Come Alive.

Take-Home Message: Do what makes you come alive.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Think about that question for a moment. Now, how many things came to mind? For me, it’s a laundry list. Most of these were just plain stupid, but all of them involved something similar: risk-taking.

Even some of the less-shitbrained ideas of mine throughout the years required risk to some degree. While a lot of them exploded in my face, I think back to some of those times and remember how alive they made me feel.

Like the time they told us not to throw that party in college that turned into a rager that the cops broke up. What a night. I think back to the time that a group of friends and I drove out to look at the house where a “crazy” lived and ended up getting shot at as we sped away. My heart was in my throat. I think about at least another half-dozen times that I shouldn’t mention, too. Two words: Pumpkin rolling.

Now, don’t mistake this as a message to run rampant through the streets ensuing what most people believe anarchy to be. That’s not what I’m saying at all. (Though, be sure to invite me if you get the itch).

It’s not so much the acts that I remember being awesome (they’re all much bigger fish tales today). In fact, I think back to how stupid a lot of the shenanigans I pulled were. What I can’t erase from memory though is the way each breath tasted in the act of taking risk. There’s something about the uncertainty that awakened my spirit. If only there were a way to experience that energy and channel it for good…

That’s what people who change the world do, in my opinion. They take risks, personally, professionally, emotionally, spiritually, and every other -ly. They embrace the uncertainty in pursuit of ideas, and put them on examination in the world. That’s my goal.

I don’t want to wake up ten years from now knowing I had the idea for the next Yelp! and failed to follow through on it. Is that what you want for your life? I say not no, but HELL NO!

Being creative takes risk. Especially if you’re going to exhibit your art, or product, or the manifestation of your idea for all the world to see. It’s mortifying, petrifying, terrifying (Yeah, that’s a play on A Beautiful Mind).

This is something I’ve had on the forefront of my mind for a while: If I want to change, I have to do something differently. I can’t change by remaining the same.

So, what makes you come alive? For me, it’s the thought of working for myself someday. I know without a doubt that I will have to eventually. For now, though, I’m working on obtaining new skills, refining current ones, and adding as many ideas to my arsenal for when that ship sails.

It absolutely terrifies me to think about the failure that is possible, but, it also brings me an immense amount of satisfaction to contemplate overcoming that. Don’t get paralysis by your analysis (<<That’s a note to myself).

This is what Ash (Ambirge) said today that kicked me between the legs:

“What if, instead of complaining that you don’t have a job, you created one? What if, instead of blaming a failing economy for your woes, you went out and sparked the economy with your talents? What if, instead of removing responsibility from yourself, you stood up and said “I!” What if, instead of merely accepting reality at face value, you repositioned yourself among it? What if, instead of pursuing a tolerable life, we fought tooth & heart for something we’d be proud to call our own?”

–Ash Ambirge, You Don’t Need A Job, You Need Guts

Wow. I want the kind of guts that takes. I want to come alive by doing what I love. Hell, what if we all just did it?