I don't know whose ghost I was channeling last night. But when I woke up this morning I had the sensation some great unwritten novel had been whispered into my ear as I slept. And I repeated the words of the dream over and over and over as I lay in bed, knowing if I simply remembered them I would have something Great.
Then I forgot the dream completely, only to remember it now. All that remain are it's ruins; like a once great civilization whose ancient pillars sit like broken teeth on a hillside. I have fragments, remembered bits. Phrases. And images of the disapproving looks on the fat faces of my audience.
Here's what I remember. (I can't emphasize enough how fucking genius this was in it's original form.)
This group came in and I spoke with them about the meaning of commitment. “People talk about change all the time,” I began, “but it never leads to actual change.”
“You know the kind of discussions I’m talking about,” I said. “You’re sitting in some meeting room with a bunch of people and it’s like 11:30 and there’s half a stale croissant on your plate from the continental breakfast bar. And some guy wearing a bad tie is talking about how to create a Sea Change in an Enterprise Company as you watch the clock tick toward lunch.
"Everybody nods in agreement at everything this douche says, but they know full fucking well they’re not gonna do a goddamned thing differently than they did yesterday. All he represents is the dickhead standing between them and lunch, and their nodding heads are the key that gets them out the fucking door."
"And why don't people change? Because people are lazy."
Then I told them about how a guitarist by the name of James Marshal Hendrix taught himself how to play the guitar left handed, and how he willingly took a secondary role in an obscure blues group so he could give himself the freedom to master the guitar. “That,” I said, “is the commitment to change.”
I don't know where all this came from. Why did I refer to Jimi as "James Marshall?" Is the anecdote I gave about him even true? And what about the awful corporate phrase "sea change," a buzzword straight out of 1999, filed in the same box as "e-business" and "monetize?" Where did it all come from?
Strange dream. But trust me, it was genius shit when I dreamt it.
4 comments:
i know exactly what you mean. i have moments like that when i have really low blood sugar. everything becomes clear. i have revalations that, at the time, seem to be the most important theories ever theorized. then they disolve like sugar in water. which i need to raise my blood sugar. you are a genius, kunath. in real life and in dreams.
Brian- I totally hear you. I write some good headlines in my sleep, and keep a pen and paper next to my bed. Of course, in the morning I can't fucking read it anyway.
When you break a sand dollar, you get sea change.
I think you need to quit Wunderman...NOW!
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