Beauty in Simplicity

It is hard to deny that we live in a world of ever-increasing challenge.

Global financial pressures, the human race’s need to have a certain number of wars going on at any given point, the number of people who go hungry in an empowered society, corruption and waste in government, churches and charities designed to serve others and a plethora of other things can sometimes make it difficult to see the positive side of humanity.

Even when faced with challenges like global climate change, we often prefer to insult and fight each other rather than to come together to collect real data and to solve any issues that exist.

President Ronald Reagan had this interesting quote when addressing the UN General Assembly many years ago:

Perhaps we need some outside universal threat.  I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.

Some days, I’m not sure that the arrival of aliens would be enough.

In a world where the media would rather fill our head with gloom and doom instead of a blend of reality AND optimism, it can be difficult to wonder where we are headed.

In the complex world of strategy and global technology architecture that I live in, I often see people who prefer to fill their world with complexity, either to hide something (including their own incompetence), to pretend to be something that they are not or simply because they have the misunderstanding that everything is a complex problem that requires a complex solution.

And then there are some who believe that the existence of complexity can be used to justify their existence, which is why some people feel threatened when people like me bring an approach that simplifies the complex wherever possible.

It is because of this plethora of complexity (most of it being unnecessary) that I appreciate and savor the beauty that comes with simplicity.

Especially from sources that are unexpected

One of the few television programs I watch is America’s Got Talent.  My reasons are many as I explain in an earlier blog “Putting It All On the Line”.

Last night I was startled by a simple but powerful performance by Joe Castillo who blends art, light and music to tell compelling stories.

How inspiring can someone be who has never outgrown the childhood love of playing in the sand?

Take a look for yourself.

Joe Castillo–America’s Got Talent

 

For those of you who celebrate a strong faith, here is another example of his work:

Joe Castillo–The Passion

 

And finally, one that touched my heart deeply as I think about the friends I lost in 9/11.  Warning – this may be difficult for some people to watch.

Joe Castillo–Never Forget–The 9/11 Story

 

I know many people who, in striving to find their life purpose, solutions to life problems or solutions to problems in general, seek out the most complex solutions.

Because they require complex solutions to often simple problems, they spend an inordinate amount of time creating these solutions.  Sometimes the solution is so complex, they never actually finish defining or creating it and give up in exhaustion (or in the case of many government and business projects, when they have run out of money).

Oftentimes the answers to many questions in our personal world, our professional lives and in Life in general actually lay in the simplest of things.

But in order to see those solutions, we must be willing to open our eyes, our mind and our heart to the simplicity that exists in a world of complexity.

We need to ignore the insistence of others that there must be a complex answer.

After all, it’s ok to put up our hand once in a while and demand silence as we seek answers.

When we do this, we are invited to see things in a different way.

As Joe Castillo invites us with a little sand, a little music and a little light.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

Putting It All On The Line

I have a confession to make.

While I don’t watch a lot of television, there is one program that I have a weakness for and I try to make sure that I don’t miss any episodes.

The program is America’s Got Talent.

Why would such a menagerie of talent (or lack of apparent talent) have such a magical appeal to me?

It’s because the contestants on this show, whether talented or seemingly not, put everything on the line to make their dream come true.  Some risk embarrassment and humiliation to bring their dreams to fruition, laboring for years in relative obscurity before deciding to go for it.

How badly do they want it?

Let’s consider another program, Dragon’s Den, shown on CBC in Canada and on other networks around the world.

In the Consent & Release document for the CBC version that all participants must sign in advance, paragraph 9 is particularly revealing (emphasis added is mine):

I understand that I may reveal, and other parties may reveal, information about me that is of a personal, private, embarrassing or unfavourable nature, which information may be factual and/or fictional. I further understand that my appearance, depiction and/or portrayal in the Program may be disparaging, defamatory, embarrassing or of an otherwise unfavourable nature which may expose me to public ridicule, humiliation or condemnation. I acknowledge and agree that Producer shall have the right to (a) include any or all such information and any or all such appearances, depictions or portrayals in the Program as edited by Producer in its sole discretion, and (b) to broadcast and otherwise exploit the Program containing any or all such information and any or all such appearances, depictions or portrayals in any manner whatsoever in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, or for any other purpose, throughout the universe in perpetuity.

In the business world, most of us would never sign a document with such a paragraph.

And yet, people following their dreams, putting everything on the line, happily sign this consent form because they believe in their dream.

The World Is Filled With Talent … But ….

I have been blessed to meet many people over the years with incredible passions, talents, insights and emotional involvement.

They clearly have a calling.

But for some reason, their calling is not making its way to a public manifestation that would inspire others or positively impact the world in some way.

The passion, energy and belief structure is not there that would help them overcome the fear or other sources of inhibition that holds them back and they never “go for it”.  Their dream simmers inside them, aching to escape and see the world.

They are dying with their song still in them.

That’s a shame.  The world would be a better place (and certainly a more interesting one) if they could launch their dream, not caring how they are perceived by the rest of the world.

The unfortunate thing I see in shows like America’s Got Talent, Dragon’s Den and similar program are the number of viewers who poke fun at the people we perceive to be less than talented and who appear to be making fools of themselves.

Instead of poking fun at them, we should applaud them for following their dream no matter how outrageous their dream seems to us.

Imagine what we could accomplish if we were driven as strongly and as passionately and if we could encourage others to be the same.

These participants have a gift that many of us could use a heftier dosage of.

It is the gift of courage to see a dream come true no matter what.

So the next time we accuse someone of making a fool of themselves for following their passion, we should ask ourselves this.

Who is the greater fool – the one who risks losing it all or the one who never goes for it at all (or worse, actively prevents or discourages others from going for it)?

The world is waiting for your gifts.

WHAT are you waiting for?

In service and servanthood.

Harry