“Corny” is a term we use for a depth we’re uncomfortable with, that we may be guilty or embarrassed about.
It’s corny to say you’re cooler than the other side of the pillow, but it’s true, and me saying that is unique. I said it once to a gym teacher back in middle school. He had a smile on his face the rest of the day and I like to think he had us run one less lap because of my comment. We shared an experience together — an odd one, sure, but those are the best ones.
Unique and interesting comments of praise are scarce, and scarce things are meaningful.
How corny are you willing to go to make someone’s day?
I used a line by Oscar Wilde in a Thank You letter to someone recently. It was corny, but real, as so often corny things are. I’ve also seen people write something simple like “I know it’s corny, but I’m so thankful for you.”
Stay Positive & Clichés Are One Thing, Being Corny Is Another
“If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.” – Algernon
The Importance of Being Earnest is by far my favorite play. I’ve read it twice and quoted from it multiple times over in my writing. (Also bias in the sense Oscar Wilde is my favorite poet.) I was finally fortunate enough to see a live rendition of it last night, and the show reminded me what makes a play or any artform remarkable.
People never talk about perfection and if they do, they are lying.
From a three hour-long play, only two actors made one mistake each. They merely started a word and, half-way through, restarted the word. There was a millisecond moment they questioned whether the word they were saying was the right word or not.
Again, over the span of three hours and thousands of words, only two moments reminded the audience the actors are human, and those two moments make all the difference in a remarkable show and an unremarkable one.
Jugglers, Actors, Humans
The reason jugglers attract such a crowd is they are in a constant state of risk. Even the most professional jugglers in the world still drop what they are juggling. If jugglers were perfect, no one would be impressed. The same goes for a playwright. The same goes for any form of art.
Slight noticeable errors are what we all relate to; it’s part of being human. When a minimal error is made during an act, it reminds the audience just how difficult, incredible and remarkable the art you’re doing is. As Earnest would suggest, it is mixing pleasure and science.
If anything were perfect entertainment (pleasure), it would go without being talked about. People talk about great experiences, sure, but never perfect ones and if they do, they are lying. (Consider giving them dental floss and reminding them lying through their teeth doesn’t count as flossing.) When an error is made, science complements pleasure.
The universal relation of humans is we may all strive for perfection, but we will never reach it. Any reminder of this concept, say, a slip of a word during a three hour-long play is what makes art of any kind, remarkable.
Stay Positive & Do Something Remarkable, Anything Except Perfection
In continuation with yesterday’s writing about having a presence, I was going to write about having a unique appearance, one that someone in the industry you’re trying to break into doesn’t already have.
Seth Godin (jokes?) that he shaved his head and wore different socks on each foot because no one in his field was doing that. It made him stand out.
For me, I follow Oscar Wilde’s adage that you can never be overeducated or overdressed. I dress in a way that makes me stand out amidst other professionally dressed players.
The idea, though, of standing out in your field by changing your appearance has pitfalls.
“I’m too scared to buy anything from that guy!” is exactly what a friend of mine said when we walked past a table of shiny rocks and gem stones. The seller was wearing a gray tank-top, roughly (and I mean roughly) six foot two, with arms like logs. Not to mention, he was tattooed on his chest, his arms, his neck, and all around his face.
Does he stand out in his stone selling business? I’m sure he does.
Does it work out to his advantage? Of course not.
Yes, as a book salesman, you want to stand out, as a writer, you want to stand out, as a marketer, you want to stand out; it needs to be everyone’s priority to stand out, but don’t catch yourself going overboard. The face tattoos… a bit overboard.
Stay Positive & It Can Be As Little As Having Sexy Pocket Squares
That’s the biggest problem with people looking to start at any rung of the ladder beside the bottom. It’s a universal problem that prevents us from doing the work we know we can do well.
Why is it then, that although you know you can do something, you’re still not allowed to do it? Because you don’t have the experience. And why is that?
Because experience doesn’t mean that you know how to do something or even do it well.
I think it’s a fair moment to share a quote from Oscar Wilde,
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes“
It’s actually easy to start half way up the ladder and even sometimes closer to the top. The only way to be granted that spot, though, is through humility, through sharing all the mistakes you have made and what you learned from them.
I could write for the New York Times, easily. They have editors, I don’t have to worry too much about the details, just write as best I can. Why don’t they hire me then? Because I don’t have enough “experience.” I haven’t made enough mistakes, don’t have enough stories, I wouldn’t be a good enough teacher because I have yet to learn everything (the hard way).
It’s the mistakes that make the experience and the experience that delivers you to your dream job.
I guess that means there’s only one thing for you to do if you want what you want. You have to do the hard stuff, the humiliating stuff, the emotional labor. You have to make more mistakes.
Stay Positive & No, It May Not Be The Only Way, But It Is The Best Way
