Listen to the ear in the field

I'm on vacation this week in Florida. As I sit by the pool, I'm reading David Lynch's book Catching The Big Fish.

If you've enjoyed his movies like I have, it is an intriguing read. It is also highly insightful.

One of his secrets to creativity is to find the little idea and then develop it, instead of waiting for the whole idea to come to you.

Here's what he says: "An idea is a thought. It's a thought that holds more than you think it does when you receive it. But in that first moment there is a spark....It would be great if the entire film came all at once. But it comes, for me, in fragments. That first fragment is like the Rosetta Stone. It's the piece of the puzzle that indicates the rest. It's a hopeful puzzle piece. In Blue Velvet, it was red lips, green lawns, and the song--Bobby Vinton's version of "Blue Velvet." The next thing was an ear lying in a field. And that was it. You fall in love with the first idea, that little tiny piece. And once you've got it, the rest will come true."

That is deep. For your next project, product or big idea -- just pay attention to the little gifts that come to you. Capture the smallest of brilliant flashes of insight and get to creative work. You might come up with Twin Peaks, The IPOD or a great redesign of a broken process at work.

Comments

[Aruni Gunasegaram]

In reference to this particular post I am relying on it. Flashes of insight come at us at random times in our lives and I think most people do not act on them because it doesn't seem feasible. However, I've noticed that if I take a seed of an idea and start acting on it, many other opportunities open up...maybe not in the timeframe I would like but in a timeframe that fits with what's going on in my life. I try not to dismiss those gifts but often I do and oddly they will resurface again until I pay attention.

[Zac]

Tim...I've not maintained a recent email address for you, but thought of you in regard to the recent correspondence below. Write or call (678-836-4429) to catch up when you are able.

Best, Zac

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copied emails below
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Lenny...thanks for the update on your recent meetings in the Bay Area. I am copying this information to my friends Val Vaden and Richard Emerson, as well as Tim Sanders down in LA (if you aren't already in touch with Tim he has boundless energy and might enjoy connecting with all these former HS & college debaters). All three of them know well what you mean by the "trajectory-changing" impact of early exposure to debate.

I've not heard from Val and Richard since your recent correspondence, but please keep them and me in your information loop as California initiatives develop further. Thank for everything you are contributing both to the future of policy debate and more importantly to inner city public schools, where debate would be absent but for your efforts.

Best, Zac
Zachary Grant
[email protected]
678-836-4429

-----Original Message-----
From: Lenny Gail [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 9:16 AM
To: 'Lenny Gail'
Cc: Meredith McClintock; 'Meredith McClintock';
[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]
Subject: Bay Area Urban Debate Update:

Here's a quick status report on the NAUDL's efforts in the Bay Area and the game plan of which we very much hope you will be a part.

First, we have excellent news to report from the Stuart Foundation, a California-based Foundation dedicated to ensuring all children learn in vibrant and effective schools and have opportunities to become productive members of their communities. Stuart awarded us a $35,000 planning grant - from September 2007 to May 2008 - toward the founding of Urban Debate Leagues in the Bay and Los Angeles areas. The grant will support the our efforts to, among other things, engage supporters through a reception, convene foundation stakeholders and nonprofit practitioners to solicit their input, advocate to build school system investment, create a deliberate and thoughtful implementation assessment and strategy, and raise awareness about
urban debate in the Bay Area and LA.

Second, last week Eric Tucker, our Deputy Director, Holly Reiss, our Senior Regional Program Officer, and I had a series of "lay of the land" meetings with local Foundation executives and other interested folks. By that I mean we were not asking them for money or other commitments, but were in fact trying to get their take - as people who work on a daily basis with the local school districts including Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco - on the terrain. We met, in particular, with representatives from the Hewlett Foundation, the Stone Foundation, and of course with Stuart. (Holly and I also had an excellent breakfast with the Superintendent of the Santa Clara School System, who not only is interested in his district participating in its own right but offered to make favorable introductions to some of the other key area superintendents, including the head man in San Jose.)

Third, we had a terrific lunch hosted by O'Melveny & Meyers and Darin Snyder (albeit in abstentia). Also in attendance were famous NDT debater Michael Mankins; former Iowa Debater and Supreme Court advocate Laurence Popofsky; former HS debater Tom Sugarman, together with his wife Terri Herson; Randy Luskey of Orrick; Kahlil Yearwood of Dechert; Ivo Keller from Ellman, Burke; Matthew Rice from MoFo; Amber Watkins with Trial Behavior Consulting; and Bay Area Urban Debate veterans Jen Johnson, Jael Myrick, and David Wasserman. We talked a lot about how to move from conception to a thriving Bay Area Urban Debate League. And, we were fortunate enough to hear directly from Jen, Jael, and David about the relevant history here, including how best we can create an institutionalized and sustainable league this time around.

Fourth, NAUDL Board Member and CEO of ReadySolar, Meredith McClintock, hosted a working dinner in downtown Palo Alto. Also in attendance were former HS debater and Assistant United states Attorney Joe Fazioli, Palo Alto HS debate coach Jennie Savage, Harker HS debate coach Adam Nelson, Google’s (and Bay Area debate advocate) Hoon Ko, and Palo Alto Lincoln-Douglas coach Daniel Sheehan. Not surprisingly, we talked with this group a lot about the debate landscape writ large in Northern California and how it relates to what we are trying to accomplish with and in a new Urban Debate League.

In the main, these meetings did exactly what we had hoped: Made us incrementally sharper about the local terrain. And, we also secured from the individuals with whom we met the kind of referrals that will help us become smarter and smarter about what is possible where, and that hopefully will lead in the future to interested parties who will help us financially.

And, fifth, I have spoken with many of you - individually and in groups - about a Reception at which we would introduce the idea and our plans for urban debate in the Bay Area to a broader audience. I am delighted to report that Darin Snyder, the managing partner of O'Melvny & Meyers in SF, has agreed to host that gathering at his Marin County home. While we are still finalizing the date, please reserve for now the late afternoon/early evening of both Sunday, December 2, 2007, and Sunday, January 6, 2008. Details will follow, but please be thinking about whom you would invite - former debaters, other friends, foundation representatives, potentially interested corporate officers, school district folks, etc.

Let me say in closing that, as you all know, I am investing substantial amounts of my own time and money in the NAUDL because I have witnesses what you many of you have already seen and what the rest of you all surmise: Academic debate is a life trajectory changing experience for inner-city kids. Suffice it to say that the NAUDL and I fully embrace the challenge of moving forward in the Bay Area.

Always feel free to contact me directly.

Best,

[email protected]
(312) 343-3502