“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
When the Dalai Lama suggests we approach love and cooking with reckless abandon, he underlines the role of creativity - of dreaming beyond our current selves - in creating happiness. There's a seat belt, though, a restrainer that limits how creative we're willing to be. It's called What Other People Might Think.
In class recently, a classmate suggested in 30 years cars may not touch the roads when they drive, which led to a small chorus of laughter from others as if to say "that's ridiculous." In that moment, when people looked around for comfort in numbers, I remembered what it is I want to do.
I want to create environments where the safety is for the dreamers and the discomfort for those playing it safe. I want to participate in companies and relationships where imagination, failure, tinkered disruption and risk capital are rewarded. I want to face my own myriad fears of failure and invite them along for endless adventures.
The Dalai Lama's right of course. When we create, we grow. When we grow, we're happy. I want to take growing further, push it beyond me. Chances are I won't be the one who invents the new thing that reduces child mortality across a continent, but if I can support that person, create an environment where she can grow, even in a small way, I will be a happy kid.
— Matthew Mahoney