Does That Idea Give You Butterflies?
It’s likely that if you are on to a good idea, it will give you butterflies and make you uncomfortable. If you are feeling that way about something, and it’s preventing you from trying your idea, I invite you to watch the Dance It Out video of the week. It’s wacky, colorful, unconventional, and still danceable 25 years later. Great for rejuvenating!
Or what about this: 2008. This guy picks up a book about Alexander Hamilton and is rocked by the book. Inspired. He gets an idea for a mix tape/album about the life of Alexander Hamilton, told through hip hop. Imagine the first time he floats that idea to one of his friends. What would you have said to Lin-Manuel Miranda if he was your friend?
2009: He performs a part of it at a poetry event at the White House and gets a great response.
2015: SIX years later, it finally premieres Off Broadway and grows to a massive success – bringing together people across the political and generational spectrum. This thing – it took years of perseverance and complete faith in an idea to stay the course, and what a result!
Don’t back away from those ideas that seem impossibly strange, large, or unconventional; the ones that don’t follow the rules or have never been done. We may or may not bring an idea to fruition, but it is our combination of personality, experience, worldview, events, timing, unique perspective – all of these contribute to what we personally create and add to this fascinating world and life. Give air to the all the ideas you generate (the more, the merrier) and pursue the ones that won’t leave you alone.
Dance it out:
Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzoEK545j64
Stabilize the Glimpse:
What are you dreaming about these days? What thought do you keep trying to talk yourself out of? Identify it and decide to try it out. Experiment and play.
Quotes:
“Objectively, that’s a crazy idea.” Jeremy McCarter when first hearing about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s idea in 2009.
&
The show you made “is the best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life.” Michelle Obama, after seeing Hamilton.
Move it Forward:
Try one thing this week that you normally wouldn’t try. Take a new way home from work or pick a new restaurant. Listen to a different radio station or TV show. All of this develops your tolerance for different ways of thinking and can generate new insights or ideas.
Video recommendation:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?409990-5/jeremy-mccarter-discusses-hamilton
Resources:
- https://mashable.com/2016/03/14/michelle-obama-hamilton/#z8Nr.ClrNGq4
- https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/28/hamilton-creator-lin-manuel-miranda-on-the-making-of-the-musical.html
- Quotes are from the Jeremy McCarter interview on CSpan
- Photo by William Daigneault on Unsplash.com
Check back on Sunday for the next installment of The Build | Create Field Guide #3:
Better Brainstorming
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About the Field Guide Series
So many people I talk with have things they want to do, build, or create but find themselves unsure of how to make it happen within their already full and busy lives. And many of us have never considered ourselves creative, which gets in the way of our taking the first step.
Here’s what I believe: Yes, we are all creative, and no, it’s not too late. You don’t have to be a painter or artist to possess creativity, and whatever season of life, there is still time. This new blog series has grown out of my own life experience and experimentation and is born from my desire to integrate my work and family life while finding fulfillment and joy during the process. Like each of us, this field guide will continue to evolve, and it will push and poke at the things we allow to become obstacles in our own pursuit of building and creating. Stories shared, ideas stumbled upon, hard lessons learned, inspiration from everywhere…you’ll find it here. EnJOY!
About the Mid-Week Kick:
A dose of some miscellaneous fun stuff to keep you moving towards the things you want to Build | Create.