Distort reality the Steve Jobs Way

Steve Jobs' biographer was on The Daily Show and talked about the "reality distortion field" that people half-joked surrounded Jobs. In part it refers to the way he would challenge developers to invent something new, even when they'd say it couldn't be done. And then they did it.

Love this expression.

Unfortunately, it's possible that Jobs' applied this too far to his health--some think he delayed surgery to remove his tumor by 9 months so he could try alternative therapies first, which allowed the tumor to spread. (Skimmable balanced summary here.) Though the reality distortion field helps us break barriers, it can't break them all.

But when it comes to innovating and pursuing dreams, a reality distortion field is a great idea.

 I've seen it work even in silly things, like the loyalty card we used to sell at my old work. Time and again a new generation of cashiers would say "Everyone has a card, we can't get a higher percentage!" but my boss would *inspire* them to try harder, and the percentage went up.

This technique did stop working at some point, though. Eventually you really do saturate your market, and the reality distortion field eventually hits reality. But until then, what might we be capable of?

National Novel Writing Month--writing 50 000 words in 30 days--is another example of showing people how they can do more than they thought personally probable. If you pace yourself Nano asks you to write 1666 words per day; but I always get behind and write way more than that at the end, to get ahead. In theory we could all write 100 000 words in the month (and many of the early finishers do... yes, the crazy people.)

We can do more than we think IF we had a good reason, because achieving-the-impossible generally requires sacrifice. For example, in Nano it translates into = no dishes cleaned, no cooking, no childcare, unhappy spouses, and no life. I'll bet it did for Jobs' developers too.

But if your goal or dream is worthy, and the sacrifices can be made, then I say go for it. Reality distort away!
  

    

The hidden clues in your art

In June I wrote about a one-woman play my husband and I enjoyed and quoted from a book on writing that I was reading at the time. My brother just commented on a quote that he liked from that post. And then he sent me this cartoon. I thought the quote and the toon went nicely together.


THE QUOTE AND THE CARTOON:

"Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that the critics don't like and cultivate it. That's the only part your work that's individual and worth keeping."

If this chicken gets four more "you lack confidence" comments, he needs to stick to what he's doing. It's brilliant!

       

10 Lessons I Learned from Prince

I got my first Prince album from my brother. I was too young to see Purple Rain in the theatre, he saw it with my mum, and he had the cassette. I listened to it so much, he finally let me keep it. I was in grade 6.

So I spent my formative years listening to Prince. I think he's one of the reasons I continued to find the chutzpah each day to keep dressing and acting how I wanted to, though it drew a lot of sh*t from my peers.

Therefore, in honor of our upcoming Fated Meeting, here are my Life Lessons from Prince.


#1 Sex, love, and spiritual matters should all be held in reverence ...usually within the same verse.

Lovesexy: Prince's most religious album... pre-JW that is ;-)

#2 Don't be afraid to express yourself, even if you'll stand out from the crowd. Even if people will make fun of you because you're a straight guy in chick's clothes.

For the best jokes on this, see the video at the end of the post.

#3 No matter how physically different you are... OWN IT.

"Y'all is taller 'n me, but how many a you can carry off a pimp cane?"

#4 Partying is funner when you include everyone. (His JW-ness these days is surely less inclusive, but growing up it was all about the gender bending and bicuriosity and "black white Puerto Rican everybody justa freakin'".)

 

#5 Follow your heart, including your artist's heart, even if people don't understand where you're going. I was 12 when Prince followed up Purple Rain with Around the World in a Day, and I think that's when I learned what integrity meant. (...Not the actual word. Aretha Franklin had a B-side called "Integrity" and I didn't know what the f--- the word meant.)


 

#6 Eccentrics are good for society. (John Stuart Mill thought so too.)

 

 

  

Not only are they occasionally geniuses, but sometimes while making fools out of themselves they raise important questions like...

? Do artists have to be available at all times for the public (such as for interviews)? Or is it enough that they, you know, produce art?

? How far do we let corporations go in the exchange of labor and pay? Prince got fed up with Warner owning his music and since the general public didn't understand the full extent of the f**ckwaddery of the music industry, and since he went about it in his usual oddball manner, peeples made fun of him. But there are other crapitudinous companies in retail and in service... and not always a Prince to use an unpronounceable name for them.

#7 When the old ways don't work anymore, you have to experiment with new ones. Even if you fail a few times.

#8 Even geniuses fail a few times.

 
 

#9 A good swear word is a balm to the soul. He'd be sad to know I learned this from him now that he's got religion. But no one delivered a motherf***er or a "Good God!" like he did. Sigh.

And finally...

#10 Don't let the boys hog all the fun toys. 

Wendy Melvoin

Sheila E.

Candy Dulfer

New bassist Ida Nielsen

Rhonda Smith

DJ Rashida

Now if you really want a treat, this is from the Chappelle Show, where Eddie Murphy's brother told these crazy stories from the 80s when he would hang out with Eddie in Hollywood. (This is where "I'm Rick James bitch!" comes from.) They're SO funny. In this one Prince challenges Eddie and Charlie and their gang to a game of basketball. Prince really did play basketball in high school, all 5'2'' of him. 

"I dare you to challenge Prince to a game of ball one on one! ...After it was all over he took us in the house and served us pancakes."