J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) (TV/screen writer, Babylon 5 (TV), Jeremiah (TV), Changeling (screen)) spoke at my alma mater, MIT, last night, and Heidi and I paid $10 each to see him. Trust me, it was a LOT more entertaining than a movie (well, except Star Trek, but we've seen that twice--Go See It!). Despite claiming to be a horrible speaker, he was funny as hell.
I figured I would get there early, breeze in, and get a good seat. But my years of working outside Route 128 in Boston still blind me, sometimes, to the culture of the geeks--my humble roots. I arrived 35 minutes early, but geeks were lined up for about 1/4 of the length of the Infinite Corridor. "Infinite" here translates to 1/4 mile. (Geeks understand that when they say theirs is "infinitely" long, no one can possibly top that). So 1/16 of a mile long line, 35 minutes prior, to get a good seat to see a mid-level TV screenwriter, who has just now emerged as a major motion picture screenwriter. (I raise my hand) Guilty as charged. Though if I had figured out ahead of time there'd be a line, I wouldn't have arrived early. I hate lines.
They weren't there, though, to see him from his work writing the oscar-winning film, "Changeling" (Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood, Angelina Jolie). Instead, they were there because of his ground-breaking work on the science-fiction TV series, Babylon 5. Babylon 5 is most famous for being the first TV series with a pre-planned multi-year (5) story arc that made each episode completely consistent with all of the others. It turns out TV audiences have enough attention span to see a story through 110 hour-long (well, 43 minutes without commercials) episodes.
One of the main appeals of the TV series Lost is because of the pre-planned 6-season (oringally 5) story arc. The fact that this format worked was proven out by Babylon 5. Quite simply, we would not have Lost (as we know it) if there had been no Babylon 5. (Although Lost has certainly improved on the format, and DVD's and Netflix make this format even more accessible, but I'll save that for another topic).
You know, the signs posted on the way towards the lecture hall, with slogan and insignias from Babylon 5, were my first clues that I was back on Terra Geekdom.
JMS spoke in the lecture hall numbered 10-250. It was an abomination how much that lecture hall had changed from my college days. For one thing, it had a real name. You mean I can't call it "10-250" anymore? And everything had been updated and modernized. I was mortified and envious at the same time. However, one thing remained as before: the mechanized 9-panel blackboard system. That's right, it's still a blackboard. Not a projector screen, not a new system of whiteboards, but still the old blackboards. It's nice to see that *some* things never change. I bet it was like that in the 1920's (although without the mechanization).
But here's the amazing part--when JMS launched into his speech, I found him talking to me and speaking from his heart to mine. He told me something I already knew, but it was validation for switching careers. He said that the biggest obstacle to acheivement is the fear of failure. Everybody has the limits of their abilities, but people rarely test those limits because they are afraid to fail. And so most people stay in their "little box" where they know they will succeed and everything is predictable. It's a "comfort zone," and I am guilty as charged of remaining in my "comfort zone."
Recently, I knew I wanted to break out of my "comfort zone," to find the limits of my achievement, but I was confused about the direction. Do I go into management? I didn't have the temperament, but I could learn that. Do I go more technical in my profession? I could do that, too, but I didn't have the drive anymore. But when I started writing again, two years ago, I realized that I had to break out of my box in a big way.
And so here is JMS, ON THE VERY SAME DAY AS MY CAREER CHANGE WAS ANNOUNCED, telling me that I should do exactly what I had just done on that day.
I don't believe in coincidences, and I never will. This was clearly a message directed at me to PAY ATTENTION and listen to what he is saying.
And the message was--keep doing it. Keep testing your limits. Never be afraid to fail. You will never know what you can achieve if you never fail. If you're not failing, at least occasionally, then you're doing it all wrong.
Message received. I understand I have license to fail. I feel powerful already.
-Dan Fox
danfox@danielcfox.com
http://danielcfox.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1625342545
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