Archives for February 2014

Doing It Like Dylan

February 16, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more…

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has been a force in my life for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories were sitting around listening to “Coach Taylor” strum his guitar and belt out old Dylan tunes in the living room of my childhood home on the west end of Holden Beach.

Dylan’s music and life define paradox.

Consider…

he wrote and sang as the leader of a movement, but loathed the very idea of being that leader…

he was worshiped by the masses as the god of folk, but then just up and decided one day to plug in and he got booed off the stage for it…

he was a revolutionary and a rebel, but then he “got religion” and again was booed off the stage for it…

What is it with this guy?

Dylan just doesn’t care what you nor I think. He follows his creative impulse, wherever it might lead him. And it has led him to diverse and sundry places.

I have to say that in many ways, I am similar (well, without the guitar, but I can do a pretty good nasal-twanged impression).

I am alarmingly paradoxical and all you have to do is go back and read through posts to my old Costa Rica Guy blog to see that very clearly.

Consider…

my earliest posts reflected my deep love for Costa Rica and that was the impetus behind my initial blogging efforts…

later on I shifted gears and started writing on topics like sustainability, anti-materialism and capitalism run amok…revolutionary stuff that could get me in trouble…

I went through troubled times in my marriage and wrote a lot about relationships (incidentally, back then I also started translating my posts to Spanish – why? – well, rationally to gain more Spanish-speaking readers, but deep down in hopes that it would get the attention of my wife and, hey, it worked!)…

then I just kind of stopped writing for a while (the creative genie was bottled by the lizard brain)…

I went through another relationship hiccup, moved to Perez Zeledon and started writing a lot about my faith (which, similar to Dylan, pissed off some of my readers)…

and lately I have looked deep inside to “find my voice” or what it is I really want to write about and for whom and that inspired me to launch the Revolutionary Misfit blog…

It is no wonder that my posting has betrayed my schizophrenia. After all, like Dylan, I am paradoxical. A person who wants to do good, but too often is quite “bad” (in self-destructive sorts of ways).

My recent struggle deciding on an ultimate direction for my blogging, or even if it should have one at all, is indicative.

Sure, I would love to “make a living” blogging. It is a passion and I love doing it…my way. But the idea of figuring out what an audience wants and pandering to them kind of makes me, well, queasy.

It certainly is not at all inspirational.

I also blog for my vacation site and those posts do pander quite a bit (and are always a chore for me to write). All the experts (those who incessantly write about the 10 ways to drive traffic to your blog) tell me to do that.

But then the rebellious (revolutionary misfit) side of me says fuck no! I will write what’s on my mind (and in my heart) and if it pisses off the world (or just my mom) so be it.

Because in the long run, while I am many things, conformist doesn’t appear on the list. And I’m okay with that…even though I do suffer for it.

Dylan refused to conform. If his main concern was giving his audience what they wanted, then he would never have plugged his guitar into a wall socket (and we would never have received his gift of Like a Rolling Stone).

I listened to an interesting interview that Merlin Mann did of Seth Godin a few years back this morning. They talk a lot about Dylan and his nonconformity and paradoxical tendencies.

Seth is also one of my nonconformist heroes. He is a marketing non-conformist (now if that’s not paradoxical, I don’t know what could possibly be). He tells me that I must have the guts to create art and then to ship it and if the masses don’t approve, then screw the masses…you’re not writing for them anyway.

You’re writing for the weird ones. There may be less of them, but they can be far more loyal to your cause (because it’s theirs too).

There are many who hate Dylan and I am sure he is well aware of that. But, I doubt very seriously that he ever sat down to write a song and thought…now how can I make them love me.

So, I’ll take my own advice in this post on doing it like Dylan and refuse to do that as well.

image credit: hugovk via Compfight cc

Creativity Kryptonite

February 12, 2014 by costaricaguy 2 Comments

It’s well known that artistic or creative people are also prone towards self-indulgence.

We recently witnessed that, again, with the great actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Oh yea, I know it was an addiction…a disease that did him in. But the disease has its roots in self-indulgence.

I have always been a fan of the Doors…especially the shamanistic front-man, Jim Morrison.

Has there ever been a better example of self-indulgence in motion?

I have at times embraced the Morrisonian philosophy (originally found in the words of Blake) that “the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”

I am here to tell you…it doesn’t lead to any such place and that becomes increasingly clear to me as I get older.

And I believe one should consider that idea in conjunction with Blake’s later line…

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

Lately I’ve been re-discovering some old pieces that I’ve written that I feel really belong here.

Here’s another one…which also expresses the way I’ve been feeling recently…

Perhaps there are a few others out there who would echo a similar sentiment…

What Makes Me Weak

You know there is a lot I want to accomplish, but I just never seem to get around to it.

Why?

I think I have it…the answer, that is. And it’s not procrastination.

It’s self-indulgence…or the amount of time I spend engaged in that horribly unproductive state…

You see, I want to be selfless, but I always seem to sabotage that desire with self-indulgence.

I believe selflessness is the best path to creativity, productivity and, ultimately, impact.

Impact mindfulness is a selfless concept. But I am a poor practitioner of it because too much of the time I am not selfless…

I am self-indulgent.

Let’s contrast the two states for clarification…

Selflessness is inspirational and motivational…

Self-indulgence is depressing and immobilizing…

Being creative is the ultimate selfless act (in my opinion)…

Self-indulgence is the ultimate path to frustration, disappointment and disillusion…

So what exactly am I talking about with this term “self-indulgence?”

Well, I would say that any form of “dependence” is self-indulgent.

Co-dependency is really just self-indulgence.

Drunkenness is self-indulgent.

Drug use can be (and probably usually is) self-indulgent.

[afterthought: I’m really not referring to hallucinogenic use by the likes of the Beatles that inspired expression and connection culminating in Sergeant Pepper’s, but more along the lines of Joplin’s sticking a needle in her arm after leaving the stage in order to escape expression and connection.]

Being promiscuous is self-indulgent.

Being greedy is self-indulgent.

Worrying incessantly over economic security is self-indulgent.

Being dishonest (with yourself or others) is self-indulgent.

Being mean, or manipulative, is self-indulgent.

Anything we do that draws us inward as opposed to extending us outward is self-indulgent.

And it is a powerful impact blinder.

Self-indulgence is what makes me weak.

It is my Creativity Kryptonite.

And it always depletes my superpowers.

So why do I do it? Because in the moment, it feels right.

But that’s a long-term lie!

Morrison on stage, or in the studio, creating theater, music and lyrics the likes of which had never been seen nor heard before…now that was selfless and impactful.

Morrison curled up with a bottle and dying in a bathtub didn’t accomplish a goddamn thing.

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The Day I Thought I Had Made It

February 11, 2014 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

Life’s a journey, not a destination…

Joe Perry and Steven Tyler

Since this blog is about life and life is about stories, I thought it might be interesting to share a few personal and impactful ones.

The following certainly qualifies…

There’s one thing for sure…I’m a hard-headed SOB.

I tend to hang on…scratching to stay alive, as the song quoted above goes on to say.

Here’s a story of one of those times.

My flight from San Jose (Costa Rica) to Charlotte, North Carolina landed around noon. I always left my car at an airport hotel that let me park there for free as a benefit of being a frequent guest. I took their shuttle from the airport and upon arrival, threw my bags in the back and headed for home…

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

This was a special day. It was December 5, 2003 to be exact. Forty-three years prior to that day, at Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina, I got my start in this world.

But today was special for another reason as well. It was, hopefully, going to be the culmination of the last two years of scratching.

For the three weeks prior to this fateful day I had been in Costa Rica holding the hand of my client as the final stages of our deal played out.

That client was the Costa Rican founder and president of Universidad Interamericana, a private for-profit university with campuses in Heredia, Costa Rica and Panama City, Panama.

I’d spent the previous two years orchestrating a deal by which this school would be sold to a large public company in the U.S.

And this day was supposedly going to be the big day…pay day.

Those last three weeks had been fraught with anxiety for both him and me. A last-minute glitch in the deal had prompted an escrow of the entire purchase price until it could be resolved.

Well, a few days earlier it apparently had been and now the only thing left to do was wait. I had vowed to myself that I would not leave Costa Rica empty-handed this time. I had worked too hard and taken too much risk.

But my wife had grown impatient waiting for me to return…it was time to come home. So I scheduled an early flight for the next day, my birthday.

And I hadn’t been paid…yet.

As I drove the long and monotonous superhighway that led me home I couldn’t help to obsess about all the things that could go wrong (after all over the course of the prior two years, about everything had).

Would William (my client) just refuse to pay me? He could do that you know. And if he did what could I do about it? Sue him for sure, but with what money? And how long would that take?

Not long after I crossed the border and arrived at a small town where a branch office of my bank was located I decided that I must put this to rest. I entered as nervous and fidgety as a first-time bank robber and made a b-line to the customer service desk.

“Could I help you?” the pretty young southern-belle sitting behind it drawled.

“I would like to know if there has been an international wire into my account today, please?”

She peered into her computer and after a few moments of punching keys looked up at me with a sheepish grin and asked,

“Would it perhaps be possible for you to give me a loan?”

At that moment I felt as if I’d levitated a few feet off the ground.

The rest of the day was spent floating on this cushy cloud of accomplishment.

I had done it!

I called my wife, my dad, my mom and my employees and let them know that “the eagle had landed.”

Everyone was happy for me, especially those in line to now, finally, be paid.

As I sat in my office the next day and stared at the number in my bank account, a number I had certainly never seen before, the idea of making a fast get away back to my personal paradise of Costa Rica with all that loot…just sort of disappearing…dawned upon me.

Then I came to my senses.

I decided to do what was right and start paying. By the time I was finished that number had diminished to one far less impressive.

What I had accomplished did display tenacity. I had hung on for dear life, perhaps longer than I should have.

I tend to do that.

Why?

The cushy cloud I referred to above evaporated and I fell back to earth with a thud. That great sense of accomplishment was replaced with a feeling of…

“okay, so now what?”

And isn’t that usually the case? Especially when the end of your game is all about you.

Why had I worked so hard and for so long?

What was “this” really all about?

In a word…ME.

I had been driven by ego more than anything else. I had to prove my worth to the world and closing this deal had become the means to that end.

It certainly had not cured any financial problems, but only created even bigger ones.

And in the wake of two years of this singular obsession, I had some serious personal issues in tow.

I had operated for those two years wearing “impact blinders” that only allowed me to see one narrow way…

my way.

I do believe that everything happens for a reason. Maybe that reason was for me to be able to write this. Write about the error of my ways.

Perhaps to help others not to make similar ones.

Before you become so committed to a particular course, it always pays to step back and really search inside yourself for the answer to the question of…WHY?

The title to this post is “the day I thought I had made it.”

However, the destination did not turn out to be nearly worth the trouble.

Socio-Economics and the Internet

February 8, 2014 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

My favorite podcast on the planet is The Unmistakable Creative (formerly, Blogcast FM), hosted by Srinivas Rao.

Srini is kind of like Raj on The Big Bang Theory…he may be afraid to talk to Penny, but whip-smart and he tells it like it is.

The show features interviews with internet superstars and others who are on that trajectory…

But every Friday, they have this episode called “Backstage” where Srini is joined by Greg Hartle (of Ten Dollars and a Laptop fame). Their talks used to focus on one of the previous week’s guests. Now they tend to choose controversial and thought provoking topics.

And this Friday’s was certainly no exception.

The title: The All or Nothing Internet

The Premise: Addressing the question of has the internet devolved (or is it devolving) into a sort of 3rd world country with a deep, dark and inseparable chasm between the haves (the successful internet entrepreneurs) and the have-nots (the rest of us schlubs).

Well the premise got my blood perilously close to the boiling point.

So, I grabbed my weapon (er, laptop) and hammered out violently the following comment on Srini’s Facebook Page.

begin comment

The conversation today in backstage troubled me. At first I couldn’t exactly put my finger on why, but I believe now I’ve got it.

The power of the internet driven connection economy is that it levels the playing field by allowing ordinary, or non-picked, people to do extraordinary things.

To compare it to a middle-class-less third-world country with a chasm that separates the haves and the have-nots is a faulty analogy.

Who is to judge who are the haves, the successful ones?

Successful in terms of what? Subscribers? Income?

Maybe those aren’t the only parameters that define success.

Aren’t we getting away from the “small army” concept a bit with this (rhetorical question for Srini…who did write the book)?

I believe the internet is a place where we should all consider ourselves haves…that is, we all “have” the opportunity to do and achieve something extraordinary.

In the so-called third-world that’s generally just NOT the case.

And NO I do not believe it’s about talent, nor genius…

desire, yes…having the heart in the right place, absolutely.

That’s what makes it so cool…you don’t have to be a superstar to shine.

To suggest an underlying feeling of class-warfare among the internet creative community is to me a bit ridiculous.

Like I often say, it’s all about impact and every one of us has the ability to achieve that, regardless of one’s social proof.

A star on the Walk of Fame takes talent and a man on the moon genius, but a blog that matters, only a sincere desire to make a difference.

(yea it’s tweetable)

end comment

You see I really believe it comes down to one’s motivation…I’ll call it MO (even though MO actually has a different connotation).

If fame and fortune’s your MO, you got a long roe to hoe, but if it’s impact, you got a better shot and the world a better chance.

(also tweetable)

And that’s exactly what Revolutionary Misfit is all about.

Which is why I thought it was important to turn that comment into this post on socio-economics and the internet.

I wrote long ago about the phenomenon of middle-class-less-ness being caused in the 3rd world largely due to the concentration of property in the hands of a small percentage of wealthy people (1%’ers, if you will).

But on the internet, even a poor schlub like me can be a property owner (hey, I’m practically a mogul already!).

It’s what you do with that property that matters…and the universe needs less internet property-holders seeking fame and fortune and more just trying to make an impact.

You can do that without much, if any, talent.

Look at Seth Godin…I’ve never seen him dance or sing, but I along with millions of others listen to what he has to say…

Because he says it honestly and with the right motive.

You and I can do that too.

And if Srini and Greg’s premise happens to be true…if the internet is becoming that socio-economically driven place of haves and have-nots…well…

then it’s high time for a revolution!

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Immigrant Song – Coke Commercial

February 6, 2014 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

There seems to be this unwritten rule in the blogosphere that you’re only supposed to write about positive things.

Never about controversial things.

There are a few who violate the rule consistently…like James Altucher.

But the majority hold steadfast to it.

After all, controversy doesn’t win converts (or, in blog-speak, subscribers)…

or, does it?

As for me…I have around 7 years of blogging history behind me and I have always sort of gravitated towards it…

controversy, that is.

This morning is going to be one of those moments.

I missed the Superbowl. I normally do miss it, especially for the last 13 years.

And unless you are a sadistic Seahawks fan, the most recent one was indeed highly “miss-able.”

But I did catch wind of the controversy surrounding the now “infamous” Coke commercial.

The one in which a rendition of America the Beautiful is presented in various languages (English being one of them).

The fact that many folks were angered by this commercial makes me sad, but it really comes as no surprise.

Remember, this idea for impact mindfulness has as one of its three principles, embracing the Big Us.

And getting huffy about that song being sung in more than a single unified tongue is precisely what “embracing the Big Us” is dead-set against.

It’s called “small us” thinking.

We all too often want to re-write history to our liking, to fit our current ideology, or ism.

Since the controversy erupted some facts about the author of the original poem on which the song is based, Katharine Lee Bates, have surfaced. I’m not going to revisit those here.

But one thing that does stand out to me is Bates’ change in political affiliation. She had been a lifelong Republican until 1924 when she endorsed the Democratic candidate for President due to Republican opposition to the League of Nations…an organization that Bates called “our one hope for peace on earth.”

As you might know, the League of Nations was the forerunner to the current United Nations.

Now, doesn’t it seem a bit odd that we would be railing against the Coca-Cola multicultural inspired version of the song when the author herself tended to embrace a unifying worldview, i.e., the Big US?

What’s really behind this anger? Why would it bother some folks so much to hear the song sung in another language?

Because that’s OUR SONG! And we speak English, for god’s sake…

But wait a minute, who exactly are WE?

More than likely, if you look back not too terribly far into your genealogical history, there might just have been a non-English speaker.

In fact, that would be true for every one, save the only true natives of this land called “America.”

So, actually, it would be a truer expression of your heritage to embrace a multicultural rendition of the song…maybe to even learn how to sing it in the language that your ancestors would have sung it when they arrived at Ellis Island, or wherever their ship might have come in.

Where did these seeds of hate get sown?

Hatred for anything that is not a culturally homogenized version of the small us?

It borders on, no it is, xenophobic.

Which is kinda strange behavior coming from the “nation of immigrants.”

Why should we embrace multiculturalism?

Here’s a reason for ya…

Because “we” are!

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My Hidden Agenda

February 4, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Agendas…everyone has them…right?

Everyone wants to sell you something, convince you of something, lead you somewhere, indoctrinate you, hypnotize you, brainwash or proselytize you.

So, what’s my hidden agenda for this blog?

What’s the cost that it seeks to extract from you, the potential reader (and misfit)?

What should you be afraid of, be hesitant about, or run for the hills from?

In a word…nothing.

Unless, that is, you’re scared of thinking.

Because the hidden agenda of this blog is just that…to make you think.

DISCLAIMER: All the answers will NOT be discovered by reading this blog.

But many questions will be raised…and then it’s up to you to find the answer…your unique answer.

So, what’s in it for me, you ask?

Oh lots of goodies.

I get to do what I love most…write, create, contribute, share my thoughts with the world and maybe make a few friends in the process.

Fame and fortune?

Hmm…not really considering that as a distinct possibility.

An opportunity to make a difference…to change the world?

Possibly.

But that depends to a large extent on you…the reader.

And what you do with these ideas that I am writing about.

Because I can’t change the world alone.

These ideas aren’t mine…they aren’t novel, or new. They’ve been around far longer than me.

And that’s a pretty long time.

Perhaps their presentation in this blog is a bit fresh.

But the idea of making an impact did exist prior to Revolutionary Misfit, or even Costa Rica Guy.

Today there’s so much noise. So many people saying predominantly the same thing.

It’s all about success, happiness, fulfillment, peace, love, tranquility…and there are countless blogs with countless ideas about how to achieve all that.

And those things are all good.

It’s just that this blog comes at it at a slightly different angle.

The impact angle. With all that other great stuff as a byproduct of making impact the impetus.

Instead of the other way around, which seems to often be the predominant mode of thinking out there.

That is, make success driven happiness the priority and then impact will follow.

I’m not buying it…anymore.

Why wouldn’t that be the case?

Because that’s not the way it’s set up to be.

That’s not the way the universe deems it to be.

Because the real peace, fulfillment, happiness and success we find for ourselves will be driven in larger part by the peace, fulfillment, happiness and success we can impart to others.

Call it the law of reciprocal returns, the golden rule or whatever you want.

Here we call it impact mindfulness.

And we practice it by (1) prioritizing impact over self-interest, (2) embracing the Big US, and (3) removing impact blinders.

So, the only hidden agenda is to create a small army of revolutionary misfits who put this idea into practice.

And the world will never be the same.

There, that’s my hidden agenda.

Still hesitant, or scared?

If not, join us!

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Archives for February 2014

What Makes Me Weak

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