Stephen Bleile

Life is like a boy throwing rocks into a lake.

On one shore of the lake there is a town called Passion and on the other Provision.

The boy was raised in Passion throwing rocks whose ripples lapped the shore.

As he grew he knew, instinctively, he had to move to Provision and as he threw his rocks they lapped its banks.  But he always longed for home.

As long as the echos of the ripples at Provision would last he would go back to Passion.  Then he would return.

As he grew his outrospection inspired him and his experiences strengthened him.

He began to throw larger and larger rocks higher and higher until they hit the middle of the lake – ripples racing to either shore.

Intro and Outro. The unexpected elements of a great story.

Introspection looks in.  It puts you at the center of your focus.  It is a mirror to look at yourself.
Outrospection looks out.  It makes other people and situations the focus of your attention.

Like the intro and outro of a story they both have a place.

Introspection is the doormat to your life story.  It is where the greatest adventures will begin and end. It is where you will learn about yourself.  It is where you will see your strengths and weaknesses.  In the end, though, it is mostly just a good place to wipe your feet.

Outrospection lifts our eyes from the muddy doormat to the bright red door of opportunity.  It sees people’s needs, it sees what could be, it amalgamates the information gained from introspection with what it sees in the world ‘out there.’

Every great story that I can think of features people who have struck an organic relationship between these two elements.  They temper one with the other.

>Gandhi tempered his awareness that he needed to eat with the knowledge that his people were dying.  Because of his strong sense of justice he decided that he would pay the personal price.  For an interesting read on Gandhi check this out: http://orwell.ru/library/reviews/gandhi/english/e_gandhi

>Jesus, though moved with compassion for the multitude also took time to be alone in the hills.

>Tevye, the dairyman and father from Fiddler on the Roof watched in dismay as his children broke with tradition and as a pogrom was affected on his town.  He was aware of how his children felt and sacrificed his own convictions for them.  He always took time to talk and walk with his own thoughts and God.

>Bob Dylan was aware of what was going on.  He wrote songs that inspired a nation and a generation.  Songs of immense personal searching and reflection on the happenings of the day.  The crowd wanted him to lead them in their revolution.  He knew he was a voice and not a savior.  He complained of people pursuing him – preferring to live a quiet life. Of all the super sensations of the musical world he is one of the few with no self destroying drug addictions.

The list goes on and on.  I would be surprised if you could think of a story where this dynamic relationship did not exist.

“How would you change the world?” was the inane question I was assigned. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. I was supposed to write IN FIVE PAGES how I would make the world a better place. My grade 10 mind exploded.

“Was this some kind of joke?”

My completed masterpiece was entitled “Gold Fish and World Peace.” Really, I might as well have called it “The Stupid Paper by a Know-it-all kid Who Thinks This Assignment is a Big Fat Waste of Time.” It was no essay I had handed in:  It was a mockera –a hastily thrown together (and mildly entertaining) project in which I crammed the first thoughts that came to mind. (In fact, I sign Christmas cards using the same writing philosophy.)

The idea I submitted was simple:  give every household in the world a gold fish.

I think the plan was that the gold fish would serve as a reminder to the families that they needed to think about something or someone other than themselves.  I reasoned that because it was a living creature people would feel more in tune with nature and therefore would be less likely to throw away recyclables or to pour paint down the drain.  I loftily portrayed neighbors united in their common cause of caring for their goldfish –forgetting about tools not returned and embracing the fish as a new symbol of hope.  Warring factions would see the common bond of the fish between them and stop slaughtering one another. “You have a fish and I have a fish… we are brothers.” It was a beautiful world I had written.

I don’t recall scoring particularly well on that paper, but I think I may have actually learned something.

Truthfully, I think that teacher asked one of the most important questions I have ever been asked. How would I take responsibility in the world and make a difference? How would I put myself in the game? How would I make a difference? That teacher taught me that I could be a part of the solution to the problems I could see around me.

It has been eleven years since I was in grade ten and, you know?, there are not many times that question has come up since.

Do I still think that everyone should own a goldfish?  Well, let’s just say I think there are better options… you might be able to think of some yourself.  Do I think my idea was dumb?  Impractical –yes.  Dumb –no.

The grim reality is that the world WOULD be a better place if I gave my neighbor a gold fish. It’s even grimmer that I probably won’t. It just doesn’t seem like a BIG enough solution.

Has anyone ever asked you how you’d fix the world?

If you can’t think of anything, you might want to give someone a goldfish.

There are two things that I remember from Chemistry 30 about fire. They stand out in my mind because they both seem so odd.

First, a fire will only burn if oxygen is present.  No matter what fuel is present if there is no oxygen there will be no fire. This is why, contrary to popular believe, one should not try to blow fires out.  Yes, it works on birthday candles, but it tends to make things worse in most situations.

Second, the natural bi-product of every fire is water.  It’s true.  When hydrogen and oxygen burn they combine to make water.  Of course it doesn’t make so much water that it puts the fire out… it is quite hot (on account of the fire) and so should probably be classified as steam rather than water. (http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=475)

(Thank you Calgary Board of Education.)

I bring this up as a Stage Two of the discussion concerning the combination of passion and creativity that yields life changing results.

According to my mac [F12] dictionary creativity is “the use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work.”

I think the first half of this is agreeable enough, but the latter misses the mark.

It sort of suggests that the invention of Velcro didn’t have an ounce of creativity in it. Or that Einstein’s approach wasn’t creative.

Sure there is a whole group of people out there using their creativity for artistic work, but that doesn’t exclude everyone else from being creative! Creativity can show herself in many many different ways.  Sorry, I mean many many many different ways.

In fact every person has the innate ability to create.

Stephen Covey, in his book 7 Habbits of Highly Successful People gives us a wonderful insight into creativity.

He says that every action, every step, every piece of art, every bridge, every piece of garbage collected is the result of not one but two creative steps.

The first is seeing before it is.  Seeing your foot take the next step.  Seeing how your art could turn out.  Seeing how a bridge will work and drawing its schematics.  Seeing the floor clear of rubbish.

The second act of creation is actualizing that which you envisioned.  Taking the step, painting the picture, building the bridge, and picking up the trash.

In this light we are all very very creative people.  We see and act every day.

Perhaps picking up garbage isn’t the most creative thing in the world. At some point someone did get creative about the task, though. A grabber/ nabber was affixed to the end of a pole.  It could be operated from the top of the pole.  Perfect! the creator didn’t have to bend over so much. Seems pretty creative to me.

Creativity can invigorate any activity that requires you to exert yourself to find a solution.  (See Chpt. 9 and 10 that deal with how to focus creativity.)

Creativity is one of those things that is hard to describe. It’s a little too fluent to really peg down.  In that way it’s a bit like air.

As was mentioned at the top of this article.  Air has the potential to make things HOT. And we’re back to the car…

Performance vehicles are specially tuned to ram extra air into the engine so it can burn the fuel more efficiently and produce more power.

When we want to cover greater distances at more exilirrating speeds in the cars of our lives we must add air.

So to must we add creativity to our passion.  It is this blend that creates explosive energy catupluting our livese into the best selling biographies section of Chapters and making an honest-to-God difference in our world.

When your potential employer asks you a question he wants you to tell him about your car. No matter the question he is interested in only one thing. Your Car.  When he asks about your education tell him about your car.  When he asks about your relevant experience tell him about your car.

Actually, it’s just the sort of thing that everyone wants to hear you talk about.  Your dentist, your friends, your BFF, and even your mom. Your car your car your car.

C.a.r, you see, is actually a clever acronym for

Circumstance

Action

Result

So really, people wnat to hear your stories.  They want to hear your interactions with your world.  They want to know what you did and what happened as a result.

That being said, I should confess that this piece is not really about your car.  It is actually about living a story that is so enriched by creative action and the hope that your initiatives can make your environment better that  people will want to read your biography while searching for the HBO mini series of the same title.

The car analogy is convenient.  In fact there is another that is built on the chassis of the same frame. (That frame being a car.)

Everyone is born with a measure of talent, creativity, and passion.  So far as I can see no two are born identical. Unlike a car, every human being has unique insights, ideas, and impetus to interact with their world. (Only in the dreary  halls of dullardrum do we see people as all-the-same or equally talented and passionate in the same way.)

Cars are amazingly intricate pieces of machinery.  Sufficiently so that most people take their car to the shop to get it fixed, despite astronomical shop fees, because they just have no idea what’s going on in there. Sufficiently so that while at the wrecker when asked by my brother if the car we were looking at had a starter I confirmed that it did – not knowing I was looking at the transmission.

That being said, and to make the analogy work let us reduce it down to some simple parts.

At the most basic level there are three parts to a working car.

1. Fuel (gas, or petrol for my int’l audience.) 2. Engine 3. Wheels.

That should help us all get on the same page.

Now, let’s talk a little bit about engines.  In the late 1600′s a fine gentleman named Christian Huygens developed an internal combustion engine that would run on gun powder.  http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarsgasa.htm His attempts are not noted to be particularly successful but he did pave the way for Mr(s). Otto, Benz and Daimler to develop the basic mechanics of how the gas engine in most vehicles you see today work.(Despite trying to take over the world, twice, we can see the Germans have made some contributions to our lives.)

The basic idea of an internal combustion engine is that fuel and air will be mixed in precise proportions, pressurized, made to burn (explode), and in so doing create motion.This motion is then, hopefully, transformed into some usable force:  in the case of a car it is used to turn the wheels.

Let us say that creativity and passion are the air and fuel in the engine.  Creativity that all-seeing mistress and passion that desirous captain make for quite an explosive duo.

What then in the engine?  Discipline.

Whether it is external or internal, discipline is that steely part in us that must be strong enough to contain the explosion of creativity and passion.  It goes by many names – hard work, determination, commitment, hardheadedness etc.

Discipline mixes passion with creativity in precise measures, pressurizes them and then lights them on fire to create.

Without discipline fuel that is burned is useless to a car.  It can be used to burn the car, i suppose, but i highly doubt that anyone sets out to burn to the ground the car they wish to drive.

Short of not having an engine at all engines must be set up right.  An engine may mix too much air or too much fuel.  Either combination produces lack- luster performance.

And so it is true in us.  If we have tonnes of passion about a certain topic but no creative solution we will likely not make an impact beyond our living room.  If we have tonnes of creativity but nothing to be passionate about we will likely be highly frustrated individuals (whose moms would really like us to move out soon.)

Wheels.  Wheels come next.  Without them the aforementioned is useless.  (Well, everything before is useless provided you are using your car for more than a couch.)

Wheels are where all of the force produced in the engine goes.  Of all the parts they are the most simple, the most useful, the most exhilarating and the most scary.  Most accidents, if I’m not mistaken, take place when the car is in motion – after all.

Wheels are action.

When passion, creativity, discipline and action work together the results are wonderful stories.  Stories revealing the extrodinary coming from the ordinary.  Stories that capture people acting with passion and creativity in every walk of life. Stories that graciously grab your attention, warm your heart, and seduce your imagination into letting go and believing that your own story can resound in the hearts of your peers, friends, family, neighbors, nation and world.