Embrace the Quirky: Exploring the Joy of Random Creative Bursts

Guest Writer: Chad Marcus Smith

In the vast landscape of our minds lies an intricate web of thoughts, ideas, and whimsical musings waiting to be explored. Often, it’s the unexpected, the random, and the unconventional ideas that pave the way for our most creative endeavors. And through it all,  such as they are, these ribbons of randomness pulsing through our brains can be the intellectual lightning storm,of innovation  new ideas or leading us down imaginative paths  we never knew existed.

Photo by Steph Wilson @stephwill

Our minds are fascinating realms where chaos and creativity collide. Sometimes, in the midst of our daily routines, a random thought emerges - an idea that seems to come out of nowhere. It could be an unusual combination of words, a peculiar image, or a quirky scenario playing out in our heads. These seemingly inconsequential thoughts are the raw materials of creativity.

Embracing Playfulness

Embracing these random thoughts often requires a dash of playfulness. It’s about letting go of the constraints of practicality and allowing ourselves to revel in the joy of imagination. Engaging in creative play, such as doodling aimlessly, engaging in word associations, or daydreaming, can provide fertile ground for these spontaneous bursts of creativity.

Cultivating Creativity

To nurture these random creative thoughts, creating an environment that encourages exploration is key. Surrounding oneself with diverse experiences, exposing oneself to new art forms, literature, music, or even engaging in unconventional activities, can stimulate the mind and encourage unconventional thinking.

Turning Quirkiness into Innovation

Many groundbreaking ideas have originated from seemingly bizarre or unrelated thoughts. Take, for instance, the story of the Post-it note, born out of a failed attempt at developing a super-strong adhesive. Embracing the randomness of creative thoughts can lead to unexpected breakthroughs and innovative solutions.

Photo by Ian Schneider @goian

Embracing the Journey

Exploring the realm of random creative thoughts is not just about the destination—it’s about enjoying the journey. It’s about relishing the process of discovery, embracing the unpredictability, and finding joy in the surprises our minds offer.

Conclusion

In a world that often values structured thinking and linear progress, the beauty of random creative thoughts lies in their spontaneity and unpredictability. They remind us to embrace the unconventional, explore the uncharted territories of our minds, and find joy in the simple act of letting our imaginations roam freely. So, the next time a peculiar idea pops into your head, embrace it, play with it, and see where it takes you—you might just stumble upon something truly extraordinary.

A Short Journal Entry on Quarantine, Creativity, and Being Human When the World Seems Inhumane

by Michael LaPenna

Like many of you, I’ve spent the past several contemplating my next move… I’m going through the roller coaster of emotional consequences caused by COVID-19. I spent the first week contemplating my own mortality: if I died, if either or both of my parents died, if my wife died. Couple that with the prospect of dying alone and you get a cocktail for crying myself to sleep and telling myself to seek immediate talk therapy. I took myself up on the offer and therapy put everything in perspective: the relative unlikelihood of death, the realization of what I had instead of what I didn’t. I spent a lot of time thinking about what getting the most out of life means for me while coming face-to-face with this insipid invisible air monster that can kill me, make me sick, or give me no symptoms all that, as of this writing, has no cure and no universally defined treatment. I thought about unfinished creative projects that I would be sad about not being able to do or complete before I died—and so, I thought I could do all that during the quarantine, but the natural depression of the news (COVID-19, economic recession, civil unrest, and the coming election here in the US) and the simple lack of the usual events that consume my life on a regular basis. (Even with my wife being an introvert by nature, we do a lot of going out and spending time with others). We couldn’t go to farmers’ markets, to our friends parties, their weddings, their baby showers—nor could we go out to eat to support our favorite local restaurants or find and explore new ones. Still, weirdest of all, with the sports world on hold for an indefinite amount of nebulous time until earlier this summer, the only sports available for moths were South Korean baseball and the Twilight Zone that is professional wrestling with no audience. (For those that don’t know, I grew up loving the mixture of sports, soap opera, circus, and magic show that is professional wrestling. There’s no other genre like it in the world, and like most things, when it’s bad it’s the worst bad movie no Razzie can encapsulate, but when it’s good and when the crowd is invested, it’s like watching your favorite action movie with a live audience of 20,000 people witnessing live theater of the absurd joys and tragedies of life—but I digress.

As we look upon or collective human condition in this moment, I cannot help but realize that this experience is forcing us to stop and be still in world usually so comfortable to be busy, hustling, distracted, and disquieted. It is wresting us down to think of what’s important and at best has and likely will necessitate that we innovate new ways of being human beings in our level of patience, kindness, and learning what to when people and and situations aren’t either of those ( in times of tension or protest). For creatives that could mean so many things, but most of all, it might give us more time to think and to be in solitude with what our art is. After all, drawing, painting, writing, or sculpting can be done in solitude and much of it can be done in quarantine. (Most of us are not Shakespeare or Galileo calculating and crafting our respective calculuses or King Lears in the self-reflective solitary confinement of quarantine). We do know; however, that we don’t like to be too stagnant for too long. As the late Bruce Lee might remind us, humans at our creative best like to flow like water down a teaming stream filled with life and vitality. Lee famously implored us to, “Be water, my friend.” I endorse the flow.

For months now around the world, we homebound humans have been being asked to stay in with friends, with family—or by ourselves with suddenly enough time to stop, breathe; read the books we’ve been meaning to read, watch all the movies we’ve been meaning to watch, initiate all the exercise we’ve been meaning to take new levels of fitness, or make all the art we’ve neglected to prioritize as soul food (including my own creative writing).

So as you come out of your funk, your depression, your fears, consider that though the world may be in one of its darkest hours in the past hundred years—being forced apart by quarantine or by unfortunate departure from this planet—the living and moving majority of us have a call to be ourselves in the best ways we know possible and to show the world what is possible through tragedy and tears while on the way to possibility and triumph..

Black Lives and LGBTQ+ Lives Are Our Neighbors and Their Houses Are on Fire

by Michael LaPenna

I’ve been thinking through and living with so many emotions lately, and I just wanted to post something of love and support from the perspective of a guy that is both the majority and minority (as a white man and a person with cerebral palsy who grew up in multicultural neighborhoods and racially integrated lunch tables all the while still feeling like the most different one in the room) who believes that black lives matter and LGBTQ+ lives matter as well as any life who feels unheard and unseen. 

Suspicion of a counterfeit $20 bill is not in any way a cogent and practical reason for George Floyd to have died. Being shot in her bed by police because they had the wrong house shouldn’t have killed Breonna Taylor. Jogging in a predominently white neighborhood shouldn’t be a reason why an otherwise healthy Ahmaud Arbery died. Someone else’s discomfort with a person’s gender identity or sexuality shouldn’t be a reason why 18 trans people have been murdered in 2020 alone. Rather, let’s treat people—not only better—but the very best we can treat them. Even if we disagree on issues, and even if we aren’t the very best of friends with every person we encounter. I believe we too often act like Samaritans minding our own business. Let’s instead leave a wider space inside our hearts for the common dignity we would give to strangers, loved ones—and all people endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and be good to one another because, in no uncertain terms, we cannot love one another and our neighbors as ourselves only when it’s convenient. Loving one another as ourselves, for me, means seeing our common humanity in each face and personality we encounter on a daily basis for better and for worse to heal our wounds and lift up our joys for the good of us all. Yes, all lives do matter, but when your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t scream, “What about my house?” and throw stones, you get help to put that fire out. It’s time to put the fire out in America with liberty and justice for all.

Create With Us!

Business is expanding more quickly than I could’ve imagined, and for the better. The blog posts may continue to be a bit more curated or sporadic in the near term. Of course, if you would like to blog with us, more specifically, with me Mikey, Fill out your information at the “Work with us!” section at the contact page here and I’ll get back to you usually within 48 hours. 

Keep creating,
Michael LaPenna

Set Off on the Path of Freelance Success

by Courtney Rosenfeld, gigspark.biz

Though once considered the fringe of employment, 16.5 million people work in the gig economy in the United States, a figure that’s set to grow as more and more companies outsource projects and professionals discover the freedom and flexibility of being their own boss, setting their own hours and often working from home. 

This could be a golden opportunity for you, whether you’re tired of trudging to the office every day or looking for an extra source of income in retirement. Opportunity abounds in a number of specialties, from writing to designing to pet care to housecleaning. However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the responsibility of running your own show and finding enough contracts to pay the bills, so here are some tips to keep things on track.

Set Goals

You need goals to stay motivated, move forward and be successful, says an entrepreneur writing for the Balance Small Business, who provides a list of resources that help you set realistic targets for your enterprise, whether they’re financial or related to finding new clients. Remember to divide them up into long-term and short-term goals so you have something to aim for every day when you start work. There’s no point in just saying, “I want to be a millionaire.” If that’s the dream, you have to make a plan for it.

Create a Cozy Home Office

You’ll be spending a lot of time in your office, so make sure you’re well equipped in a space that’s dedicated to work and nothing else. It will serve you well if you have a spare room you can devote to your enterprise, but setting aside a quiet corner in the basement or attic would also suffice. A natural source of light does wonders to keep up your spirits, especially when the sun is shining, while an ergonomic chair provides the comfort you need for long hours at the computer. If your home is lacking space, you could convert part of your garage into an office. If you don’t have a garage on your property, consider building a prefab steel garage and using it as office space. Steel structures are inexpensive and easy to maintain.  

Stay Organized

According to a startup expert with Forbes, successful entrepreneurs all “batch” their tasks. This refers to grouping everything you need to do into categories, then doing one of those all at once. For example, set aside one morning for writing emails and the afternoon for developing a business plan, but keeping in mind priorities that need to get done that day, of course. This technique helps you avoid floundering in a jumble of random activities.

Manage Your Finances 

One of the cardinal rules of running your own business is separating your business from your personal life, and the easiest way is by setting up separate bank accounts. Once that’s done, create a budget for expenses based on an average of what you make from month to month, as that varies. Remember that you are one of those expenses, so pay yourself on a regular basis by transferring money to your personal account. Be sure you have enough to keep up with loan payments, and use a home cost calculator to determine how much you can spend on property if you’re on the market.

Keep Marketing

The nature of freelance work means bouncing from contract to contract or project to project, so you can never cease promoting your services, or your revenue streams may dry up. With little cash to spend on advertising, choose a few inexpensive means of getting the word out, and batch them into your schedule. Social media channels are on your side, so make daily or weekly posts that include a link to your blog or website, and don’t be timid in asking for referrals from past and current customers.

Watch Your Health

When striking out on your own with a new business, you need to be at your best mentally and physically, so this is not the time to neglect your diet and fitness routine no matter how much you want to tap away at your laptop. Turn it off, put on your sneakers and head out for a jog, cycle or power walk. When it’s time to eat, load up on vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains while keeping sugar and fat intake at a minimum.

Starting up your own business may be a bit nerve-wracking at first, but once the revenue starts flowing in, you’ll begin to appreciate the freedom of being your own boss. It’s truly liberating, so enjoy it.

Image via Pexels.

Courtney Rosenfield started her career in the gig economy after several years of enviously watching others do the same thing. She started Gigspark to be a resource and a first step for people who are looking to join the gig economy, either to supplement their income or as a way to fulfill their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur.

Coming This Fall to FreelanceMikey.com!

I’m back with a quick update about this blog. Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary patrons and readers!

Life is getting busy as I get ready to ebmark on several new endeavors, and with all this, I’m going to be transforming this blog into an information and interview portal into the hearts and minds of creative professionals from every walk of life from America to Indonesia and any and all points in between. (I’d go into space if I could). My goal is to take you on as many fun journeys into the worlds of creative business art and the art of creative business In ways that are at once focused and fun, comprehensive yet conversational.

Interviews and features will include any of the following:

• Entrepreneurs

• Educators

• Business leaders

• Visual artists

• Musicians

• Actors

• Comedians

• Novelists

• Screenwriters

• Playwrights

• Graphic designers

• Home stagers

• Multimedia artists

• Psychologists

• Sociologists

• Biographers/historians

Join me this fall as we take a journey into all this and more!

#MondayMotivation: The Domino Effect and the Inspirational Story of Thaddeus Bullard

This is the inspirational story of Thaddeus Bullard…

More on Thaddeus Bullard at thaddeusbullard.com

Thaddeus Bullard was born to a preteen mother under horrible circumstances but was never given up on despite it all. This is that story.

So many times in life, we are given a choice to treat people a particular way. From our loved ones to our bosses, to the random person who asks for our help, we all have choices to make. This is the story of what happens when we choose kindness over indifference and the particular domino effect that can follow.

The following TEDx Talk by philanthropist, entrepreneur, and performer Thaddeus Bullard (who performs and wrestles as WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil) tells the tale himself in the TEDxUCLA video below.

Key points:

- Watch what happens when one man shows kindness to someone who is racist against him.

- Hear the inspirational story of the homeless couple Mr. Bullard invited to a restaurant for a meal and the “domino effect” and powerful catalyst it inspired.

Thaddeus (as Titus O’Neil) wears the WWE Tag Team championship with teammate Darren Young. (WWE.com)

TED Talks (short for Technology, Education, and Design Talks) have been known to inspire millions of people and to move arts, culture, and technology forward by new and interesting means, but this TED Talk is bit of an outlier just meant to inspire simple kindness, I suppose.

Just a little dose of Monday Motivation to make you smile a little brighter!

Every day, things we do knowingly or unknowingly, affect others. Sometimes it's a small effect, and sometimes it's profound and causes a chain reaction. If you're going to have an effect, why not make it a good one.

Updates on Business and Life Transitions

Hi All,

I just wanted to touch base with anybody who might be coming by the blog. Life transitions are moving things around a bit and I’ve also been focusing on my health as of late. I still would like to get more projects profiled on here at FreelanceMikey, so feel free to hit me back. I’m excited about some new projects in the pipeline along with planning my wedding for next year! More good to come! Be good!

Updates, updates!

Hey All,

Just a quick update from yours truly from the FreelanceMikey headquarters in beautiful suburban New York. I’ve had to take some time to handle my health in the past two weeks, but now it’s time to get back on the horse! I’m currently in the process of booking interview segments for the blog here on the FreelanceMikey website.

If you're a creative person who kind of views life from a 45° angle (as George Carlin used to say) or just looking to showcase your work in a way that is accessible, talkative, intuitive, and fun, contact me here or on Twitter and Instagram @FreelanceMikey! i’d love to talk shop with you about  your contributing influences, meandering pathways, and your highest moments of creative clarity in life, art, business, personal growth, and more. I look forward to chatting with you soon!
 

12 Things Successful People Do Differently

There you are sitting at your desk, mulling over your bills, tired from a day at work filled with aching shoulders and employees who seem much more concerned with their time off than that end-of-day deadline for that latest campaign for that Bakery outside Boston.

You want more! You want greater heights to explore who you are as a business, as a boss, and as a creative being! 

So how can you do all this without killing your time or your energy and maximizing effectiveness in all areas?

Here are 12 things successful people do differently to achieve maximum results in their businesses and lives without going over their limits.
 

Updated 5/23/18: New Blog Interview Series Coming! Conversations About Creating with Michael LaPenna

(We are slightly delayed due to the tornado-like weather that hit the New York area last week. Thanks for being awesome and patient).

Do you like art at 45 degree angles? Do you like people who paint spaceships and sing jazz? Do you like yoga AND psychology? So often, creativity is thought of as a static thing like painting, theatre, music, writing, and the like—but what about what's between those nooks and crannies, between the cracks, the twilight between all these?

I'm interested in the inspiration behind creative work and the lives inspired by that spark.

New things are coming your way and evolving starting with a new blog interview series called Conversations About Creating. Conversations About Creating will explore everything from creative yoga for for healing mental trauma, to neo jazz funk music artists to make you love life just that much more! Join me, Michael LaPenna, for free-wheeling, art-loving, music-jamming, sculpture-making, groundbreaking conversations With creative people from a wide range of fields and feels In the world of art, science, craft, writing, music—and a whole lot of good feelings! It’ll be good times with some good minds, and I can’t wait!

Don't miss Conversations About Creating coming in the coming weeks to FreelanceMikey.com!

New Goodness Coming Up!

 

Well, it’s been wild one—between unique screenplay projects and personal delays due to a death in the family—but have no fear, I’ll be back next week with greatness, (or at least a really fun, passable facsimile). Be good and do some good!

P.S. I might even do a post about visiting the David Bowie exhibit in New York City, or I could talk about my alma mater SUNY New Paltz’s production of Avenue Q that I’m seeing over the weekend. We shall see. :)

#MondayMotivation: Each Day Brings a New Opportunity To Create Something

Each day brings a new opportunity to create something...

I just want to drop you a line and remind you about your creative opportunities. Every day brings a new opportunity to create something: a moment, a dance, a friendship,  a blog post, a song, a project, a job, a work of art, a work of craft. You can do ANYTHING THAT MOMENT GIVES YOU! Just play around, and see what you can come up with, and  follow your bliss!

#MondayMotivation: Drake Gave Away a Million Dollars In 'God's Plan' Music Video

Drake Gave Away a Million Dollars In 'God's Plan' Music Video

In this installment of #MondayMotivation, we see what happened when hip hop superstar Drake decided to give away his $996,631.90 music video budget to everyone in a struggling black community: from a college essay winner and shoppers at your neighborhood grocer to your average Joe and Jane on the street.

It's something I've even considered doing in my own life (upon reaching my future business goals at FreelanceMikey and beyond). In saying that, it occurs to me that there's really no reason any of us can't decide to give away a smaller amount to another person in need. $20 well shopped can buy dinner for a single mother of two. It's clear (to me at least) that this wasn't done to self-agrandize on Drake's part. I believe he's showing we can all do one small thing to change our neighbor's world if we want to do it. Let's do good because we want to and we can. 

Why the Creative Thinking of Your Childhood Is the Basis for All Real Learning

The following is a revamp of a blog I wrote a decade ago that strangely but propitiously fits in our current creative culture in America.

Elementary art teacher Ms. Escobal documents one child's moment of innovation with certain found objects.

“I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.” -Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from the Underground

Think back to your childhood. Did you play? Did you run around your house in your underpants pretending to be your favorite hero or heroin trying to save the world from an evil scientist? Did you ever build anything: a house of cards, a tower of crackers, maybe a simple fort? Did you ever play cop and fight imaginary villains and try to thwart a robbery? Maybe you were the one who pretended to have a family of five, a beachfront vacation home, and an office in the city. Even if you did none of these, back when you were six, nine, eleven years old, your mind wandered if your normal day-to-day got too boring.

Now contrast your play life with that of school. First, the adults made you go. There was no compromise, no voting and no writing to your local senator or the ACLU about how you feel your parents may have violated your constitutional right to stay home and eat Fudgie the Whale ice cream cake all day (or maybe, it was Count Chocula… whatever). You had to go to school. No amount of negotiating would change that. You rode your school bus, arrived at school, and soon thereafter would learn whatever the day had in store: spelling, grammar, math and history for which you had no point of reference. Flashcards were equally monotonous—you sat in your chair memorizing each card to the point your brain would just shut off and proceed to rattle off answers like a Pavlovian pup waiting to be rewarded with that peanut butter and jelly masterpiece your mother prepared while you were negotiating the Fudgie the Whale particulars.

Then, it was lunchtime! Lunch was great because you could always compare the other kids’ food with yours. Even if yours was crappy, the kid at the end of the table who ate crayons for money would devour your cafeteria meatloaf like a vulture on a deer carcass! Lunch was a time to talk about your favorite pastimes. Baseball was popular with the boys and for some unknown reason, fortune telling was the girls’ thing with little paper-folded demon machines which always said something like “You smell like pee and have a hairy butt!” Recess would follow and someone would always get maimed by a dodgeball or innocently and precociously chased by a member of the opposite sex (usually) and another kid would get inadvertently beaten with the double dutch ropes.

Next, you’d have more science work to do, memorizing ten categories of plant life or you’d learn how to type like a speed endurance champion, or maybe go to a gym class, art class, music class (These all varied depending on your school’s budget). But these were the times that seemed most free. In art class you could paint the sky purple and no one could tell you it was wrong. Music class had all those silly 1920s “flappertastic” classics that you by all accounts hated—but at least it didn’t have any long division or decimals! On the days you had gym, you ran in a circle for ten minutes and then perfected your volleyball serve to a tee while you gave your best Olympic-style grunt. Ah, those were the days, heh?

It is, without question, sadly prophetic that I should speak in the past tense about your and my collective school experience because right now as I speak to you, even in 2018,  there are serious numbers of K-12 aged students who do not receive regular physical education—and art classes, while the highlight of many a child’s day are now a luxury. This is largely due to the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act which brought about stricter and more streamlined testing standards for schools nationwide that focus primarily on math and literacy skills. Kids are tested three times a year and thus have to spend a considerable amount of time preparing for tests. But the evidence suggests that without the arts and exercise, U.S. Children may be actually losing their ability to process, analyze and dissect information in ways that are essential for innovation in business, science, engineering, and medicine.  Centers for Disease Control data has long suggested that children who get at least 60 minutes of physical play or exercise per day do better in all general aspects of learning and cognitive function (Read here). The arts have been shown to be even more paramount to healthy brain function. Playing music, for instance, requires vigorous processing on both sides of the brain (Read about music and the brain here.) while creative expressions in writing and visual arts require critical thinking and an ability to view the world and its problems in new and uncharted ways for the fact that art is not usually restricted to 2 + 2 = 4 (More here). This was probably best expressed in the words of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky in his existential classic Notes from the Underground when he opined, “I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.”

What No Child Left Behind (and rigorous core testing in general) robs from children’s education is the imagination of childhood and also fails to cultivate that all important physical instinct to run, jump, climb, push, and explore which physical exercise provides. Children have an uncanny and innate ability to conquer their world just by looking around it, exploring, digging, running or playing make-believe. It is just that simple. In this way, children who make art are the future architects and engineers. The most curious minds are often among those who cure diseases or build spaceships and the best actors are often the best undercover investigators on the face of the earth! Then there are the entertainers who make you and me smile at the end of a bad day, artists who allow us to look at our lives with newborn eyes, or athletes who make us realize that our human bodies have oh, so much untapped potential! It is, my friends, these elements which compose the human being in all his/her/their glory and you and I have known this ever since we first began to play. So I say to you: Play on, create, and imagine. Imagination is after all, your most sacred tool with which to discover the Universe of possibility which lies before you!

 

Buy Books and Donate Books at betterworldbooks.com!

Buy Books and Donate Books at betterworldbooks.com!

Hey guys, this is a great cause that I really love! Check it out:

You can support reading and literacy in underserved communities with a great company called Better World Books. Literacy charities are a big cause for me, and I'd like to share this video with you to encourage you to help give a book to someone in need by going to Better World Books' website here or at the link above. For every book sold, the company gives a book away to someone who needs a book to read in literacy programs all over the world. I love this cause, and I encourage you to use the site to buy your books or go to their Better World Books Amazon storefront and give there. All books get FREE STANDARD SHIPPING as well!

I just bought a book I can't wait to read called The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One by Margaret Lobenstine. I'll let you guys know how it is when I'm done reading it. :)

Thanks in advance and happy reading!

Expect to Succeed—Even If You Don't

Expect to succeed—even if you don't.

So often as a creative consultant, I'm asked what my advice is for basic success in anything and everything from creative project planning for your boss' all-inclusive, multi-cultural holiday party featuring a traditional Nigerian Christmas, to writing a confident letter to HR so that you can create your own job title as Director of Photography for the new website for that antique shop in Topeka. My answer is almost always the same: "See the success as if it's already there, and then, take that feeling, and let it fuel all the excitement and ideas it can!" Some ideas will be great and some horrendous, but the whole point is in the doing. In coaching and in cognitive behavioral therapy, this is often called "acting as if." It's a practice that primes the thinker to feel what it's like to be where he or she wants to be. More to this point, the science has shown that, very often, our emotions and biological systems can't tell much of a difference between the feelings of our imaginations and the arrival and actualizations of our goals.  (Read a full text on how acting, and imagination create experience, empathy, and more here.) The more you do this, the more practiced and proficient you'll be come. Try it now. I'd like you to picture yourself in your ideal job. You're in a chair you like. You're talking with people you enjoy working with. Janet just had a great idea for that new project way before the deadline! You smile and feel excitement in your belly!

Now, look at the above scenario and notice how you feel when you're thinking about whatever relatable scenario you have for your own life: planning a trip with your partner, starting that new business you've been putting off. Take that exact thing, that exact wonderful feeling, and feel it as if it's right there in front of you! Notice how you can't stop smiling! Notice how many multitudes of ideas pop into your head! Notice how "in the zone" you feel or  how going "with the flow" becomes your natural state. (Read more on flow psychology here.)  You see yourself succeeding, getting that promotion you've known is coming, and that relationship you're picturing seems so good! You sit better. You stand better. You speak clearly. You're willing to take chances. Go right ahead! Try that new cardio salsa class; take that trip to Indonesia; write that book based on that epiphany you had in tenth grade. When you act from that joy and that right feeling, you don't rush from a place of fear and make rash leaps into a void of no return; rather, you act with a level head and being willing to fail a bunch and figure it out as you go. In this much, practice doesn't make perfect as much as it just makes learning and grows a belief that your goal is possible.

All successes start with an idea of what's possible. A thousand years ago, could anyone have predicted the iPhone? Think even farther back to the wonders of the ancient world. Could the rulers of the Egyptian dynasties—in all their belief in the bedazzling power of the Pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian people's unwavering confidence in the most advanced knowledge entrusted to the great Library of Alexandria—have conceived of some of the poorest people on our planet now having access to the ubiquitous LIBRARY OF EVERYTHING that we call Google? Nope. All these miracles or creativity first had to be imagined and believed possible by their inventors. It's the faith in what could be possible, (what psychologists refer to as growth mindset. Read here.) that creates ideas, technology, etc. It's this growth mindset that I really believe fosters a willingness to experiment and make mistakes that lead to eventual success. I can attest to this in my own work. Some of the best music mixes I've made have been by accident, and I sometimes write scripts and stories after a mishap like falling down in my kitchen while saving a chocolate cake from splattering onto my kitchen floor. This kind of "pro-mishappenstance" mentality is even more useful and even fun when one considers, that, to paraphrase Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert in her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, art and the arts—on even the broadest of spectrums—are not, nor have they ever been fatal to a well-lived life. There are no botched surgeries caused by a smudged painting, no loss of life from a flubbed lyric at a Kanye West concert, and neither your health nor your finances will likely ever be compromised by your hatred for Salvador Dali's Mae West lips couch, (despite your mother's thinking to the contrary). Your creativity can afford mistakes.

Last, but never least, I want to leave you with the notion that you should find joy in the steps: the journey, the air you breathe, the path you travel. Life doesn't wait for you to be happy when it's over. Choose to be happy now! Choose to expect to be happy with all that life gives you. You will fail, and you will succeed. You may have to change plans and mix it up, but staying expectant of good things will make you enjoy and see all the good that is, and seeing this positive growth will most likely encourage exploration in you. You'll find yourself getting more done and being happier: happily failing and succeeding, and dreaming maybe a little bigger and a little more boldly each time. So, take chances, fall down, get up, make mistakes, innovate, invent, and reinvent—and expect to succeed even when you don't—and in the words of the late Joseph Campbell, follow your bliss! 

How to be happy (in business and in life)

How to be happy has always plagued us, but the search for how to be happy ultimately comes down to a being and not a searching. How to be happy in business or in everyday life is a discision you and I must make. The only way to be happy is to be being it as much as possible. Be the thing that makes you happy by doing the thing that makes you happy! The following excerpt is from a several-decades-old lecture from the late Alan Watts. It's called "Why you're not Happy."