Maybe it’s the time of year, when magical moments can even be found in the grocery store while searching for cornbread stuffing, but I’ve been thinking about belief. I’m guilty of only associating the word “belief” with religion or Christmas characters, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to permeate every facet of life. Belief is the main motivating factor in accomplishing anything. If you’re seeking to make a piece of art or complete a major project, you must believe it’s worth it. You must believe that whatever you’re doing will make the impact you want. And not only that, but your belief must be strong enough to withstand all of the criticism, the alternate narratives, the economical demands. Belief comes in many shapes and forms, differing levels and categories, but it’s what gets us up in the morning and powers us through our lives.
Last week over Thanksgiving I was sitting with my dad who recalled an encounter he once had with former Miami Heat coach Pat Riley at The Breakers. My dad remembered him being just as much of a jerk as you would expect him to be. We began to talk about why it is so common for sports coaches to be this way - to be strong-willed, standoffish, arrogant. It occurred to me that coaches, probably more than any other profession, are required to believe that what they are doing is the right thing. And not only that, but they also must believe that their approach is better than the opposing side. They have to be passionate enough about the strategy, the next move, to inspire an entire team. A coach’s passion has to resonate with the team, motivate them to go on and win. It has to be overwhelming and to the wrong audience can surely seem arrogant, but how else would it work? I’m sure there are coaches out there who aren’t a**holes, but those aren’t the ones I’m hearing about winning championships…though I don’t follow many sports.
This also got me thinking about the amount of sports lingo and team-like mentality that is encouraged in the workplace. Oftentimes those workplace self-help books encourage managers to be like coaches, doing what they can to invigorate their teams to do their best work. It’s the role of managers and leadership to inspire belief in their employees, because they understand that belief is what’s required to do the best work. Maybe we can break this whole thing down in another post, but we need belief and we need to encourage it in others. It’s how the great works get created, it’s how art enters the world that impacts us and inspires even more greatness to be made.
While I was in New York last week I visited The Whitney for the first time (crazy I lived in the city for 8 years and never made it over there). My overall takeaway was that I need to visit more art museums. In the past I’d felt like I needed to be an artist myself or of some academic background to really understand and appreciate what I was seeing, but I’m realizing how wrong that is. The beauty of a museum is that it's for everyone - there is something to gain no matter your background. One collection that struck me was by an artist I hadn’t heard of named Alexander Calder. Calder was a very accomplished and renowned sculptor, but the collection at The Whitney focused on these simple and eccentric miniature puppets he made out of cloth and wire. Calder performed circus shows for what seemed to be local children with the puppets which were actually quite impressive. You can see an example of one of the shows HERE. I was enamored with the creations, but also wondered what his family must have thought of him. Sure, his creations sit in an art museum now, but I’m sure he had some family members encouraging him to pursue something a little more practical (and after reading his Wikipedia page, I wasn’t wrong.) Yet he believed so strongly in the need to make and sculpt that he dedicated so much time and attention to them. And now we’re able to view his creations and find inspiration to fuel our beliefs as well.
Belief makes life better and more interesting. Is why we have the term “suspension of disbelief” in analyzing fiction. Because if I didn’t believe the story I was reading, how would I see what’s so great about it? Bringing it back to Christmastime - isn’t it a much more magical time when we have something we believe in? Thanks to my friends Cara and Chelsea for calling out the big Macy’s sign this time of year, “Believe.” The story behind the sign isn’t something I was familiar with, so here’s a bit about it from a 2013 Macy’s press release.
The inspiration for Macy’s Believe campaign was the heartwarming true story of 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon, who wrote a letter to the New York Sun newspaper in 1897 asking if there really was a Santa Claus. The paper’s editor, Francis P. Church, responded with what has become the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language stating, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist …” More than 115 years after that famous essay was penned, Church’s words still resonate and remind us all to believe in the power of childhood wonder, hope and generosity – cornerstones of the Believe campaign.
Being able to fully believe in something is a struggle of mine. I have felt like I’ve always been able to see both sides of issues and tend to lean more towards being the mediator than the instigator. But belief is required from us to keep moving forward, to get things done, to make a lasting impact. When someone puts a song out there, they must believe that someone out there will want to listen. By writing these words, I believe that I’m doing something important for myself. I believe that there’s a place in the world for me and whatever this is.
What I’m loving this week:
Eat: This Brothy Thai Curry With Silken Tofu and Herbs was a nice refresher after a very indulgent week.
Drink: We’ve switched from cold brew to French press coffee in the mornings and it’s been absolutely delightful. Highly recommend a subscription from Intelligentsia (thanks, Julia, for getting me hooked!).
Watch: Ken Burns’ The American Buffalo has rocked my world and also was a nice companion as I’ve finished reading Lonesome Dove (hooray! And wow!).
Listen: I’ve been enjoying Andre 3000’s flute album New Blue Sun and I’m just obsessed with the fact that it exists in the world.
Read: I always love something by David Sedaris, so here’s his latest for The New Yorker, The Violence of the Rams.