Afraid isn’t who we are, failure isn’t who we are- fear is a feeling, failure is an event- fear and failure happen to us, they are not what we are. We are artists, but we are not our art. We are ourselves. We say we have cancer, we have a broken arm- not we _are_ cancer, or we _are_ a broken arm, no. We have to divorce ourselves from these happenings. People don’t hate us because they hate our work, that’s artistic suicide- it’s not useful to put ourselves on the line- we are artists, not the art. The only way to be vulnerable and go to the edge is to realize that it’s okay to fail, it’s okay to be afraid.
The above is what I’ve been getting from Seth Godin’s latest blog post- and if you read my blog religiously, please, you also have to read Seth Godin, because he is fantastic-amazing, he’s a philosopher disguised as a marketer and he’s one of the 1%.
I had this conversation with two friends, and I might as well share it here as well. We all know about the geniuses and the superstars that make up the top 1% or 0.1% of the world. Objectively we can say these guys and girls are badasses, however they got to where they are. Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi, people who are the movers and shakers of the world, who lead us into the unknown, break new ground. Zuckerberg, Godin, everybody doing fantastic things, taking risks on behalf of the rest of humanity, advancements in science and technology and art and music and understanding. Hans Zimmer, Christopher Nolan, whatever- they matter and we know it.
At the opposite end, we also know that the vast majority of people in existence exist merely to fill out the numbers. They go through the motions. At the bottom 10% or so we have the selfish, ignorant and unfortunate people who are destructive to themselves and those around them- people in prisons, people who lie, cheat, steal and do other terrible things that are a cancer of humanity- guys like the rapists of New Delhi. I don’t want to go too far into the philsophical discussion of who or what is the problem- it’s a complex issue, we’ll leave that discussion for another day. All I need you to acknowledge with me is that some people are making progress in the world, for the world, and others are holding us back. Let’s refrain from judging and try to love unconditionally- everybody is human, everybody is deserving of love (even if they don’t “deserve” it), everybody is vast and complex and nobody really has the right to judge. Avoiding any elitist nonsense or other such bullshit, let’s just agree that there’s some positive behaviour and some negative behaviour and some very neutral, bland behaviour that, depending on your world view, either is inconsequential, or perpetuates a status quo that is outdated, obsolete and oppresses people… blah blah, none of that matters.
Here’s what I need you to acknowledge next- if you are reading this, you are probably neither in the top 1% or 5% of amazing human beings doing amazing things for the world. (If you are, I’m sorry for judging you- but I seriously think you have better things to do than to read a blog like mine. Maybe you’re reading this just for entertainment… whatever.) You’re probably not in the bottom 20% or 50%, either- because those people- bless them, they’re human beings too- wouldn’t be interested in reading something that doesn’t haev any clear or immediate value to them. Let’s bring it all the way up to 70%. Let’s say 5% of people have got their shit together and are making a wonderful positive difference to humanity- they’re operating at peak capacity. I know, some people might say guys like Obama are doing harm, not good, because they are perpetuating political whatever… blah. Fuck that shit I’m not interested in discussing that right now. Whatever your views are on Obama, or Lee Kuan Yew, I think we can agree that they are (or were) both capable of excellence, and are (or were) living at the top of their game, living in fullness, and deserve to be in a top 5% or 1% bracket, if there was one.
Let’s say 5% of people are amazing-fantastic, writing symphonies and healing broken hearts. Let’s say 10% or 20% people do lots of damage, and let’s say 50% of people are just getting by… just getting by, inconsequential, really, just making up the numbers. I don’t know. Simple people. Nothing wrong with them, there’s nothing wrong with living or leading a simple life. But I don’t really relate to that, and I’m betting you don’t either.)
So say 75% of people, we don’t relate to. 5% at the top, 70% below. What about the 25% of us? I think anybody still reading this belongs in that. (Again, just a rule of thumb). What about us? What are we up to, what are we doing? We’re not quite dumbfuck pigeons twiddling around, but we’re not exactly eagles either, soaring in the skies- we’re somewhere in the middle, between the gutter and the stars, just sort of getting by, too. We’re aware of our situations but we’re not really sure of what to do about it. I’m wondering- what would happen if we all gathered together? Because I’m guessing we’re randomly distributed beyond the top 5% mark- some of us might think we’re scrapping the bottom of the barrel- but we’re intelligent, discerning folk and I feel like if we could all be gathered in a single spot, we could make magic happen. If we could leverage our yet-ungathered collective might, as consumers and creators, and at the very least, throw our weight behind the wonderful work that the top 5% are doing. If we create enough of a positive effect, I’m confident that the next 50% will follow suit, and ultimately the last 20% will have to catch up, too.
Need to refine this idea. Do you know if anybody has already come up with it, or discussed it? It can’t be original. But I’m basically curious about what might happen if we rally together the people who are intelligent underachievers, and motivate them with a vision or visions that they can get behind. I know I am not alone, but how many of us are out there? I know some of you think I’m full of shit (sorry about that), but some of you think I’m somehow “above” or “beyond” you, and THAT’S bullshit too- if you’re reading this, I’m certain that you are every bit as capable as me, if not more, and if we get together we can make something magical happen.
Just a thought.