Dalle’s Idea of Quality Over Quantity
Be a yardstick of quality.
Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
S. Jobs
First i hope this finds everyone safe. Second, your humble narrator has been incognito of late and re-emerged safe and sound as the CTO of a really cool company called BigBear.ai . Third, for some reason or another several folks have been talking to me about risks and reward in life as of late. i haven’t written a blarg in a while so i figured i would take the time to jot down some thoughts.
i dedicate this blarg to my parents. Here is why.
A long time ago in a land far away i lived in a modest ranch style house in Charleston,SC and in the den area there was a sign that said:
It is better to live one year as a lion than 20 years as a chicken.
Anonymous
This is a modified quote that can be tracked to several people in history. i am by no means referencing any political or religious views herewith so please check yourself. Someone somewhere could play the same music and someone would hate them for it on the internet.
i read this everyday coming in and out of the house and it had a profound effect on me later in life. Without me even knowing it i gravitated towards living on the creative side or maker side of life or let’s say risk taking side of life.
If you obey all the rules, you’ll miss all the fun.
Katheryn Hepburn
In the same fashion, for some unknown reason, people have been asking or talking to me about the creative process as well as having hobbies that appear to be risk taking.
For the record i don’t view anything that i do as a i hobby nearly as dangerous as driving. i’ll probably do a blarg on one activity everyone seems to be asking about is freediving but that isnt the subject of this blarg.
Life is to be lived folks. Social norms keep many from going and doing and living a life they DREAM. i hear you saing: “Well you know how it is life gets in the way.” Nope boys and girls your brain gets in the way and says “Oh you could never do that what would people think?”. “My <insert person here> would just disown me.”
What if you do it and you are truly happy?
The other thing people have been saying to me lately is “How’d you do that?” Well i just went and did it. Once again someone somewhere isn’t going to like whatever you do and you can’t please everyone so you might as well please yourself as the song says. (Rick Nelson – Garden Party).
Most people who really care about you just want you to be happy. They might not like or agree with you when letting your freak flag fly or even imagine how you could live in such a manner but i guarantee you show up to those you love truly happy then everything will be really OK. This is on YOU as it is on THEM. This is a two way street folks. You choose a difficult path not everyone is going to be “accepting”. The road will be strewn with stones to your path of righteousness. Trust me – Caveat Emptor.
The goal is living in a high quality life over a mundane mediocre life. The moments that take your breath away versus the number of breaths in a life. Where do you see a coffee table book entitled “Lives Of The Mediocre.”
Which is very closely related to the creation process. Putting yourself out there is scary. “Yes but i don’t have the courage or the skills.” You know what? Neither did anyone else who went and did The Thing.
Go do the thing that scares you the most then get the courage. That fine line is living. In fact it has been my experience it is a near life experience. Standing at the edge and looking down. Where you even surprise yourself.
“Yea but what if something goes wrong?”
Once again great question. It will. Yes Oh Dear Reader it will but guess what sitting in the recliner or couch every night for the rest of your life or looking out the window and thinking “I wish i would have done…” is way more painful than either pissing someone off for a little while or a broken leg, All will heal with love and happiness.
So put me on a highway
The Eagles
Show me a sign
Take it to the limit
One more time
Recently after a lengthy discussion about risk taking, mental gymnastics or physical hobbies someone asked me about my injuries. Here is a partial list:
Right shoulder replaced, Plates and 8 screws in my right forearm, Two left shoulder reconstructions, Two hip replacements, Broken right ankle and leg twice, Broke ribs, hernia operation, broken nose, cracked back, whiplashes, concussions, the list goes on…
Why would someone put themselves through this? I don’t know sounds like a startup co-founder huh? Because you MUST.
Because living at that level of passion is everything. There is nothing else. Because you know what? The crash is almost as amazing as making it! Quality Over Quantity Folks!
Taking this view In sports, companies and most importantly your relationships is crucial. Most will say they cannot live like that and they do not understand. Well just hand them a big cup of NOPE YA CAN’T. They will get very frustrated as well. Most people of that nature want their predictable life and the ability to dictate to others their lives.
So this morning i called my parents. Luckily both my parents are alive and very married. I told them thank you for having that sign in the den and it would be great if they could find the sign. They informed me it “wore out”. Get the symbology there? They said they had toted it from house to house.
After hanging up i went online to everyone’s favorite online retailer and bought this for my home gym:
Because i needed a reminder. Just like when i was a kid.
Enjoy it while you can
It’s just like the weather
So quit complaining brother
No one lives foreverLet’s have a party there’s a full moon in the sky
Oingo Boingo
It’s the hour of the wolf and I don’t want to’ die
So go create, make, live, and love like there is no tomorrow. You and the people around you will be better off and you will definitely find out who loves you when you are truly happy. Trust me in this area of life you will not have many if any followers just those who truly desire you to be happy.
Until Then,
#iwishyouwater <- near life at Mavericks in 2022.
@tctjr
Muzak To Blag By: Danny Elfman’s “Big Mess”. He is truly a genius. Yes the same person who created Oingo Boingo and all of the great soundtracks.
NOTE: i can also recommend several books on these views such as Tim Ferris’ “Tools For Titans” and Rolo May’s “The Courage To Create”, hit me up on the comments if you want more. Also please tell me a story where you put yourself out there. i’d love it hear about it.
Dude…. Thank you for this. I miss you………….
T-
Thank for the response. i trust all is well. talk soon!
//ted
Yes! The discontent of an unlived life hurts much more than failure, rejection, or pain.
Ten years ago I resigned from a very cushy job as a psychotherapist to become a filmmaker. It has been a decade of self-determination, sacrifice of psychological security, foregoing $1+ million in earnings, the cost of constant investment into my craft, solitary soul-searching to write works of meaning, various forms of rejection, betrayal, and the daily ritual of pushing the boulder an inch further. I’m not complaining. I feel blessed to have chosen this path, this version of “pain.”
I was good at therapy but there was a lot more to me that had to see the light of day. Film demands everything that I am but I’ll happily sacrifice in all those ways listed above to live a full life.
I sleep better on days when I give everything. On those days I win the battle on the inherent meaninglessness of life. Those days burst with meaning and I get to wink at death and say: “Not yet!”
Thanks for sharing buddy! I hope others hear you too…
B-
Thank you so much for the story and kind words! You sleep better enough said! The person in mirror is the person that you need to be truthful with at all costs! Listen to what he preaches! Hope everyone is well. Be safe and of course #iwishyouwater.
//ted
Love it!!!