Moments of Conception 159 - The Poem Scene from Before Sunrise

February 21, 2015 1:11 PM

All creativity begins with the moment of conception.

That little piece of kindling that gets the fire going. That initial source of inspiration that takes on a life of its own. That single note from which the entire symphony grows. That single spark of life that signals an idea’s movement value, almost screaming to us, something wants to be built here.

And so, in this blog series, I’m going to be deconstructing my favorite moments of conception from popular movies. Each post will contain a video clip from a different film, along with a series of lessons we can learn from the characters.

Today’s clip comes from the poem scene in Before Sunrise:

Cross my palm with silver. Art and commerce have never been easy bedfellows. Most
creatives would rather be heard than paid. But commerce is a fact of human
existence. Without a value exchange, there’s no economy, and without an
economy, society crumbles. And so, whether it’s a gift exchange, a bartering
system, or a simple agreement between writer and reader, it all boils down to
creating value. In this case, the poet assures the couple that if they like
the poem and they feel it adds something to their life in any way, then they can
pay whatever they feel like. Wow.
That’s the most trusting, honest, fair and human approach to commerce that I’ve
ever witnessed. If more artists and businesspeople adopted this approach, life
would become a lot less stressful. And so, the beggar’s interaction paints a picture of what’s possible for the modern
artist. He shows us that as long as we are willing to add our own unique value to
society––often on a moment’s notice––we will get rewarded for it. We just have
to be ready for the money that is waiting for us. Even if it’s only a few bucks
in pocket change. Because no amount of income in insignificant. How much money will you be earning
five years from now?

Throw your
weight behind other kinds of possibilities There’s a direct correlation
between identity and profitability. Everything new we become can lead to
something new we can do. It’s simply a matter of leverage. Because when we
expand our sense of who we are, we also expand the universe of decision makers
who can engage our services. When we widen out the boundaries of our being,
adding more ways in we can deliver our unique value to society, we widen the
menu of yesses for prospects to peruse. And when we keep one eye cocked to the
infinite commercial possibilities of our work, people will come out of the
woodwork to lay down the track in front of our train. This very philosophy was
the impetus for creating a discussion guide for my documentary. The intention
was, I wanted the movie to be more than just a film, but also a platform for
education and connection. And so, I offered resources to educators, learning
institutions, companies, congregations and other organizations to help spread
the messages of identity, belonging and creativity. Free of charge, of course,
and with the confidence that new and exciting opportunities would open up as a
result. Are you open to pursuing any
financial avenues that are available to you?

You must be out
of your damn mindset. Jesse says that if he could just accept the fact that his
life was supposed to be difficult, that conflict and struggle were what’s to be
expected, then he might not get so pissed off about it, and just be glad when
something nice happens. Interesting
theory. I actually read a book about this very concept many years after
this movie came out. Gelb’s research on the
world’s greatest innovators showed that optimists
expect success and consider happiness to be their normal state. That way, when
something goes wrong, they view negative events as temporary glitches, as
isolated incidents insulated from other aspects of their lives. It’s simply a
matter of mindset. Assuming you just got lucky, versus believing that you
create your own luck. Waiting for fortune’s loving countenance to look upon
you, versus building systems designed to make it easier for luck to find me. I
did an segment for 20/20 many years ago on the topic of luck, testifying that
it was more than just chance. And the irony is, instead of filling out the
online submission form to be a featured expert on the show, the producers
actually found me because they
googled around for articles on the topic of luck, and guess who had written the
most on the topic? That’s not luck, that’s math. That’s not chance, that’s
volume. After you earned luck for the
first time, how did you go about getting it back?