Opening my heart and mind to new possibilities recently has led to almost constant occurrences of connecting so many things together that I feel the need to further ponder on some of them. External and internal sources, old movies, new acquaintances, blogs, something said in a meeting last week, a song, a photo, the label on a can of hairspray… my mind doesn’t stop connecting what I hear, see or think even after I go to sleep.
The following came to me as I watched the movie, Working Girl, and it reminded me of something a coworker said about their enthusiasm for their work:
I had the awesome privilege of working with my favorite magazine’s creative director years ago. He was fresh out of college, eager, naïve, inexperienced but absolutely brilliant and he knew it. His creativity and determination to take risks at every turn paid off. He became a graphic designer then art director at our state’s foremost magazine. There was no stopping this force of ingenuity and he finally landed where he belongs at Wired Magazine.
It is amazing to me that I have the fortune to encounter such a unique individual again. He is nothing like the first one in that his brilliance is not delivered in the same manner and that he is actually modest to the point of being demure. His passion for his work has been called naïve in attempts to squash it. Heartbreaking. My boss recently commented that he wanted this person's passion and idealism encouraged. I assured him that no one could stand in the way of the determination I’ve seen.
The killing of passion for something is murder, even if the passion is sometimes misdirected. There are ways to motivate, guide and reward passion. I often wish I could bottle it so I could administer it to others as a cure for their cynicism or apathy. Or, possibly take it for my own jaded outlook on life at times.
The movie is over and the heroine of the story succeeds in accomplishing her dreams. In real life, I hope there is no end to what my heroes can and will accomplish. As for myself, I will keep striving to do my best, look for answers, make connections and encourage passion at every opportunity.
*Title refers to Bunny Watson, Katharine Hepburn's character in the movie, Desk Set, in which Bunny "associates many things with many things."
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UPDATE:
After writing this but not ready to post it, I found this article about Wired Magazine posted yesterday. The creative director speaks on the development of the digital magazine format in the video at the bottom. Amazing.
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