It’s been busy upstairs.
If you’d like a video representation of the “Josh Creative Process”, unproductive as it often is, dig this. I feel the actors portray the rolling of the ol’ marbles in my brain accurately.
(It’s also pretty funny, and hopefully worth your while.)
If I had a microphone and the attention of Times Square, what on Earth would I say? What would you say? How would I justify the taking of time from so many?
How do I justify the taking of your time? For each taking of time is a small murder, a usage of a tiny part of a person’s life, never to be returned.
It had better be good.
It’s the New Year. Two ideas have emerged from my whirring, clanging thought factory. They are questions. Maybe you have answers. These are not unusual, or new, or groundbreaking, or clever. But, they’ve been rattling, so I’m writing.
Can anyone do anything great without being corrupted by the process?
I’ve been lying to myself saying “I can’t”, and ignoring the Potential that whispers in my ear asking why I’m not. (Becoming what I know I could.)
Corruption
Challenge: can you name one person who’s not been corrupted by their Great Work? Seriously. Send me a link, or post it in the comments below. We’ve talked about this before, and the thought is stuck. I’ve been aiming at fame for years. It’s easy to say “thank God I haven’t found it” as a justification for “failure” (heavy air quotes there), but now, I’m starting to see a bleak landscape. The coked-out wreckages of rockstars are Elvis impersonations of warnings at this point. Some of my favorite thinkers getting awfully sure of what’s right is far more alarming. And now Dallas Jenkins, creator of The Chosen, is excited that he can bring us a new season of Jesus’ deeds.
These men do good, world-lifting, life-changing, illuminating work. Are they doomed to inhabit the night they dispel? The lamplighter is not the flame, after all, and plays with fire professionally.
Can I myself, a small part of me using humility to cleverly advance my subscriber count, remain uncorrupted as I point out the vanishing clothes of the emperors around us?
Josh Urban, Fashion Blogger. Tell me I’m clever.
Maybe Quantum Mechanics has a clue. Any observation on an electron alters it, and is impossible. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states the more you know about a particle’s position, the less you know about it’s velocity, and it’s impossible to know both with 100% certainty.
Although, that maddening concept opens up a strange universe where quantum tunneling is possible.
Are people the same? Is anonymity the answer? Can it lead to a philosophical quantum tunneling? Or is that too easy, not to mention the problems of lack of accountability?
Lies
I’ve almost died three times. (Only a slight exaggeration.) The first was in a HIIT exercise class where I was the only dude. I couldn’t stop. The second was during a spin class. Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) is the longest song in the world.
The third arrived on Monday. It was a lousy day, and as if on call, Mo the Boxer showed up to talk spirituality and how to knock the stuffing out of things.
I hadn’t seen him in a few months, and was excited to show him progress with the speed bag.
“Relax, man. You’re too tight.” He was across the room, then suddenly, grew ten arms and had fists everywhere. I got hit in the face, lightly, a wayward kitten smacked by it’s mother. I held back a mew.
Then we started working the heavy bag. Twelve fifteen second rounds for a total of three minutes. First round light, second punching hard.
“Don’t throw a punch if you don’t mean it.”
Ding Ding!
“Relax…relax…easy…
DING
harder! No soft punches! Don’t stand up straight, you’ll get knocked out! Good! Right!”
Muffled grunting, pow pow pow.
Two more three-minute rounds. My face dripped onto the mat, and there were sweat splotches on the bag from my gloves transferring between my defense and jabs.
I’ve never worked so hard.
“Good, good.”
A weak wave of the arm as I huffed around the room, making locomotive sounds before I could talk.
An Inconvenient Truth
Now I know I can. I thought I was facing a hundred dollar week with twenty in my wallet. Lies. Now I see I’ve got oh…fifty dollars in the bank, and the ability to earn more. But it’s hard.
Potential whispers in my ear. It’s been gnawing at my conscience for years. You could be More. Here’s some good Jordan on the matter.
I wrote a friend today. These are Ikea thoughts. Some assembly required.
Happy New Year.
Josh
PS. “Preacher” from the Dr. Electro stories has a blog. That is, my buddy who’s the inspiration for the character has a blog. Check it out. I think you’ll dig it.