Today, October 11, 2012

Today’s project: Dreaming and Scheming

I know it’s been a while since I posted.  I know this in particular because my family has been lovely poking me with emails and messages asking where my posts are.

I haven’t been purposefully NOT posting, but have been buried pretty deep in my Steampunk commission; which is in the final stages now.  I hope to post pics tomorrow.

However, I did have trouble deciding what to post about.  I mean, I could post the in-between stages of the Steampunk piece I’m working on.  

Or the fingerless gloves I made for my friend, but I kinda wanted to give them to my friend as a surprise.  Surprise ruined if I post pics here.  Oops.  I guess the surprise is ruined now anyway. Dang it!

So, what do I talk about?

As I have stated previously, I love my friends for the inspiration they give me.  That inspiration comes in many different forms. Sometimes it’s specific ideas, for projects, posts, or crafts.  Sometimes it’s more abstract thoughts, for well-being, volunteering, or creating.  I spend a lot of time considering what they give me and often try to do as many tasks as I can get away with.  I also pick my friends’ brains for decisions on lots of things.  I tend to get stuck on many of my projects as I can’t decide between A or B.  Fortunately, my pals are full of opinions! =)

Since my friends are such inspirational people, it gives me a lot to dream about.

As I was sitting with hand work today, I find my mind roaming in a lot of different directions; some of them spurred by things my friends have given me lately.

Then I began to wonder about success.  It’s a thought I’ve explored before: what makes someone successful? What is a particular person’s definition of success?

I went to www.thesaurus.com and looked up synonyms for ‘success’:

[Easy Street, accomplishment, achievement, advance, arrival, ascendancy, attainment, bed of roses, benefit, big hit, boom, clover, consummation, do well, eminence, fame, flying colors, fortune, fruition, gain, good luck, good times, grand slam, gravy train, happiness, happy days, hit, killing, lap of luxury, laugher, maturation, profit, progress, prosperity, realization, reward, savvy, sensation, snap, strike, successfulness, triumph, victory, walkaway, walkover, win, éclat]

I find that there are a lot of words here that, for me, indicate a shallow, superficial version of accomplishment.  I feel that I am looking for something deeper to call 'success.'  Something that fills a hole in me that is not simply satiated by money or recognition, but by a combination of fulfillment and satisfaction; satisfaction that my actions can benefit someone other than myself.

This is one of the reasons that I try so hard with my blog posts.  I hope that someone finds a nugget of information, inspiration or affirmation in something that I say.  And if I can help others in such a small way…well, I count that as a success.

That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love a nice boon of cash…=)

And then, ultimately, what makes one person’s idea successful to the point of fruition when someone else’s idea fizzles and dies? 

How did Steve Jobs know he had an idea that was worth pursuing…and pursuing and pursuing. Until he reached success.  I read once that Steve Jobs had presented his ideas to IBM for the personal computer and was turned down.  They didn’t think that the idea of the average person having a computer in their home was worth doing anything with.  After all, they were ‘International Business Machines,’ and computers were for businesses not housewives.  How did Mr. Jobs have such faith in his ideas that he could ignore what the ‘experts’ told him to continue to work to bring his concept to life?

So, you start with a dream…it seems to be that ‘successful’ people then develop a scheme.

A unshakable plan.  Something they can’t be talked out of.  No matter how knowledgeable, expert or ‘right’ the naysayers are.  Now, I’m not saying that their scheme doesn’t flex or alter depending upon circumstances.  I’m sure Mr. Jobs had a plan when he made is pitch to IBM that then had to change it when the answer was ‘no.’  But, obviously, the overall scheme was one that lead to success.

I’ve had some great dreams. Of my own inspiration and others inspired by friends.  But I’ve never seen any of them get to the level of triumph that I know they could have.  I'm beginning to think that the lack of good fortune isn't because the ideas were bad, but because I didn't have a good scheme.

Then that, naturally, leads to the question: What makes a good scheme?

I love to read biographies.  I find the stories of famous and infamous people fascinating; I love to discover what made someone who they are.  One of the things I've noticed as a common element of the success of these people is a blind ambition; the idea that they or their idea is worthwhile...no matter what anyone else says or does.

Ok, so element #1:

Blind Ambition

But what else?  I can't find any evidence that suggests that the scheme needs to be intricately thought out or each element should be designed to account for every contingency. 

Nothing that suggests that you need a ‘backer’; someone behind you believing in you and your dream.  Many people have done it all on their own.

And there are certainly tons and tons of stories that tell you don’t need mounds of cash.  You can find books, articles and even movies that are filled with stories of people who have built corporations, philanthropic kingdoms or nuclear particle accelerators with nothing more than some bubble gum and a few rubber bands.  Go MacGyver!

How do I a simple, Midwestern Mom design a scheme to go with my dream that will lead to that mountain of ‘Whoo hoo!’ that equals success?

And today, as my hands are busy with creating things for others, my mind wanders to creation of schemes…and I hope that means that someday I can say I started with a dream.

So, dear reader, what’s your dream?