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In my most recent post, I touched on the concept of being able to blend two or more art forms with high quality in each. I’ve come back to this idea repeatedly in my thoughts since. For me, the most prominent examples  with the most social impact are films and the music that underscore them. The problem I’ve encountered is my realization–with just a small measure of research–that I know very little on a subject with which I thought I had a firm command. I haven’t seen nearly enough movies and studied them in depth to make judgments with any true expertise, but I do pay attention and have a substantial appreciation of movies and music, having written some in both fields. If I only could, I would make this an interactive discussion and allow everyone to throw a hat into the ring.

I think it’s obvious the art of film has evolved, as has music for film. There’s a tendency to think the latest is the best, whether it’s in this medium, television, sports or whatever. Sometimes respect for the classic form is dismissed in contemporary surveys. I’ve found lists of the best in the last 25 years, taking us back to the age-encrusted year of 1993. On the flip side, the American Film Institute pays tribute to the finest film scores back as early as 1933 in its top 25. King Kong got the nod from AFI in this case. My intention is to list the best movie and music combination in the last 50 years, for it is in the intertwining of the two that I find the most magic. Reaching back only to 1968 isn’t really adequate for a full study, but it acknowledges a healthy respect through a large chunk of film and music history. I’ll also consider the soundtracks with compilations of popular music apart from a film score, for I have been more deeply touched by some of those than I have by brilliant composition made to draw the most out of the visual effect on the screen.

So let’s get to the heart of this venture. I welcome comments in the spirit of fun, lively discussion. Maybe my opinion will miss the mark on some. The list, after all, should be gads longer. But it’s the cream we’re skimming here, taking a teaspoon from a tanker.

From the decade of the 1960’s, the nominees are Lawrence of Arabia, Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Pink Panther, and The Sound of Music. Although the scope of Lawrence of Arabia and Magnificent Seven as films and their grand music are tremendous, I don’t find them as compelling as the other candidates. I hate to rule out The Pink Panther because the music is precious to me, but again the comedic shenanigans–brilliant as they are–don’t rise to the level of the story lines of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Sound of Music. The beauty of the music and the heart-wrenching tale of To Kill a Mockingbird are nearly impossible to discount. I can’t. From a personal perspective, though, I have to reluctantly choose The Sound of Music as the best of the 60’s because of the iconic music, the illustrious colorful beauty of the cinematography and the gravity of the story it tells. Not that Mockingbird takes a back seat to any film or book for value to humanity. It is on the other factors stated above that Sound of Music edges out Mockingbird.

In the ’70’s, there were some phenomenal breakthroughs in scoring film. 1972 brought us The Godfather, inseparable from its music. Chinatown in ’74 brought us classic film noir with fresh faces and fresh music that graced us with fine jazz transcended by other appropriate blends of suspense and the macabre. John Williams teamed with Steven Spielberg to scare the hell out of us with Jaws in ’75, leaving an indelible stain on beaches and Great White Sharks everywhere. Then in ’77, Williams and George Lucas changed everything in the marrying of film and music. Star Wars was and is a cultural phenomena unparalleled in its broad appeal and the Williams score was a signature piece fans recognize today, four decades later. I can’t go on without mentioning at least Five Easy Pieces, Taxi Driver, and American Graffiti as another few movies that carry great impact visually and musically. I want badly to tab Star Wars as the best of the decade, but I’m influenced by public opinion that The Godfather may be the best movie of all time. The film score did nothing to detract from such high honors either, so I must bow to the filmmaker and composer who put together this artistic masterpiece.

Come back to the theater soon and I’ll tear your tickets to the succeeding four decades.

 

 

What did you want to be when you were a child? Did you have any trouble answering that question when someone would ask? Did the answer change from time to time as you grew older? As our interests develop and expand, we are likely to have different aspirations. For example, when it comes time to actually make a decision, as in when you have to choose a college and a major, or when you find yourself looking for a career. Some people never fully decide on anything and just follow where life’s circumstances lead them. However, there are those who have the talent and ability to bring together a combination of occupations or activities that can sustain them financially and fulfill them emotionally. These are the fortunate ones–not to say they don’t deserve the wonderful life they’ve designed for themselves. And if they manage to pull this off in the world of the arts, they have found the Shangri-la of vocationdom, to coin a word.

I have a theory that everyone knows what they want to do. Some just haven’t thought of it yet. I firmly believe our lives have a purpose. I can’t prove it, nor can it be proven wrong. So, I’m just another guy with an opinion. For me, it’s a conviction…a knowing that I can’t unknow. But I digress. It’s a discussion for another day. The focus should remain on what we want to do with our lives. My experience with regard to having a chosen profession, one I have written in my bio and my profiles relating to my work as a writer, is that I knew with certainty I wanted to be an author at the age of six. As soon as I could write, I knew.

Wanting to do something, especially as it pertains to one’s life work, is completely different from actually making it happen. Having a craving for pizza is easily and quickly satisfied. Someone will even promptly deliver it to your door! Turning a long term dream into reality takes persistence, planning, information and a little guidance here and there. Your path is fraught with pitfalls and distractions. I became enamored with baseball, girls and popularity. I still wanted to write and I did complete some short stories in my youth, but it was so much easier to involve myself in sports, dancing and getting laughs than plotting a viable course that required follow-through in the classroom. 

But what about the vast number of human beings that don’t awaken to a dream of their life’s calling? They may grow up through 12 years of education without any subject exciting their minds to action or even ideas of future immersion in any way. I cannot accept that most children don’t find some aspects of this sparkling and shiny world worthy of their sustained active interest that develops into a way of life. Are they overstimulated into apathy by the endless sights and sounds of modern technology? Maybe for some, but the absence of realization of an occupational ideal has been happening for who knows how long–definitely longer than recent generations. Perhaps for these there should be a specific course of study aimed at discovery of that which ignites a passion for a line of work, whether it’s medicine, labor or service. Socially, many more factors than I can address here potentially complicate the matter. Rise above if you can.

I don’t care how old you are. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Today is the first day of the rest of my life.” Whether you have 80 years to go or just one more day, it behooves you to live it to the fullest. To find a fulfilling way to earn your subsistence or simply to help others moves you in that direction. Determining what will give you joy and a sense of purpose is key. I draw now from a wonderful book by Carol Adrienne, The Purpose of Your Life. I’ve isolated one small exercise that she suggests and I’m paraphrasing. As a start, look around your world and what’s in it. What do you consider most valuable and what you want to have in your life? Draw them or list them if you prefer. What do you want to let go from your life? Draw those or list them if you prefer. Write a word or a few to show what value each of those items listed represents to you. Ms. Adrienne points out that you can consciously align yourself with your values to get in touch with how to live your life with purpose. I would suggest using the same exercise to align yourself with an occupation that offers you the most fulfillment.

May your search bring you great favor which in turn benefits all with whom you work.

 

 

 

 

In recent months, I’ve been taking part in the World Religions Book Club at the church I attend in Tucson. We are studying major religions, using The World’s Religions written by Huston Smith. This is a well-written classic book that gives an informed and objective perspective on all practices concerned. I have definitely expanded my understanding of these religious studies encapsulated by Mr. Smith.

While reading the chapter on Confucianism, I learned about wen. Confucius sought to improve the Chinese social structure by providing an enhanced education with specific aspects of content. He broke those down into five categories, the last of which is wen, which refers to “the arts of peace.” These are music, art and poetry and probably others. Smith states, “Confucius valued the arts tremendously. A simple refrain once cast such a spell over him that for three months he became indifferent to what he ate. He considered people who are indifferent to art only half human. Still, it was not art for art’s sake that drew his regard. It was art’s power to transform human nature in the direction of virtue that impressed him–its power to make easy (by ennobling the heart) a regard for others that would otherwise be difficult.”

In Confucius’ words: “By poetry the mind is aroused; from music the finish is received. The odes stimulate the mind. They induce self-contemplation. They teach the art of sensibility. They help to restrain resentment. They bring home the duty of serving one’s parents and one’s prince.”

Confucius was strong on tradition, honoring the elders and the rulers, as long as they did their part in honoring the juniors and the subjects. His concept of wen extended into the political realm, pointing out that ultimately success of a regime is with that which develops the highest wen, or as Smith puts it, “the most exalted culture–the state that has the finest art, the noblest philosophy, the grandest poetry, and gives evidence of realizing that ‘it is the moral character of a neighborhood that constitutes its excellence.’ ” He goes on to say that Chinese culture was so impressive and all-encompassing that even when outside invaders conquered the country, the culture absorbed them rather than being ripped apart and changed. Kublai Khan was the prime example of this phenomena, conquering all of China with his Mongols while having only a superficial influence on the culture.

So, how does wen apply to our world today? Do the values of Confucius show up in the arts over 2500 years later? One example of this was found in a 2016 painting exhibition, titled Origins of Great Beauty. Per an article on China Daily by Lin Qi, it “shows how artists today infuse elements of Confucianism and Taoism into their ink works.

“The show, which is being held at Beijing’s Museum of the Confucius Temple and the Imperial Academy (Guozijian) through Dec 13, displays some 100 figure paintings, landscapes and flower-and-bird works of the three contemporary Chinese painters Yuan Wu, Cao Wu and Xia Tiaxing.

“Qin Dailun, the exhibition’s curator from the Chinese National Museum of Ethnology, says while Yuan has adopted a realistic approach to enrich the expressiveness of traditional figure painting, Cao’s flower-and-bird works show his concern for ecological changes, and Xia’s mountain-and-water paintings reflect the humanistic spirit of ancient painters.”

 

Confucius was a teacher and, of course, a philosopher. He lived during a time when Chinese rulers had resorted to force against their subjects and others who might resist them. He wanted to return society to a respect for tradition while incorporating it into a living part of culture. He introduced and promoted the concept of coming to understand one’s value through contribution to the society and the country in which one lives. He stressed harmony of society and designed a moral code to make this a reality. Note the contrast between that ideal and that of our western culture in which there is so much validation for individual success with secondary regard for altruistic goals. That isn’t to say that Confucian principles didn’t have any influence on our civilization, as this new form of thought and manual for living were carried westward from country to country for centuries.

To accomplish wen is to gain the ability to communicate fully and powerfully. Though no work of art may illustrate this perfectly, following is a poem I think was written by Ching An in the 20th century. Characteristically succinct, this verse puts its loving arms around what it intends to say.

Night Sitting

The hermit doesn’t sleep at night:
in love with the blue of the vacant moon
The cool of the breeze
that rustles the trees
rustles him too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The practice of art, in whatever form, is undoubtedly and inherently therapeutic. The question is, how can you most benefit in your life from the gifts the arts have to offer? To provide a foundation for answers you can fully understand, I’m going to start with a quote from The Art Therapy Sourcebook by Cathy A. Malchiodi. She is a licensed art therapist and clinical counselor. She points out that people new to the subject can become confused by the term. Its use in many contexts, from the wide range of people and variety of situations where it is applied, gives it a diversity that can obscure its basic definition.

Ms. Malchiodi states, “The combination of the words art and therapy also can be confusing. Art therapist and psychologist Judith Rubin coined the phrase that opens this section: Art + Therapy = ? This formula conveys the equation that makes up art therapy–the blending of art and therapy. Art therapy is essentially the marriage of two disciplines: art and psychology. Aspects of the visual arts, the creative process, human development, behavior, personality, and mental health, among others, are important to the definition and scope of art therapy. Art therapy brings together all of these disciplines, making it difficult to understand at first glance.”

The foremost use of art therapy may be the healing of the artist. The concept is that expressing oneself creatively leads to healing and mental well-being. Here’s an example of how this can work, taken from the website for Ragamuffin Creative Arts Therapy.

 

Living in modern society in most parts of the world calls for high energy activity in the near-constant pursuit of more money, more power and more stuff. Success is measured by achievement, accumulation, ascension, adoration and any other description of expansion under any letter of the alphabet. These can lead to stress, disappointment, anxiety and an assortment of conditions which stem from a life of complexity. We don’t necessarily see the connection until we are separated from such an existence, either by calamity of some sort or preferably by reflection on how we arrived at this state of gnarled futility.

The average American full-time employee works 47 hours per week. Let’s say a mother needs to get up by 6:00 AM in order to get the children ready for school and out the door. If she works, she may drop them off at school and head to her workplace where she commences her workday by 8:00. By 6:00 PM, she arrives home and starts dinner. After-dinner cleanup, hopefully with help from family members, wraps at about 7:30. Now it’s time for following up on homework or other needs for the children. Mom and Dad may be able to squeeze in some family business that needs tending or other problems which have cropped up in the daily activities. The remainder of the evening may involve social media upkeep, household administration, reading or other pursuits such as some work-related self-enhancement study. TV, anyone? Any combination of the above could easily take a parent to bedtime, which should be around 10:00 if there’s hope of getting a full night’s sleep. Six or seven hours may have to do. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do those creative things we love.

Not everyone has such a busy life. Some have worse. There’s the business owner who works over 70 hours to keep the venture alive or the poor person who works three jobs to just pay the bills or the middle management executive who is overwhelmed by orders at all hours from above. How can these people ever get ahead of this madness to simplify their lives? The obvious answer is to merely jettison all of it and start over. It’s not practical, but it would bring a whole new clarity to life. Imagine if you were to take a stand and pledge to eliminate everything from your life that makes it unnecessarily complicated. Examples: Living 50 miles from work in a big city. Spending excessive time on Facebook. Feeding any addiction. Becoming a cause point on these things is an important step to simplifying your life.

 

Many would say there’s just nothing they can do. To work less or quit a viable job would amount to financial suicide. The children may be the most important aspect of their lives and they want them to have all possible advantages. Being dedicated to reaching goals is an admirable quality. All these points have merit. Perhaps literally downsizing one’s life isn’t the only answer. Why can’t the simple life be stuffed with activity and abundance? What would that take?

I present a blog excerpt from a helpful website, zenhabits.net, by Leo Babauta. The article is “The Mindfulness Guide for the Super Busy: How to Live Life to the Fullest.” In reference to enjoying life and achieving goals, Mr. Babauta states:

“It seems contradictory to those who are used to sacrificing living for pursuing their goals … but cultivating mindfulness will help you achieve your goals and enjoy life more.

Focusing on one task at a time, putting yourself fully into that task, is much more effective than multi-tasking. Focusing on one real goal at a time is also more effective. I’ve proven it to myself time and again over the last few years (see My Story for more). Focusing on what you’re doing right now is highly effective. You’re more productive when you’re mindful.

But more importantly, being present is undoubtedly the only way to enjoy life to the fullest. By being mindful, you enjoy your food more, you enjoy friends and family more, you enjoy anything you’re doing more. Anything. Even things you might think are drudgery or boring, such as housework, can be amazing if you are truly present. Try it — wash dishes or sweep or cook, and remain fully present. It takes practice, but it’s incredible.”

The article goes into greater detail to assist anyone who would like to give this Zen staple of life a try. The point I’m making is that an uncluttered life is within reach, no matter how overwhelmed your current situation might be. But whether you’re cultivating the art of parenting, racing to meet a book deadline, or teaching overcrowded classes, it’s being in the present from moment to moment that brings light and pure joy to the vast spaces between each and every atom.

 

 

 

 

July 17th, 1915 marked the beginning of an ordeal that Cassandra Coraopolis would never forget.

She and her two-year old son, Alex, were playing on the lawn of their beautiful Connecticut mansion. The summer sun was hot, the air still. With the thought of a cold glass of sweet lemonade, Cassandra rose to her feet and walked into the house.

Meanwhile, with the heart of a cold shaft of steel, thief-turned-kidnapper Sammy Bannister lurked in the bushes that formed the perimeter of the lawn. He realized this was his chance. He burst through the shrubs, sprinting feverishly in the direction of the child. Sweeping Alex up without breaking stride, Bannister made a wide turn and darted for the foliage cover. Quite predictably, young Alex was startled and a loud cry escaped before his abductor silenced him with a hand applied to the mouth.

Out of the house ran Cassandra, catching only a glimpse of the stranger disappearing into the bushes with her child. She pursued them, but before she even reached the wall of brush, she heard the sound of an automobile engine starting beyond the small wood ahead of her. The cries of her child, too, emanated from the car and, likewise, they faded in the distance with the engine that carried them away. The road was empty, save for a wisp of dust, by the time Cassandra arrived there.

This is fiction, unless I tore it from the headlines of a past life. It’s the beginning of a book I haven’t finished writing. I started it because of a dream that played out this scenario. I never took a dream as personally as I did this one, so I felt compelled to get it down on paper. Whether you find it compelling is a matter for you to judge. There are, no doubt, better examples of tales taken from nightmares, sleeping or otherwise.

One is Stephen King’s Misery, in which an author is injured in a car accident and he comes to in the bed of an obsessive fan who loves him a little too much. Their discussion about where she has put his wallet takes a disturbing turn. ” ‘Just what, Mister Man?’ she persisted, and he saw with alarm that the narrow look was growing blacker and blacker. The crevasse was spreading, as if an earthquake was going on behind her brow. He could hear the steady, keen whine of the wind outside, and he had a sudden image of her picking him up and throwing him over her solid shoulder, where he would lie like a burlap sack slung over a stone wall, and taking him outside, and heaving him into a snowdrift. He would freeze to death, but before he did, his legs would throb and scream.”

There is definitely an opportunity here to take advantage of an unfortunate situation by using the negative energy from it to enhance our literary efforts. Colleen M. Story, author of Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, writes in her blog on October 24, 2016, “If you’ve been plagued by nightmares for much of your life, here’s the good news:

It may mean that you’re naturally creative.

A number of studies have linked the two. Back in the 1980s, The New York Times reported on research that indicated nightmare sufferers may have a natural tendency to gravitate toward the arts, and that there appeared to be a link between nightmares and creative vision.”

She goes on to say that subsequent studies in each decade since have supported this theory. Even if they were wrong, the fodder from such wild mental gyrations and the attendant emotions gives the writer much to work with in putting plot and detail together. My belief is that these don’t have to come exclusively from dreams and nightmares. Whatever makes us uncomfortable consciously or subconsciously contains a treasure trove of material. A fear of heights was a central theme of a 1954 French novel, the title of which translates in English to From Among the Dead. It was later adapted for the screen in the Hitchcock classic Vertigo. An obsession that leads a character down a path straight into the underbelly of society makes for some heady reading.

No matter how virtuous a person may seem to the casual observer, there is a dark side, a troubled aspect that is challenging this person to reach inside and find the way through this virtual maze. It is a person’s duty to look the problem straight in the eye and resolve it. To do so by writing about it, whether in a fiction format or as a research tool of some kind, is a  means for triumph for the writer and reader alike.

 

My series on the principles that enable the art of creating continues and concludes now with “Quality.” As mentioned in the two prior installments, I’m using a chapter from the fine book Everyday Greatness by Stephen R. Covey as the launching point for this article.

It seems needless to mention that our works of art should be possessed of quality. Who doesn’t want that? What we’re exploring here is a presence of quality before the work starts. This comes with the nature of the artisan, or at least the person’s own demand for quality. Some have truly high standards and could not conceive of giving anything but their very best effort in bringing their creation into existence. The degree of care that Beethoven exercised in composing a symphony must have been beyond the conscious scope of the run-of-the-mill classical composer. The insistence on excellence separates the master from the journeyman.

I can’t help but add a short comment here on something that just came up which entertained me at least. I ran a search on the term run-of-the-mill to make sure I was correctly inserting the hyphens. A definition I found on Dictionary.com stated: “unspectacular,” 1909 in a literal sense, in reference to material yielded by a mill, etc., before sorting for quality. The metaphor I see is the mill being the journeyman and the material the piece of art. The run-of-the-mill journeyman grinds out unspectacular material. Part of being a master is having the vision, innovation and intent on high quality before starting the actual physical work.

There are certain pitfalls to avoid in the quest to make our creation first-rate. To name a few for starters, my list would include laziness, lack of attention to detail, making the destination more important than the journey, and poor planning. Your dream may be dazzlingly clear in your mind, but if it isn’t put into action it will never see the light of day. Leonardo Da Vinci said, “Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.” Sculpting a body that practically comes to life is tremendously hard work. If the sculptor’s energy isn’t there for the enormous task, the result won’t be much to behold.

Lack of attention to detail has to be a close cousin to laziness. A fine painting displays wonderful detail with everything from brilliant shaping to deeply inspiring color. I recently saw a remarkable painting at the Tucson Museum of Art. It’s called D.H. Lawrence Tree and was painted by Ellen Wagener. There was more detail in her drawing than any I’ve ever seen. I don’t have the rights to post it, nor do photographs do it justice. The branches and the leaves were innumerable and painstakingly individualized. The artist had an incredible eye and apparently no limit of patience. The quality of this painting so impressed the art world that it landed in a museum. Deservedly so, I must add.

The third pitfall occurs when our thirst to finish our project outweighs our analytical intention to do our best. I’ve felt this many times, especially with menial tasks. I have occasionally fallen prey to the urge when writing a manuscript. Once we slip into our work routine, we may tend to ramp up our speed in order to meet our production goals. Writing a certain number of words per day can become an obsession. It feels great to churn out the pages and gulp down the outline in massive chunks, but there is danger lurking in this approach. Deadlines and overwhelming schedules can make us want to hurry and cause us to compromise our standards. I was reminded of this earlier this month when I attended a talk at the Tucson Festival of Books. Touching on this subject, Stuart Horwitz said something to the effect that the busier you are, the more you should switch from quantity to quality in your writing. It makes sense. Focus on fashioning the most exceptional work you’ve ever done, piece by piece.

Finally, let’s take a look at how poor planning can affect the quality of your chosen medium of art. Obvious, right? How about an instance in which a person thinks they’re planning well and they simply aren’t? I do some work for a local book publisher that is excellent at making quality designs and covers. I learned from Alicja Mann, Director of Word Studio, that many printers and publishers do not know how to bind a cover so it lays flat on the front after the book has been opened for reading. I sure was unaware of this standard of quality. We need to educate and inform ourselves adequately to minimize ignorance preventing us from planning properly. Just because we don’t know about something during our careful planning doesn’t mean it can’t hurt us.

 

 

 

Behold! Yonder comes the bard, singing songs of novelty is his inimitable innovating style. Whence does his store of ideas burst onto the face of the earth? Why has no mind given birth to such avant-garde melodia in the memory of man?

I wrote last about one of the principles that enable the art of creating, according to a book I’ve been referencing a lot of late, Everyday Greatness by Steven R. Covey. That principle was vision. I wish to bring further understanding of the art of creating now by exploring innovation. I hold in the highest esteem those who dare to bring something new to their art, whether they hit the mark or not. When they do manage to elevate their own preferred medium, whether it be music or literature or graphic design and they tap into the consciousness of the masses to their collective benefit, I applaud their success. The ripple they generate across the universe must, I believe, bring the Mind toward Its ultimate resolution. But I must not get ahead of myself with some spiritual grandiloquence that agitates half of my audience of two and distracts the other. How is innovation an integral part of successful creativity?

Quoting Mr. Covey once again: “It is said that Greek mathematician Archimedes solved a particularly vexing problem one day while taking a bath. His joy was so immense that he ran naked through the streets of ancient Syracuse exclaiming, ‘Eureka!’–I have found it!

“The act of innovating can generate many emotions. It can bring agony, sweat, tears, and exhaustion. But, yes, it can also bring great thrills, satisfaction, and joy–though we hope it will not cause everyone to run naked through their community or workplace.”

Let’s see now, what was it like when you had a part in bringing about an original idea, action or object into this world. Before anyone gets off into a tangent about there not being any original ideas or anything else under the sun, let me just say that stuff doesn’t matter. If you never heard of it, it’s your idea that didn’t exist for you until you thought of it. The mechanical gears of innovation have turned and you have come up with something new for whomever has not been exposed to anything like it. Congratulations! My wife has an amazing ability to see solutions for practical problems that are seemingly beyond my mechanistic aptitude. She can jerry-rig with the best of them when it comes to handling some unworkable household situation. Someone may have already solved a similar problem, but that doesn’t diminish her penchant for innovation.

For my part, when I have sought to come up with a musical piece different from my past compositions, I reach into a non-place in my mind. It may not even be my mind, but some state of being beyond description…the land of ideas which exist only in potentiality. Anyway, I feel my way there and back, retrieving the seed of creation. Innovation is the vehicle on which the art rides.

One of the most exciting aspects of fashioning new works of art or invention is when it does strike a chord with a wide swath of humanity. When this occurs, it’s a cultural phenomena that sweeps across countries or even the planet. Examples of note include the Beatles, the personal computer and harnessing electricity. In the Beatles’ case, pop music and fashion moved like a whirlwind that coincided with a cultural revolution affecting lifestyle, ecology, women’s rights, politics and general social issues.  Synchronicity and serendipity, in my opinion, go beyond coincidence. Julius H. Comroe, Jr. said, “Serendipity is looking in a haystack for a needle and discovering the farmer’s daughter.”

Byron C. Foy wrote in Scientific American the following account: “A French scientist named Benedictus accidentally dislodged a bottle from his laboratory shelf. It fell to the floor with a crash and shattered. But to Benedictus’ astonishment it retained its shape. None of the particles was scattered. He recalled using collodion solution in the bottle. By chance the solvent had evaporated, leaving a thin, invisible skin on the walls of the bottle. Shortly thereafter, he read of an auto accident in which a young woman had been seriously cut by flying glass. The two events connected in Benedictus’ mind, and laminated safety glass was the outcome.”

Don’t be afraid to innovate. It is essential to evolution. There are undoubtedly brilliant ideas waiting to be discovered in your personal field of potentiality if you will but dare to look. Be alert to synchronistic signals and serendipitous surprises. And don’t expect it to be easy. I would suspect that the more we innovate, the better we become at it. It’s a practice. Without the practice, our creations will fall far short of perfection.

 

 

“When asked why people invent, Mark Twain replied, ‘To give birth to an idea–to discover a great thought–an intellectual nugget, right under the dust of a field that many a brain-plow had gone over before. To be the first–that is the idea.’ Indeed, one of the deepest joys in life is to be creative; to put yourself into something innovative and worthwhile, and then to see it come to fruition. But the process of creating can be a roller coaster of highs and lows–ecstasies and despairs–before you experience the rewards.” This excerpt from the book Everyday Greatness introduces the reader to a chapter on vision, followed by two other key ingredients of the art of creating.

A person might ask where vision originates. How does one receive the gift of vision? Is it a talent present at birth or can it be developed? The truth is probably that we all have it to some degree. Envisioning a new bookshelf you might want to build or imagining a space created by eliminating a bookshelf and all the books are both possibilities in today’s world. What I’m talking about, though, is the type of vision that changes the world. Steve Jobs was a man of vision whose ideas helped launch and sustain this amazing age of technology as much as anyone. George R.R. Martin creates universes in such detail as to give life to many kingdoms crowded with a multitude of characters of all kinds. A lot of people have had their imaginations stimulated by his Game of Thrones saga. Astounding is the influence that Oprah Winfrey has had on modern culture, from television to literature and spiritual awakening. She could not have accomplished all she has done without tremendous vision.

More from Stephen R. Covey in his Everyday Greatness. “All things are created twice. All things. Vision is the first creation. For a house it’s called the blueprint. For a life it’s called a mission. For a day it’s called a goal and a plan. For a parent it’s called a belief in the unseen potential of a child. For all, it is the mental creation which always precedes the physical, or second, creation.

“Vision not only helps us spot present opportunities where others might not see them, but it also points us toward the future and inspires us to ask, ‘Where do I want to be five years from now? Ten years from now?’ To answer these questions takes time–it even takes some dreaming.”

George Lucas said, “Dreams are extremely important. You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.”

Dreams, which in this context might better be called aspirations, are intentional or at least hopeful. Imagination is at the heart of creativity. Thus, both are integral components of vision. With these, one begins choosing that elusive reality referred to above as the future. In the arts, a vision of a dance or a musical piece or a figure to be chiseled out of stone gives birth to a physical manifestation where there was but a void. One takes a step into a newly molded objective existence that takes shape because of the seeds of a dream. These can result in works of inspiration. They can bring about greater understanding, even evolution of the human race.

I think of one person who had such an effect  on the world around her. The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House website states, “Susan B. Anthony was born February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. She was brought up in a Quaker family with long activist traditions. Early in her life she developed a sense of justice and moral zeal.

“After teaching for fifteen years, she became active in temperance. Because she was a woman, she was not allowed to speak at temperance rallies. This experience, and her acquaintance with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led her to join the women’s rights movement in 1852. Soon after, she dedicated her life to woman suffrage.

“Ignoring opposition and abuse, Anthony traveled, lectured, and canvassed across the nation for the vote. She also campaigned for the abolition of slavery, the right for women to own their own property and retain their earnings, and she advocated for women’s labor organizations. In 1900, Anthony persuaded the University of Rochester to admit women.”

It’s this kind of vision that can give us hope in times of dissension and despair. There are wrongs that need to be righted, bridges that need to be built and conditions that must be transcended. Stagnant minds are minds that are decaying. Use of our imaginations can be a springboard to greater heights–not in a day or a year perhaps, but with action and persistence over time there will be realization of a dream to uplift all of us.

 

 

 

Selling books isn’t easy. Selling songs isn’t easy. Selling snake oil isn’t easy. What you need is a formula, so they say. I submit that every successful salesperson or entrepreneur, be it an artist or an insurance agent, has discovered or followed a method that led them to their fortunate outcome. Make a certain number of contacts every day. Work 10 time harder than you think you should. Produce whatever the market is clamoring for, even if it’s offensive to you and whatever consumers do not want it.

But I’m a serious writer, not a scientist. What do I know from formulae? Sure, I know my word forms, but that doesn’t translate into anything meaningful when it comes to book sales. I believe I’ve come upon a better way. It occurred to me when I was reflecting back on an old TV show and one episode in particular.

The show is Taxi, a series many will remember from the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Danny DeVito’s character, Louie, is involved in a short-lived relationship with Emily, played by Andrea Marcovicci. She has realized in therapy that the only way she will love Louie is if he leaves her. If he stays, she will despise him. Unable to grasp the logic in her thinking, he starts to walk out of her apartment. She finds her love for him expanding with each step, but assures him there’s no other way for her to love him. If he remains in the relationship, she says, he will be but a victim under her thumb. His dignity and desirability will blossom if he leaves and never returns. If she sends him letters, her love will remain intact only if he doesn’t answer any of them.

It is upon this premise that my theory of successful marketing is based. It’s about scarcity, the condition that makes gold more valuable than silver and platinum more valuable than gold. The less available a commodity is, the more people will pay for it…the more they want it…crave it. An exception to this rule may be porcelain, as dentists have proven with their sky high charges for dental fillings. But most products follow this pattern. When the apocalypse hits, take note how the street purveyors of toilet paper will become among the richest of the ragged royalty.

 

Now, what is it that is in constant violation of this supply and demand axiom? Many things come to mind, no doubt, but somewhere on the list must be books. It pains me to make that statement, especially in the sanctity of the written word, but the proof is everywhere. There are millions of books for sale on Amazon and I’m sure I’ve heard of only one percent of them at most. Think about it. For every million books, one percent is 10,000. I would be surprised if I’ve heard of 10,000 books in my entire life. If there are five million for sale on Amazon, I would have to have heard of 50,000 of them to reach one percent. That’s about as likely as me knowing 1000 people in the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, in the neighborhood of one percent of their population. Enough with the numbers, right? Let me make this clear with a quote from Mason Cooley.

“Artistic inspiration ignores the law of supply and demand.”

All those book bargain tables, all those 50 cent garage sale paperbacks, all those library cast-offs are a testament to that.

So, how do we writers solve the problem of low book sales? I would suggest book burning bonfires, but that’s far too political of a statement for me. Besides, what if we chose the wrong books? While dumping a box of Mein Kampfs into the flames, what would become of me if I accidentally mixed in a copy of Gems from Warren Buffett? No, I’m not going there. My answer is much simpler and less heartbreaking. I propose that we writers, artists and aspiring door-to-door salespersons make ourselves and our wares scarce. Taking a tip from Louie De Palma, we figuratively walk out and take our stuff with us. Announce it to the world, e.g. “There will be no more of my books available for the rest of time! I am withdrawing to the country where I will write only for myself and will erase all that I create.” It doesn’t matter if my posting goes viral or my announcement is picked up by all the networks. The Universe will know and will respond. As I have nothing to supply, the people of this world will know a hunger for my work. And as long I am not around to act like a victimized author, they will love me with all their collective hearts.