Big Ideas, take
three.
Big Ideas Fest (www.bigideasfest.org)
2012, my third year in attendance.
The
holidays are an interesting time of year; filled with ceaseless running,
endless to-do lists, more money going out than most other times of the year,
and an overall cloak of overwhelmed craziness.
It is a time when we remember and reflect on seasons of the past, move
closer to a new year and the goals and aspirations that come with the future. This is the perfect time of year to be
immersed in Big Ideas and the liveliness of the design thinking process. The Big Ideas Fest annually acts to kick
start my notions of life’s true, wild, and viable possibilities and reaffirms
the importance of making my days filled with more fun than not, more risk than
fear, and more wonderment and awe than settling for present circumstances. It continually acts as an important
resolution to not simply accept those things that are easy, but instead to find
those that fire up my soul.
The Big Ideas Fest knocks down the
doors of what is thought to be probable.
It debunks the status quo and what we can choose to accept as ‘just the
way it is’ and empowers doers to change the world, starting with themselves,
starting with ourselves. Seriously, the
speakers at the Big Ideas Fest (BIF) are incredibly human and absolutely phenomenal. Only by following their oftentimes
misunderstood voices do they redefine what is conceivable. They have found
themselves in an amazingly colorful, fun, lively reality by simply starting
small, trusting in the unknown, and by taking one step at a time. There is nothing but possibilities out there
for each of us to grab onto. There is no
room for settling, and there is no reason why each of us can’t live a
fun-filled wild and energized life.
I’ve been researching a lot of the effects of
art making, art appreciation, and art participation on our emotional,
biological, and neurological selves as of late.
It’s pretty amazing to learn that, without a doubt, on a deep innate
level, across history and cultural differences, we all appreciate beauty and
awe-inspiring events. We all crave the
miraculous. How we get there is
extremely inspiring and tangible, something that was highlighted at the BIF.
The greatest take away for me from
attendance at BIF this year was the 1-10-100 theory and it’s relation to
achievement. There is a certain amount
of mysticism surrounding great success and outstanding accomplishments. The 1-10-100 theory breaks the idea of genius
down to its human state. Each of us may
stumble upon a great idea (1), and after 10 tries or ‘experiments,’ it could quite
possibly show its potential to be pretty awesome and interesting. But only after much effort and hours of work
does the 100th try turn into that awe inspiring mystified
event. The first try is not the end; it
is most definitely the start. It is only
when we give up at 20, 90…that we won’t succeed to move into astounding. We must begin by allowing ourselves to let go
of our agendas as well as those schemata of our culture and family, to
creatively seek answers and discover new beginnings for ourselves. We must also practice patience, persistence,
and kindness and give ourselves the time to work and think diligently into
experiment 100. If not, the extraordinary
may never come to fruition. This was an
amazing take away for me. Each and
everyone one of us has the ability to achieve the extraordinary. It is terrifying to walk forward into the
unknown, to trust in the universe and to have faith in oneself. To put more energy into believing and less
into the fear that our ideas and actions might be crazy is difficult, and it is
absolutely worth it.
Actions taken to leap honestly and
with good motives should be, and I believe that they are, supported by the
universe. The act of showing up to a
blank canvas to paint is important; even if the end result is absolutely unknown. It’s a great reminder for myself to seek and expect
more out my extremely human self (and sometimes annoyingly human self) and to
not give up. The message is in all
things, to try, to refocus, to learn, think creatively, have faith in your
vision, hone in on the goal, and try again for however many times that it takes. It’s very uplifting and empowering to know
that we can all make a difference or a change in our own lives. Go big folks- let the miraculous happen.
Every
presenter at the Big Ideas fest had heart, believed in something bigger, and
lacked ego. They were all open to share
their process, failures and success. All
of the participants and presenters seemed to find inspiration in simple events
and were filled with energy, life, humor, and vitality. It was an amazing, inspirational weekend that
again, after my third year in attendance has opened doors to additional
possibilities in my own life and work.
Thank you to ISKME for putting on such a great event!
