Last night I watched Tiffany the Whale: Death on the Runway, or If Looks Could Krill. Tiffany the whale, and her story, was originally designed for a comic strip format by her creator, Bill Plympton. Tiffany had been ported to animation with hopeful intent that she will have an ongoing serialized platform for her adventures as a supermodel. That has not happened, yet, but her first episode is available on the Dogs & Cows compilation DVD from Bill Plympton's studio: Plymptoons.
Tiffany is a whale that dreams of being a supermodel. I guess her real dream is to be with her true love, who is a male supermodel that only dates... supermodels. How should we counsel her? "Oh, sweet, dear Tiffany. Your dream, not unlike your body, is dangerously big. Those small designer dresses will never, ever fit you. Wouldn't your rather find a nice, available, male whale. The ocean is full of them, and you were built for the ocean, not the runway."
I certainly have dreams in the Tiffany category. I can imagine that you do, too. Here are some points that may help you cope as you make effort to move from the ocean to the runway:
1. You can't force others, but you CAN force yourself - One of my big dreams was to have a cartoon that I make get nominated for an Academy Award. That's fine, except there are people making those nominations, and if they don't like what I do, my work never gets nominated. I have no real control over others, but I can have self-control. I can make myself do the work. So, I re-worded my big dream to: I want to make a cartoon that qualifies for an Academy nomination. In other words, it meets the requirements. THAT, I can do. I can push myself to create something that competes in the same arena where the big dogs run. Look at your dream from the perspective of what you do to make it happen, not what you need others to do for you. This doesn't mean you do it alone. No doubt you will require, and attract, a team that wants to help. It's more about moving away from blaming the system, and moving toward a focus on doing the work to get your project done.
2. Disappointment and failure are part of the cost - How much can you afford? Any goal, big or small, has the potential (and inevitability) of degrees of failure. If you are hammering one nail, you may have 100% success. If you are building a house and hammering thousands of nails, you will probably smash your thumb. How much thumb-smashing can you handle? (two on the same thumb is my absolute limit... for the day, anyway). The bigger your dream, the more disappointment and failure you will experience on your way to success. ON YOUR WAY... to success. So, break your huge dream into segments that you can "afford". Do you see what I mean? Split the dream into goals, and the goals into projects, and the projects into to-do lists. The smaller the segment, the more manageable potential disappointment, and then failure becomes just a (small, hopefully) problem to be solved before you move on.
3. The journey toward the dream builds your strength to live the dream - Dangerous dreams are dangerous because they are sooooo big. We don't actually have the appropriate frame of reference from where we currently stand to see what life is like over there in the world of the dream. It's different over there. The air is 'rarified' in that place. We build muscle on our way that allows us to thrive, to breathe the 'rarified' air, once we arrive. I guess I am saying, "embrace the journey". Once we get to our destination, the journey is what we tend to talk about the most. It's certainly what other dreamers will be asking you about.
"So, dream big, Tiffany. Don't start with the 20" stiletto heels on your fins the first time on the runway. How about the flats to start? But work those flats, girl!"
1 comment:
Dangerous dreaming - wonderful post and just what i needed today.
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