The Plan for Today Sounded Great
There are always profound lessons and insights in creative forms of expression. Even a show like Spongebob holds rich deep insights into both how we as humans express creativity and how we live our lives. I’ll probably lose some of you hear. Your mind is probably saying something like.
“Spongebob, silly kids show possessing profound life insights” (Insert Squidward Laugh)
Art is in the eye of the beholder. It has always confused me that when it comes to video games, pop music, and cartoons we put them down. To brush off these commercial works of their artistic value is shameful, yet we do it all the time. Why do we separate Pop Culture from human nature because of its commercial nature? Today as an adult I’ve learned a lot from Spongebob. Spongebob helped me to learn the art of taking the Ls gracefully.
Pop-Culture Taking Ls
There is no shortage of profit-focused commercial works. We forget that even these works had the hands of other people crafting them. There is an entire army of human beings working to build every perfectly-proportioned doll-faced Barbie. A team of designers, modelers, and manufacturers labor to prototype and build each barbie. It’s sad we don’t see mass-produced toys as works of deliberately created art. Contrarily, I’d argue everything is creatively designed. Companies make toys like barbies more appealing by designing everything from clothes, and packaging, to spaces, and signage. Yet we still fail to see the creative value in them.
Companies might be okay with taking Ls like that gracefully as long as their product catches a profit. However, I want to argue that every Barbie is a crafted piece of art. The modern barbie is a prime example of how the understanding of design, research, materials, manufacturing, and technology have all exponentially advanced in the past seventy years. Despite being mass-produced barbies have an exceptional build quality only being outdone by a few expensive and experienced custom doll designers. Yet they still aren’t art?
Mass Produced
Humans have a problem with things that are mass-produced and commercialized despite being slaves to that very culture. Things that take little time to produce or attain in our eyes lack the handcrafted loving nature of humanity. Therefore in our minds, these hollow productions are just empty shells with no soul. Ikea figured this out. Actually, Ikea profits off of this knowledge. Ikea knows that humans are taking Ls regarding quality and reliability gracefully to attain a feeling. When you buy from Ikea you get the feeling of handcrafted soul-infused furniture and Ikea gets to save on the overhead costs of assembling, storing, and the logistics of transporting furniture.
The other thing that gets in the way of us seeing Barbies as works of art is the corporate logo on the front of the product. When corporations get too large, often we fail to see past that. Did you know that there is a story behind Barbie’s inventor Ruth Handler? Did you know that Barbie has a lead designer? It’s important to remember that people who design and make the products we consume every day have their own stories, struggles, creativity, and souls that they pour into their work. It’s not as “romantic” as the story of “the struggling artist”, but just because they sell their products on a mass scale doesn’t mean there is no passion and soul behind them.
Something you will take for granted unless you work in operations(my current role) is the ability of humans to turn abstract ideas into reality using the given tools available. The stories that take place in the manufacturer’s plants, assembly lines, and warehouses are all implanted in that figure you see in the stores. Did you know that most barbies are still assembled by hand? Furthermore, did you know Barbie prototypes are still handpainted? As stated before, a lot of hands touch and implant pieces of their soul onto the barbie. But the most important set of hands to touch a Barbie is the end consumer, who is usually a kid.
As a Kid Taking Ls Gracefully
As a child taking the ls gracefully isn’t something you’re good at, but you have to take Ls all the time when you’re young. We think of anything designed for and for kids as not serious and elementary. To elaborate on my earlier statement, the most important hands to touch a barbie are the end consumers. The child who plays with the barbie is the one who turns a pretty piece of plastic into Stacy from accounting who has a crush on Rob but can’t say anything because Rob is dating Eduardo from collections. In other words, they give that barbie a soul.
In our culture, we fail to take the opinions of both the too-old and the to young seriously. The old people are out of touch and the young people don’t know enough. Even so, the desires of young children to act out their fantasies have made Mattel and Hasbro into the commercial superpowers that they are. There is a whole industry that designs, creates, and caters to, you guessed it, children. Lest you ever think that anything created for children is not serious, remember that selling things that entertain children is a multi-billion dollar of industry.
I Thought this Post was About Spongebob Teaching You How about Taking Ls Gracefully?
I started talking about Barbies because they were the most mass-produced, plastic, commercial, and “fake”(unrealistic beauty standards) thing produced for children I could think of. The public sees video games and animation in the same way. Just like a Barbie, when you turn on your TV to play a game or watch an animation everything is created. The people behind these works of art design the looks, sounds, and rules of a universe. They create new worlds.
Despite Barbie, Animation, and Games have a united struggle to be seen as art. I would argue that the pieces in these media that tell stories carry more of the creator’s soul in them. We derive creative stories from things that happen in our life. It’s sad that the public takes stories made for children less seriously. On the surface writing for a children’s show can appear to be easy. But have you ever tried to entertain a child for more than thirty minutes? Like their audience children’s shows are over the top, loud, slapstick, and largely unpredictable at times.
Despite being a children’s program Spongebob is entertaining for kids, teaches them some lessons, and has moments where adults laugh at some cheeky humor. Don’t believe me? Turn on an episode of the AD/HD fever dream and notice that kids and parents will laugh at different times. Most importantly I want you to be open to the idea that Spongebob has more depth than you were willing to give it credit for.
The Best Day Ever
For the uninitiated “The Best Day Ever” is an episode where the main character has his ideal day planned. His “best day ever” turns into his most disappointing day ever. This setup is something us adults relate to more than the kids the show was made for. Everyone plans amazing days, events, or vacations that fall short of expectations. I had today planned as a day I was looking forward to as well. While my expectations were not the best day ever, I’m a cynical adult now, after all, snowboarding followed by DJing for other people sounded like a great day.
Taking Ls on a snowboard less than Gracefully
Today marks my fifth time on the Snowboard. Perhaps today I would do better than yesterday. Things started off pretty well. My muscles although sore retained their memory from the previous day, and I was able to get off to a clean start. My confidence was feeling pretty good until the first fall. The falls stacked up as I went down the mountain and throughout the day I had some of my worst falls ever on that mountain. The confidence had turned into hubris, which lead to more speed, trying to carve down instead of sawing my way down the mountain, and worse falls.
I was taking the Ls and it was far from gracefully. Lying on my back and feeling frustrated, I remembered what I had been trying to practice.
“White belt, White belt, You’re new to this, it’s okay to fall, just get back up, smile, and dust the powder off your clothes“
After runs that were far from ideal. My fellow teacher Chris looked towards me and asked a question.
“Today the students will tackle taking the second lift, wanna go up with us?”
My body shook, I knew I was far from ready for it, but when life gives you opportunities I’d rather jump. Excitement and nervousness are really the same things, right?
It’s Worth It
Two students looked towards me.
“Wait you’re going with us? Are you good at snowboarding?” they cocked their heads sideways. I smirked and looked their way.
“No I’m terrible at snowboarding, but I’m a decent cameraman”
Because I was a cameraman I had to go ahead of the students. It was embarrassing for me to struggle to get to an area where I could turn around and take photos of them. I didn’t so much as arrive at my location, but faceplant next to the landmark. My pride was a little hurt as the students watched the novice snowboarder barely make it to the photo spot. Once there I waved them on.
One of the ways of taking Ls gracefully is to squeeze a small win out of that loss. In other words, you gotta be cliche and turn those lemons into lemonade. While my pride as a snowboarder is tarnished. I got the shots. The DSLRs preview window showed me dynamic shots that were harder to get on the more basic routes. Following the students down was impossible as they had cruised by without a problem. I continued down the mountain falling on my face first and then my ass later. At the end of that day my body was sore and beat up, but at least I had DJing to look forward to right?
I Don’t Understand Children
Arriving early to the party I set up my mixer, speakers, and laptop as usual. I ran some tests and this time I was doing something new by setting up my cheap led lights that reacted to sound. Expecting the kids to stay away from the DJ setup and lights was too much. Unlike or normal students the winter camp students were too young to understand basic manners. . . like not touching other people’s equipment while they’re doing something with it.
What followed was one of the worst sets of my life. It actually reminded me of when I had to play for an International language Class’s College party in Seattle. It was a three-hour event and the first hour and a half was a disaster. I eventually got the college kids to dance and enjoy themselves but I was in agony the whole time. There were times when some kids were dancing, some kids vibing, but there was always a group of people huddled around me saying stuff like “new song, do you know this song” and pecking away at my computer or mixer.
Taking Ls on the Decks Gracefully Deflating
There was a point in the night when I just let go. I deflated pretty badly. It’s not like there weren’t sparks of something. I heard my Ego talk. You’ll never be a DJ, too old, look at you trying to spin like you’ll make it one day. I kept trying to think of every new mix as putting on the white belt again. It was no use I was just mentally roasted at that point. I felt my pride and joy shrivel up like the Grinch’s heart.
I was looking forward to today. Like a deflated basketball, I was on the floor, picking up trash and cleaning pop spills from the ground. I sighed before aggressively scrubbing at the soda stain on the ground venting frustration at the dried sugarwater. As I was eradicating syrupy glucose from the world Chris, who was also cleaning, turned to me and said.
“Thanks, Marco I think the kids really enjoyed it”
“Well some of them did” I responded with a cheeky smile. Although the zen guitar mindset had stuck with me. There still was that cynical colored kid from the 253 in me somewhere. It didn’t hurt to look at reality for what it was.
It was something I needed to hear. We made some small talk about our past work experiences in movie theatres or fast food joints before heading home.
Be a Spongebob
My body ached as I sat down in my computer chair to type this post. The only thing I could think of was how much this day reminded me of Best Day Ever. What was the moral lesson that Spongebob learned at the end of that episode? He learned that sometimes it’s not about you. Spongebob learned the art of taking Ls gracefully and as a result, I did too. I thought of all the people who might be positively impacted by my actions despite my misfortunes today.
The marketing department needed photos. The student who was practicing regularly when they normally snowboarded goofy foot also fell a lot today. She might have felt bad if she were the only one falling but there I was usually on the ground more than on my feet. There were kids who actually enjoyed some of the tracks I was mixing. Everyone loved Gangnam Style. Chris might have enjoyed having an hour to not worry about being the main source of the kid’s attention. The boys playing around with my DJ software might become interested enough to be DJs themselves one day.
While our mind easily focuses on the bad things in life or what we don’t have, it takes effort to remember the people who dance and have a great time. Another lesson that Spongebob teaches is the attitude we can tackle the world with. Both Squidward and Spongebob live in the same neighborhood, work in the same place, and share the same community. One of these characters is far happier despite being in the same situation. Am I going to be a Squidward or a Spongebob?
Get Lost in The Flow
As I thought about my day like a Spongbob it was easy to get lost in the flow of gratitude. For snowboarding, I realized that every fall and the unexpected bump was a step towards progress. One of the reasons I failed today was my growing confidence. More confidence = more speed. More speed = a bigger wipeout. It’s not a normal situation to have a free all-you-can snowboard pass, how lucky was I?
For DJing, I focused on what I learned. Kids like lights that react to music, maybe video DJing would be entertaining. I focused on remembering the small group dancing. I learned how to deal with pressure as a DJ. To deal with shorter mix windows due to kids touching my stuff was like a challenge modifier in a rhythm game. It was like being thrown curveballs as a DJ. I also learned the importance of putting Cue points on the drop of songs like Gangnam Style, sorry Psy, but people only really love the drop and the buildup of that track.
When my day was going well I realized I was focusing on the present challenge at hand. Getting lost in the flow of the moment is what allows you to deal with that unexpected bump of snow or your nice beat match being messed up.
The most important thing I walked away with today is more insight on taking the Ls more gracefully than before.
