and the Cubs embody that more than any other sports team on the planet (more than 100 years without a World Series title)! But watching games and following stats and news can also be a huge time-suck of distraction as a passive spectator, taking away from the time and focus I need to be a creative actor in the world. What to do this year? Well, now was the time to check it out.

Soon I joined the hundreds of folks in the streets surrounding the ballpark, excitement brimming, as I watched a television interview (that's Sarah Kustok from Comcast Sports interviewing a fan--already some creative interaction!), and headed over to Murphy's Bleachers, one of the classic bars kitty-corner from the stadium, where I thought I might find a friend of mine. It was packed and, of course, filled with people who had started drinking before noon. "What happens at Wrigley stays at Wrigley," I heard one guy slur. I liked that notion--that anything is possible--but my stomach cringed at seeing the tables and tables of already-consumed beer (see pic). I certainly believe that drinking can at times stimulate the creative process, but overall the scene reminded of the lost hours (including the debilitating hangover) that ultimately tend to numb rather than enliven my creative life.

Now, I wasn't planning to go into the stadium, but I couldn't resist querying some of the scalpers and soon learned that I might be able to snag a cheaper ticket than I had imagined, maybe even face value. As I debated with myself whether I could afford the time, I weaved through the crowds, past the Harry Caray statue, among the smiling children and the long-suffering but happy-at-the-moment grandparents, to the lines of eager fans waiting to get in. Hmmm. And as fate would have it, I somehow came across a regular guy with an extra ticket who was willing to give it away for a song. After a brief negotiation, I would join him for the irresistible price of just $20! Holy Cow! I was in.

And look at these seats! Magnificently located on the first base side, a beautiful cool day, a Pepsi in my hand, this was nice. I know a hell of a lot more about the Cubs and their players than I should admit, so it was only minutes before I had already made friends with three other guys sitting around me, discussing last year's hitting slump, the worst fielder ever (Soriano), and the potential of the pitching staff. Before we knew it, the Cubs homered once and then twice, and soon we had a victory on opening day, baby!

Now the truth is, baseball is not that exciting. It helps when you know the players and strategy, but even given that I often start to get antsy by the 6th inning. So why do I go? What do I care? Again, I ask, is it worth the brain space and the time?

There is something wonderful about being a Cubs fan, which connects you in spirit to millions of people around the world. There is something about the taste of possibility on your tongue, the stirring of creativity embodied by the "It's Gonna Happen" signs that set a vision of the future. It helps me imagine a different world, where the Cubs are victors and our decades of suffering can be transformed with a swing of the bat and a final strike out pitch. But. But. But. It's heresy, I know, but coming out on opening day has confirmed for me that I have to make a change this year. Say it ain't say so, millions might carp, but I have come to this conclusion. I need to get out on my own field more this year. I have to be more of a creator. Cubs, I love you, but I can't do this anymore.

Dean Kamen, Captain Creative

I don't know all that much about Dean Kamen, known most commonly as the inventor of the Segway, but I believe he's the closest thing we have to an American Creative Superhero. He demonstrated his latest miracle invention--the robotic LUKE (as in Skywalker) arm--this week on the Stephen Colbert Show. Check out this more in-depth talk/demonstration he gives for TED, which shows even more what Luke can do (Video here).

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Kamen is one of those rare inventor-entrepreneur-visionaries of a generation, like Buckminster Fuller of the the previous, who uses his mental genius for good, despite a world not always ready to receive. His Slingshot is a good example; it's a water purifying system that is portable, ecologically friendly and miraculous, able to literally turn urine, dirty puddles and who-knows-what-else into drinking water, with minimal energy requirements. It can literally transform the developing world. Unfortunately, our short-term, profit-motivated mindset derails this kind of innovation (alas, there ain't much money in it), so no wide distribution. Yet. Check out this video for more on the Slingshot.

The more you learn about Kamen (and please share what you know), the more he looms like a character from Marvel Comics, commandeering a grand fortress of a company (I believe an island, jets and helicopters are involved). After years of financial success and accumulated, cutting-edge technical resources, he is able to focus on world-changing innovations like few others, uniquely positioned to take on projects and requests he wants to pursue. Let's hope he doesn't get lured to dark side like the outrageously wealthy, power-thirsty inventors Super/Spider/Batman often battles.

For now, his company Deka Research and Development continues to take on pressing problems of our time, particularly those involving solar energy and water. As an inventor, Kamen holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign patents, many of them for innovative medical devices that have expanded the frontiers of health care worldwide. He is the founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a program that includes the greatest student robot competition of our time, which will take place in just seven days in front of more than 50,000 fans at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. May the Creative Force continue to be with him.

Permission to be a Fool

I had a dream last night about Tina Fey. I only remember two things--1. I enjoyed spending time with her and laughed a lot. 2. At some point she took out her retainer and put it on a table. I know it's April Fools Day but really this happened.

What is it about Tina Fey? Wherever I find her--presenting on big award shows, interviewed as cover girl on this month's Esquire, making the talk show rounds for her upcoming movie, Date Night, with Steve Carrell--she is always surprising me and making me smile. She continues to pile up Emmys and Golden Globes for 3o Rock, the show she created, produces and stars in. What is it that made this plain jane the AP entertainer of the year and one of the greatest creative successes of our time?It is, I believe, the permission she gives herself. She gives herself permission to explore any possibility, to play with a strange idea, to be foolish--and to let others around her be as foolish as they would like as well. She is not afraid to be ugly, uncool, a loser with a retainer fetish. You'll see it in these quips from the Esquire interview. This is how creativity flourishes, in an environment where you have full permission to be a fool. I call it Permission to Suck or P.T.S.

Watch 30 Rock and what you'll see is a cavalcade of creativity, undoubtedly generated from the improvisational world of pushing the fool's envelope. Fey first made her name here in Chicago as an improv player for Improv Olympic and Second City Theaters, where the great skills are in building on each other's imagination, never judging an idea until later (if ever), and learning that for every time you create something idiotic there is another time you create something ingenious. I guarantee you the 30 Rock writers (and the actors) are experts in giving themselves full permission to be preposterous, because it is only when you open wide to ideas that the most creative can come out. And by creative I'm not talking just outrageous. I'm talking, as you find in each of the 30 rock characters, outrageously fitting. Which makes for funny.

But ultimately there is the great improvisor herself, the former head writer and performer for Saturday Night Live, whose Sarah Palin impression will be memorable forever. It's Tina, whose Liz Lemon on 30 Rock is continually embarrassed and made the fool, who's gotten so good at giving herself permission that creative gold comes out of her again and again, and the fool's gold has become a treasure.

The better you get at giving yourself permission, the more creativity will come from you. So happy April Fool's Day and may you take the opportunity for fool permission.