Friday, May 29, 2009

Mangolicious

Image Copyright K. O. Munson



I’ve been working on some big ideas and yesterday one of them was shelved. It’s a really cool idea and I think folks would love it, but at least for the foreseeable future it’s not going to happen. It’s frustrating sometimes knowing that the people in charge of approving your big ideas and getting them out to the masses are often entirely lacking in vision, but what’s a gal to do?

You never quite know if you fit the suit, Johnny Bravo and it’s often got little to nothing to do with your talent. More often than not, it’s one or two people who have decided they want oranges and if you’re a mango you can forget about it. So what do you do when your big ideas get shelved? What do you do if you’re a mango in an orange world? You have a good cry. You feel really bad about your big idea and yourself for a moment or two. You beat yourself up a little for not being taller or smaller or younger or older or curvier or skinnier or more orangish...and then you shout out...as loud as you can...

“SCREW THAT! I AM FABULOUS!”

You have to believe in yourself and your brilliance. You have to be willing to take rejection and keep on moving forward. You have to know that if oranges are popular right now with the ‘not visionaries’ in charge...mangos just might be the next big thing. So be ready to knock their socks off when that day comes...which might be sooner than later because the winds are constantly changing direction.

I have a page from a magazine taped on the shelf next to my desk with ghastly movie reviews of some of the most successful and well loved films in history. This page reminds me that even if you’re not everyone’s cup of tea...if you make great tea someone will love it. Maybe lots of folks will love it, but no matter how delicious you are someone will think you tasteless. C’est la vie. It’s a damn good thing Elvis didn’t listen to the person who told him to keep driving trucks...and Hemingway kept trying to sell books after over a hundred rejection letters...and Dr. Seuss didn’t listen to the children’s book publishers who thought his books too weird for the masses...because without that tenacity and self-belief the world would have missed out. All because some ‘not visionaries’ were looking for oranges instead of mangos.

I’ve got some other big ideas simmering right now and I do believe that one of them is going to cook up really nicely. Onward and upwards. Success happens when the right big idea and the right visionaries come together at the right moment. I’m a mango and I’m going to be as mangolicious as possible because when it’s my time to shine I’ll be ready.

I’m mangolicious. How about you?

Until next time...craft on with your bad selves.

xoxo
Madge

No comments:

Post a Comment