Are we there yet...

Why does the return trip always seem shorter than the original journey?

Have you ever noticed that on a long trip it always seems to take less time to return home that it did to get to your destination. Could it be that it already seems familiar. That its no longer an adventure. Or is it that we just can't wait to arrive, and when we get there, destination reached, we're pretty much ready to go home now.

Isn't this how we so often go through life. When we're a kid, we can't wait for the next day, and they always seemed to last forever. When we got there, we couldn't wait for the next day and the next and the next. Time seemed to take forever. But as we grow older, as we arrive at these various points in time, we look back and can't wait to get back to where we've been. And in the process time seems to move much, much faster. It's not that time actually moves faster, but having lost our ability to look forward in anticipation of the unexpected, when we can only look back, its familiarity plays tricks on us. Change is so slow that we don't realize it until we look back and ask where did the time go.

I know this has been my life. I'm really just beginning to realize the need to savor the moment with an eye on the future and while the past is there to learn from, its no place to live. I can't wait for tomorrow and the adventures it brings. And when I get there I can't wait to take in every moment, no matter how small. And finally, if you see me not savoring the moment, feel free to call me on it and kick me in the behind.  

Dinner Theatre takes on a whole new meaning

There's a great group called Improv Everywhere that stages a variety of "stunts" just for they sheer joy of playing with people's heads. They're all volunteers or as they prefer to be called "agents". Check out this clip of one of their gigs at mall food court. This is absolutely the best use of theater I've come across in a while. Enjoy!



Thanks to Jamey with Beneath the Brand for finding this.

VegiTunes

Okay, this is one of the more interesting combinations of two of my favorite pastimes, food and music...



For all you drum corps fans out there, the next question is, does a cucumber/pepper qualify as a woodwind or brass instrument?

Check out more clips of vegetable musical instruments

New car sales and a naked man... UPDATE

This an update to one of my posts from last summer...

I came across one of the better commercial for a new car dealership this afternoon. Its for a dealer group in Norwell, MA. The Clay dealerships and their agency Boathouse Group get it. They understand how to disarm the buyer by poking fun at the retail auto industry and in the process gain an enormous amount of exposure not only locally, but internationally.

In a nutshell, the spot features a slightly overweight car salesmen, explaining the unseemly tactics traditional dealers will use to get your business. Why does it work, they get your attention as they guy disrobes as he describes how Clay will show you the naked truth about the pricing for the car that you're looking to buy.

The 4 spots debuted on YouTube.com back in early April and will soon appear on local cable. To view the spots and play a little game that helps re-cloth the nearly naked salesmen, go to http://dontgettaken.com/.

The only other auto dealership spot that I've seen in this same category would be the "Trunk Monkey" spots for Suburban Auto Group in Oregon. While the spots are fun and memorable, I don't think they do nearly as well at communicating a message that in the end distinguishes them from the competition as a place worthy of your business.

Bottom line for both is they get your attention and at the end of the spot your very likely to smile. And that's always a good thing.

I'll write more about this later, but thought it was important to point out that I discovered the Clay dealership "We'll Show You Everything" campaign on a great web site and blog by the authors of the book Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution. It's an easy ready because its both well written and insightful. Check it out.

Five cool blogs and why I read them...

I know its been a while since I've posted and to be honest I don't have a very good excuse other than being distracted. A lot.

One of those distractions is reading others blogs. Its a great way to get fresh perspectives on a known topic, but far more often its an opportunity to learn something totally new.

Here are a few of the blogs that I read on a fairly regular basis. Check them out for yourself and let me know what you think. If you have a some personal favorites, pass them along as well...

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Guy Kawasaki's How to Change the World
One of the first blogs that I bookmarked and created an RSS feed for, it cover a variety of topics including evangelism, entreprenuerism, marketing and pitching a venture capitalist. He also talks about his former employer Apple from time to time as well as some of the new projects he's involved in. One of my favorites for sure.

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BlogMaverick - the mark cuban weblog
Another one that I read all the time is Dallas Mavericks owner and current "Dancing With The Stars" competitor, Mark Cuban's blog. He sounds like a good guy and his blog is very conversational. He's not afraid to speak out on any topic and the blog bounces around from the NBA to the HD television or film business (he's also the owner of HDNet, plus a chain of movie theaters, a film distribution company and a film production company). He also occasional gets into politics and business culture. He's very well versed to speak on any of these topics and his insights are always interesting.

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...by Ken Levin - The World As Seen By a TV Comedy Writer
Ken's always entertaining blog is an interesting look into the mind of an Emmy Award winning writer. He's also a professional baseball radio and television announcer, which is where I became familiar with him. He was the play by play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, but that's not the only reason I read his blog. His writing is clever, insightful and just fun to read. Which explains why the shows he's written for are far more often than not, among the best stuff on TV over the years.

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Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness
This blog is based on Daniel Gilbert's terrific book Stumbling on Happiness. I finished it a few weeks ago and found it to be a great read. So what's so great about this blog? Well its a fascinating insight into how our brains work and how we perceive the universe around us. His blogging style, like the book, is really easy to follow which is great for a subject that could easily overwhelm. The only downside to this blog is that its somewhat sporadic, so you have to keep an eye out for new posts. That's one of the main reasons it sits at the top of my RSS feeds page. Even if there's nothing new, its a great read, so it easily stays in my top 5 list.

NOTE: I'll post more details on the book in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

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Dilbert.blog - Scott Adams
If you're a fan of the Dilbert comic strip, you'll understand why I'm a fan of Scott's blog. Its funny. Plain and simple. Sadly I don't read it every day, but I've just repositioned it on my RSS feeds page to make sure it pops up on my radar each time I open my browser.

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Something that dawned on me as I write this is how much I enjoy blogs that make me laugh. While it's important to get the latest news updates, I really believe that its just as important to smile and have a good laugh whenever possible.

Thanks for staying with me. Feel free to comment on my suggestions and if you have a site to share drop me a note.

Two lessons from the summer...

My journey to a new career has been both enlightening and frustrating. In fact the latter has been a major contributor to the former. In other words, my frustration has led to discovery or in many cases to rediscover things about myself. Valuable experience, but at the moment it isn't paying the bills. So what have I learned that might one day pay the bills and make the world a better place. Two things immediately have become obvious to me.

1. Joy is at the core of our existence.
2. When you feel like crap or get frustrated, quickly find any way possible to get over it.

It goes without saying that people who are happy tend to be more productive in the long run. Are much easier to be with. And in general make the people around them feel better. Face it, its a lot of work to be sad when you're surrounded by happy people. The experience of joy makes the day less stressful, we sleep better and we physically feel better.

On the other hand feeling like crap or let things frustrate you (which quickly makes you feel like crap), can drain the life right out of you if you're not paying attention. Feeling bad serves no useful purpose, and in fact only feeds our personal self pity machine. Self pity gets old fast which often pushes others away. The loneliness helps reinforce our bad feelings and we slip into the quicksand, having pushed away the very people that could have helped pull us out of the muck.

I'd spent several days at home feeling sorry for myself. Even with my loving and caring wife Christina sitting next to me or only one room away, I felt isolated and alone. I was so lost that it was like having my life drained from my soul. An emotional Nosferatu. It was not productive and certainly not fulfilling. It had become in Christina's words, "A life, not worth living."

Those words sent a shock through my system and helped remind me of the Ghandi quote, "Be the change that you want to see in the world." As I have always believed that joy and fun can and will change the world, I only had two choices, stay and be miserable which obviously wasn't working, or be that change, to be joyful and fun.

It only took a second or two to make that shift and it was immediate. I won't say that it was easy as there were several days of muck to shake off. But like making a commitment to climbing out of quicksand, slowing things down, letting the people around me help and staying focused on my intention allowed me to break free.

Life is better for sure. I have more energy, less aches and generally sleep pretty well. From time to time I do step in a small puddle getting goo around my ankles, but its a lot easier when I feel it tug at me. I can quickly regain my footing by refocusing on the joy and fun and being that change that I want to see in the world.

In the end, life is perfect. It's not flawless but it is perfect.

Hummer photo credit - Tx4x4.com

Einstein was right, time is relative

Okay, so it's been more than three months since my last post. While that's not the end of the universe, the realization a few minutes ago was a wake up call. Time is slipping by way too fast.

Do you remember when you were a kid, it seemed like the days would last forever, and things we were looking forward to, like birthdays, special trips and summer vacation would never get here.

Somewhere along the line, things shifted. We seemed to get busier and busier and there was never enough time in the day to get things done. Suddenly, rather than always looking forward to things, we were usually looking back and saying what happened. Where did all of that time go? It still clicked by 1 second at a time, but our perception was that it had for the most part slipped past unnoticed. Einstein was right, time is indeed relative. Reflecting on the last few hours, I'm coming to believe that wonder and joy are in fact, two of the keys that help slow time.

Wonder lets us to look at things openly and in minute detail. This openness creates a feeling of control like nothing else on the planet. Is it possible to open to wonder and feel anything less than being in full control of our senses and in absolute awe at the universe around us. One of the byproducts of wonder is joy.

True joy gives the sensation that time is standing still. It is a state of mind that is so natural for most, that you never want to let go. This creates a problem for most of us.

While it's true that with age and maturity come responsibility, there is a perception that there is little if any room for joy and wonder among the responsible. As this mind set begins to take hold, our experience of time begins to shift from abundance and anticipation, to scarcity and loss. I know I've been there for the better part of the last 40 years. Not sure the precise moment that it happened, but I do know that it happened.

In the coming days, weeks, months and years, I am all about rediscovering wonder and unbridled joy. I am about creating a better world through joy and fun. Its the only way that I can truly make a difference in the world and to make this happen I need your help. If you ever see me being anything less than joyful or fun, you have my FULL permission to give me a swift kick in the bottom and call me on it. There's a catch, you also have to give me a shove in the right direction. That might be something as simple as asking what's up and then asking what's next.

I know this is a lot to ask as we all have really busy lives and responsibilities, but I truly believe that if we can help light each other up, if only for a moment, that time will indeed begin to slow down, become abundant and fulfilling without having to be irresponsible. It is how we were created and wouldn't the world be a lot more fun if we could be both joyful and responsible.

I'll provide an update on the summer with my next post along with a personal promise to being accountable for providing updates on a regular basis.

I welcome your comments and when needed a good swift kick in the pants.

What's Next?

I've been asking myself that question a lot over the past few months. And the answer is: I don't know... yet.

What I can tell you is that it will be extraordinary. I will be a key force in the creation of events and experiences that will touch, move and inspire, They will provide moments of extreme joy and will connect all who participate in or pass through the spaces that I create.

Why do I write about this in my blog. Couple of reasons...

First for those who have read my blgs before to know what I'm up to. If you know of someone who shares my vision, you might pass along a link to my blog to someone looking for a person to help their company, organization or brand create an extraordinary experience.

I also write this with the thought that someone not familiar with me or linked through family or friends might come upon this blog using search terms like "special event", "extraordinary experience" and "wow". (I'm open to more keywords. Send them my way at ed.dempsey at earthlink dot net)

So to answer my original question what's next? - A world with a lot more people saying "Wow, that was cool!" and smiling as they reflect back on it.

I was sitting at lunch today...

I was sitting at lunch today looking over my draft of last night's post about joy and fun. It struck me that it might appear that I was thumping my chest saying look at what I’ve done. Know that this was never the intention of my post.

My hope was to provide something to consider if you might ever find yourself hanging out in the dark recesses of doubt and insecurity. With that in mind, let me elaborate on my personal discovery in that moment.

When I hit bottom yesterday, Christina gave me a loving nudge that reminded me of the people that surround me everyday. Extraordinary, loving people. I know I said that yesterday, but it’s worth repeating. Each of us are surrounded by them every day. They love us unconditionally.

There are some that we know. They’re obvious like the family, friends and co-workers that I mentioned yesterday. But there are many more than we might imagine. Your support structure could include people we’ve long since forgotten like teachers, old neighbors, classmates and distant family. People that we haven’t thought of in years. But they might just as easily be total strangers, like fire fighters, police officers and social workers. Many are seemingly unrelated, people you may never meet face to face. These are the ones that I want to talk about.

Yesterday at Disney’s California Adventure, I experience something that could have only been possible because of a group of caring, loving human beings. Disney produced Golden Dreams, a short film about the dreams that have and continue to make California great. The film was both calming and inspiring. So much so, that its closing song pushed me to a level of emotion that I rarely reach. It was an awe-inspiring moment.

I’ll be the first to admit that I often wear empathy on my sleeve, usually in the form of tears wiped aware when something truly moves or inspires me. It’s happened while watching television, a movie or a live show. It might have come during a sporting event or while reading a particularly poignant story. This experience yesterday however was one of the more intense moments and came at absolutely the right point to carry me the full 180º from earlier in the day. I found myself at the point of almost outright sobbing, the big loud stuff that you find at funerals. Like most people, I find it uncomfortable totally loosing it in the presence of total strangers in a darkened theater, fortunately I held on and when the end of the film came, I was able to regain my composure and exit the theater. I have to say though that while restrained, that release gave me the lift that I needed to complete the journey that Christina had started me on two hours earlier.

It would be an understatement to say that this moment in the theater would not have been possible without the caring, loving producers, writers, technicians and performers that created it. The emotions that I experienced could only emerge from the core of our existence and in this case it was triggered by a group of people that I’ve never met, but am now forever grateful to because their gift disguise as a theme park movie, made my day and I am now better as a result. The best part to all of this is that this same experience is there for anyone who enters that theater and watches this same film. For some this film might not be that big a deal, but for those that it does touch, move or inspire, it can be a huge lift. For those that it doesn’t connect with, not to worry, since there are plenty of other people out there ready and waiting to touch move and inspire them when they need it most.

And in the end, the world is a better place because of the support that we provide for each other.