Embracing Your Inner Orville
Taking (reasonable) risks, and finding exhilaration in a new adventure
A favorite book on my shelf is Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie.
MacKenzie is a former employee of Hallmark, the people who make greeting cards. In the book, he draws on many experiences he had in his 30-some years at Hallmark, the different roles he played for the company, how he struggled between absolute conformity (getting absorbed into the tangle of the titular Giant Hairball) and absolute creativity (veering off into deep space at a tangent to the Giant Hairball.) His last official corporate role was one he dreamed up and self-titled: "Creative Paradox." And, as you might suspect of someone who called himself a "Creative Paradox," he encourages us to hold the middle course--not landing on the Giant Hairball and becoming entangled there, but also not flying off on our own...but rather finding an "orbit" around the center of gravity that is the Giant Hairball of institutional policies, procedures, and paradigms.
In other words, find the ability to be creative, innovative, and maybe even a culture changer, but not in a way that alienates or disparages your colleagues and supervisors.
An easy course to plot?
No.
But his anecdotes and whimsical illustrations give the feeling that it is certainly possible!
My favorite chapter of the book was entitled "Orville Wright."
The chapter is one page long.
Actually, it is one sentence long.
Here is that chapter:
Dave’s Faves
Here are four things I’m loving right now that I hope spark some delight for you as well…
Dave’s Fave #1: The Threads app
If you have been following me online for more than the past year or so, you will undoubtedly know my love (it was almost an obsession, really) of Twitter as a platform for teachers connecting and learning from and with each other. But over the past year or so, my love for Twitter has definitely waned with all the mercurial changes since their change in ownership. It is to the point where I tweet very infrequently anymore…and I’ve even debated just going on hiatus from Twitter entirely. It’s kind of a dumpster fire over there, friends, and while I have lots of connections on TeacherTwitter…Twitter has become a less and less positive place to be, for me at least.
Enter Threads.
Threads is a new Twitter-like short messaging platform created by Meta. (Meta is the parent company for other social media giants, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.) I downloaded the app on the first day, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised already. It is a well-designed app that closely replicates much of the functionality of Twitter. So far, positivity and playfulness are dominating on Threads. (Though as I’m writing this, it’s been all of a few days of public availability, so we shall see.)
If you are, like me, disillusioned by Twitter, or if you’re just up for a new place to play around online, I’d encourage you to give Threads a whirl. You can find me over there at @drdavemulder—I’d love to connect!
Dave’s Fave #2: Closed for Storm
My wife and I enjoy watching documentaries (okay, you guys, I’m a big nerd!) and we recently watched a fascinating one about Six Flags New Orleans, which was absolutely devastated in Hurricane Katrina, and still sits abandoned more than 15 years later. It’s a thought-provoking film about how and why cities make decisions about land use. That might sound dull to you, but the storytelling is so compelling, I suspect you might be surprised if you give this one a chance. We watched it on Amazon Prime, but you can rent it on many different platforms.
You can check out the trailer here:
Dave’s Fave #3: Dr. Dave’s favorite banana bread
Little known fact about Dr. Dave: I love to bake. (I wouldn’t say I’m good at it, but I enjoy it!) We had a couple of very ripe bananas in the house last week, and my wife asked if I wanted to freeze them for smoothies, or if we should make banana bread. I said I’d bake up a loaf.
Here’s my favorite banana bread recipe:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream the margarine and sugar together. Add the eggs and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. (But I always check it at 55 minutes, and it’s usually just about done then.)
And here’s the result. It was so good!
Dave’s Fave #4: Barton Hollow
My music recommendation for this week: Barton Hollow, by the Civil Wars. This is their debut album that came out a dozen years ago(!!) and it is gorgeous.
The Civil Wars were a Nashville-based duo (they have since broken up, sadly) made up of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Both had solo careers before they met—if the name Joy Williams rings a bell for you, it might be because she was a Christian Contemporary artist who had quite a bit of airplay in the early 2000s. Their musical style straddles a variety of genres: folk pop, country, and singer-songwriter. Their harmonies are amazing, as is White’s acoustic guitar work.
Whether it’s an album you’ve forgotten about, or if it’s your first time listening, I think you’ll appreciate this one a lot. Give it a whirl, and then leave a comment to let us know what you think!
The Last Word!
I hope that the challenge to be a little like Orville Wright is received in the spirit I’m offering it: an opportunity to take a (reasonable) risk and experience an adventure. My hope is that this summer season is one in which you can find something new that brings you joy and delight, and maybe a (small) adventurous risk: take up a new hobby, explore a new trail, cook up a new dish, or read something outside of your go-to genres. Maybe watch a documentary that seems like it’s not your thing, or bake a banana bread, or listen to a country/folk-pop album, or join a new social network?
And if you find yourself feeling like you need permission to play…well, consider this “permission granted!”
The big idea: challenge yourself to experience something you’ve only imagined—or maybe never imagined! Embrace your inner Orville Wright!