Defy Gravity!

There is a song in the musical Wicked (sung brilliantly by Tony award-winner Idina Menzel) called Defying Gravity. Elphaba (the future Wicked Witch of the West) finds herself unable to live with the constraints of convention in OZ. Elphaba sings:
"Something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second-guessing. Too late to go back to sleep! It's time to trust my instincts. Close my eyes, and leap! It's time to try defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity, and you can't pull me down"

Of course Glynda the Good (the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth) replies with:
"Can't I make you understand. You're having delusions of grandeur!"

I'm not going to turn this entry into a Wicked-fest, but I think that the lyrics of this song really strike a chord (literally as well as figuratively).

The power of convention can be overwhelming. Well meaning friends and family try to talk us back to earth. Don't reach to far. Don't stretch too much...you might fall.

Don't let them. Dare to dream - and dream big. Change starts with an idea. An idea that, by its very nature, defies convention. Change is, after all, different. It is not easy. It takes guts and conviction, you have to be willing to attempt that which has not been done.

The strength of your convictions and the courage to try. One more line from the song..."everyone deserves a chance to fly."

YOU deserve a chance to fly. You deserve to be happy and fulfilled and living the life that you've dreamed of.

Go for it.

Close your eyes...and leap.

In Defense of Weird

First of all let me say absolutely and unequivocally that I am weird. I always have been - just ask my wife, or my dad, or my sister - they'll all say the same thing. So I fully admit my bias toward weird. But here's the thing, most of the people who accomplish anything truly remarkable are, in fact, a little weird. Maybe we call it "eccentric" or "outlandish" but it all boils down to the same thing. Richard Branson? Weird. Bill Gates? Weird. Seth Godin? VERY weird. These are people that dared to challenge convention. I would guess that none of them really care too much about what other people say about them - and by a lot of standards, that is just plain weird.

Don't play by the accepted rules. Don't do things just because it has always been done. Challenge it. Fly in the face of it. Dance in the streets if you feel like it. Sing out loud in a crowded shopping mall - If you let other people define you, it is self-limiting and self destructive. Allow yourself to express yourself. Whether it be in writing, drawing, painting or, god forbid, launching a new product, starting a new company or just looking at your job in a different way and finding ways to bring the fun back. People who are having fun are a lot more productive - and THEY ARE HAVING FUN.

Weird is creative. Weird is off the beaten path. Ultimately the people who think you are a little bit weird are probably so afraid of defying convention that they don't even know how to react. Let me let you in on a little secret. The conventional rules don't apply anymore. "Good enough" isn't. The ways that society has defined us ARE NOT going to get us to where we need to go. Not econimically, not environmentally. We are going to have to start looking through a different lense - and that, my friend, will be seen as weird.

I can't define "it" for you. I don't know what your boundaries are. Or what your dreams are. I can tell you this: Whatever "it" is...go for it. You owe it to yourself.

For heaven's sake, don't let a little thing like being weird slow you down.