Taking Chances ( #AtoZChallenge )

       Taking small chances has often been something that I have avoided, but big chances I've dived into without thinking much about it--not even checking to see if there was water in the pool...




       Taking Chances

      Time and again I have avoided small chances for fear of failure.  Thinking back to school dances, I would avoid asking a girl to dance for fear I would be rejected.  And most of the time you wouldn't find me at a dance anyway because I didn't even want to face the possibility that I might want to ask a girl to dance.  Besides, I was never much of a dancer--guess I didn't want to take the chance to learn to be at least passable at dancing.

       It's been the little things like that in my life that I have avoided because there seemed to be a risk of some kind involved.  Yet when it came to some of my biggest decisions like taking out on the road with a touring show or relocating two thousand miles to live in Los Angeles, I made my decision without much consideration of things like failure or disappointment.  I just did it because it seemed like something I wanted to do.

        Maybe I've fretted too much about the small choices--the things with mostly temporal effects and outcomes.  Perhaps it's part of being a dreamer with big dreams.  The minor dreams seemed to get in the way of where I wanted to go without any consideration on my behalf that those little dreams are just diversions along life's journey.

        These days I'm not overly concerned about taking chances because there aren't that many I have to face.  Other than the risks of getting out of bed in the morning or driving to the store or the daily stuff of life, most potential risks are things I might fantasize about while never having to face the reality of those thoughts. 

         Maybe it's time for taking real chances.  I could try to turn dreams to reality and failure be damned.  I'm getting too old to worry about failure.  All of my years of living so far should count toward something.  Surely I've learned a few things.

         Do you wanna dance?   Might as well get out on the floor and take a chance.

         Are you a risk taker?   What is your biggest deterrent to taking chances?--Fear of failure?  Success?  Facing ridicule?

Playing Peoria ( #AtoZChallenge )

Peoria has become the standard to represent average America home-town U.S.A.  If you're accepted in Peoria then you've got a good chance of being widely accepted throughout the country.  So they say at least...



    Playing Peoria

       "Will it play in Peoria?"  has been a frequent question of vaudevillians and other American performers over the past hundred or so years.  After all Peoria is literally located in the middle of the United States and a resident of that city has long been considered representational of the typical American.  If a Peorian liked what you had to offer then you would likely be a hit wherever you played.  That was the theorized rumor at least.

        I don't know if that theory still holds true or really ever did, but the gist of it is what many marketers look for in ascertaining whether they've got a product that will sell.  Ideally, if I wrote a book for example, I would want whatever I have to offer to have a wide appeal.  Not that I'm in anything strictly for the money, but I do like the idea that I would be fairly compensated for my creative output.

          Over the years (and many years ago) I've played Peoria with the shows with which I've traveled.  I don't recall much of anything about the town other than the immense Caterpillar plant where heavy machinery and tractors are produced.  I seem to remember a river close to that plant.  But the town?  Alas I remember it not.

          I'm sure that it's a nice town, but most likely we didn't stay there or spend much time there.  We probably played our show and moved on to the next town after we were done with our performance there.  In fact I'd like to visit again someday--maybe even "play" it in some capacity.

          It's not so much that I want to be mainstream with commercial success, but financially it would be advantageous to me  To be widely accepted and appreciated would be nice.  If I made it back to the Peoria stage, whether that be literally or metaphorically, I'd rather get applause than have rotten vegetables thrown at me.  My guess is that I'm not too alone in this thinking.

          We all want to be loved to some degree or at least appreciated for the fruits of our labors.  If Peoria accepts me then maybe that will mean wider acceptance everywhere.  First I have to get to Peoria even if my Peoria is not in Illinois, but in my own mental estimation of whatever platform I used to deliver my goods. 

           If I can make it in "Peoria" then I am emboldened to keep on moving on to the next level. 


      What is your standard of success?   How would you most like to be remembered?   Have you ever been to Peoria?








     

Other Dreams, Other Mysteries

          HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

        Back before Christmas I discussed dreams, the kind we have while asleep.  Today is the start of a new year and it might be a good time to look at another type of dream--the dreams of ambitions, hopes, desires, and the things that have fueled us in the past and fire us up now.  Specifically I want to look at the mystery of lost dreams and the new hope of dreams to come.

          Can you remember your childhood dreams?  What you wanted to be when you grew up?  If you're like me you probably went through stages.  There were fanciful fantasies of childhood based on movies and television and the desire to emulate adults whom we admired.  Then as we grew older we may have started shaping those original fantasies into future realities or diverged onto  different pursuits.  Perhaps high school influenced us, or college changed us, or some job we took made us formulate new goals.  There were bills, spouses, houses, and families. We may have had many dreams that changed many times.

           In middle school, one of my teachers, Mr. Dinsmore, gave us an assignment.  We were to come up with five dreams, that is, five possible career choices that we would like to pursue in the future. My five choices in descending order were professional entertainer, professional musician, writer, photographer, and teacher.  Throughout high school these stayed prominent for me, but as college approached I added psychologist to the list.

          When I enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 1969 my major was my new dream of Psychology. After a couple of years I became disillusioned with psychology and switched to English with the intent of going into teaching.  This was a time when I began writing fervantly and submitting works to publications with constant rejection.

         Eventually, as I was nearing my graduation, I dropped out of college and just lingered for a period. It was during this time I met up with a magician who had a touring show.  He made me an offer and soon I was on the road working as a professional entertainer-- number one goal achieved.  After a couple of years of this, I had gotten married.  When my wife became pregnant we quit the road and settled in Richmond, VA. Here I was networked with somebody who needed a fiddle player for a dinner theater production of the musical "The Robber Bridegroom".  Next thing I know, I'm a member of the musician's union and working as a professional musician--dream number two achieved.

         Later, there was another decade on the road with touring shows, where I was the manager, a position that I liked a great deal.  Then another eighteen years managing a warehouse-- not a huge dream, but being the guy in charge was still definitely to my liking.  And now here I am writing.  Prior to the middle school project and throughout high school, college, and all the rest, writing was my truest passion.  Now I am again working at the writing dream and hoping to make a living at it.

         There's a connection in this history of events.  First the initial dream was stirred. If one is thinking of a dream and networking in the right channels, achieving the dream to some extent is almost a given.  I may have never achieved stardom or big bucks, but I made a living and was satisfied and to me that is achieving a dream successfully.

         Yet I have known and heard about so many people who dreamed and nothing happened.  Why?  Was the passion not strong enough?  Or perhaps they just never made the right contacts.  Writing, like show business, is a dreamer's game.  But to achieve, first you have to do it.  You cannot reach your dream if you don't try.  Then, if you are trying it becomes a matter of attitude, persistence, confidence,  and meeting people in the field you are pursuing.

        Still, there are the sad stories of the people that had what it takes, who tried, and never made it.  Or perhaps they just didn't make it to the level they dreamed and saw themselves as failures.  The aspirations of the artist, the creative person, and the dreamer are different than the person who just wants to earn a paycheck, pay their bills, and maybe take the family on a vacation every year.  There is often more frustration and self-doubt involved.  Failure is a mystery.  Or is it?

         How have your dreams changed in your life?  Or did they change?   What do others think about your dreams and about the milestones you consider successes?  In what dreams did you fall short in the past year?   What are your dreams for 2010 and how are you going to achieve them?