RE-KINDLING...

Unlike re-inventors, re-kindlers don’t want a career “do-over,” but instead seek to reinvigorate the passion they once had in their job that has somehow eluded them or faded altogether. Everybody relates to this category because after a certain amount of time, anything and everything becomes routine, especially the things that require so much of our time... relationships, jobs, parenting, drinking... uhhhhh... I guess life pretty much. Is this why we have the expression familiarity breeds contempt? Take the most exciting thing you can think of doing and multiply it by every day. I bet you can't find a rock star that doesn't whine about the hassle of being on the road or performing the same songs night after night. No matter how fun... it's still a job. 


The "Love Bank"
The important point here is to know this going in. Prepare for it... expect it... count on it... embrace it... transcend it. Just know that you're going to need that much love, passion, and excitement to carry on... across the valleys, over the mountains, into the desert, and through the shit. Life is just one big love bank and you have to keep making sizable deposits, all the time, or you'll end up in "passion bankruptcy."  


Re-kindlers intuitively know this. They have a solid love foundation, but somewhere along the way the daily grind threw a couple of curves knocking them off balance. Hopefully, with some minor tweaking and a splash of imagination, they find their way home... back to the place that reminds them why they're doing it. Sometimes the door closes for a moment, but it doesn't always lock. 

Cirque du Soleil The Spark

In The Spark, a book about the creative commitment of Cirque Du Soleil, Frank Castle realizes that he has been coasting on autopilot for quite some time in his job as a sports agent. During a convention seminar in Las Vegas, Frank finds himself going through the usual motions, when suddenly he notices two men, who look like they’re heading somewhere important, disappear behind a single discrete door. Frank inexplicably decides to follow them and 7 doors later finds himself in a fascinating performance space that seems to have been constructed long before Vegas existed… during a Cirque du Soleil rehearsal for the show KA. Minutes later, he meets Creative Content Division President Diane McKee, and his serendipitous journey begins.

Instead of being a narrative told from perspective of one of the artists, managers, designers or technicians within Cirque de Soleil, The Spark comes through the eyes of Frank, who after being re-awakened by the energy in Las Vegas, decides to arrange a month-long sabbatical with Cirque de Soleil to learn more about their creative culture. On a shear leap of faith, he travels to Montreal to undergo 3 weeks of condensed Cirque training in hopes of bringing that passion back to his own life and career. 

Frank's experience connecting with a spectrum of designers and performers, as well as seeing one of his own clients become part of the organization, pushes him to take on some new risks within the sports agency back in Chicago. He declines an offer from his boss to represent a Heisman trophy winner, instead proposing an idea to create and head a New Talent Division. So… Frank figures out a way to get back to doing what he enjoys the most... traveling to high schools and colleges in the middle of nowhere to take a chance on young athletes no one has ever heard of. Sometimes... all it takes is some out-of-the-box thinking and a generous deposit into the love bank to get the career back on track.

"One Thing..."

In City Slickers, Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) gets together with two close friends every year for an adrenaline-rush vacation. One year it's the running of the bulls in Spain and the next it's driving cattle across New Mexico with an intimidating Cowboy named Curly (Jack Palance) that describes the secret to life as, "One thing... just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean shit." The problem is, Mitch needs to find the "one thing" before he can resolve his epic mid-life crises and pressing professional woes.


Do It Better.


While talking to his wife, Mitch condenses what he actually does at his job selling advertising space at a radio station to "selling air." Somewhere along the path, just like sports agent Frank Castle, he fell into the daily grind abyss and stopped depositing into the love bank. Towards the end of the movie, after successfully guiding the herd to Colorado, Mitch arrives home with renewed purpose. "I'm not going to quit my job," he tells his wife. "I'm just going to do it better." 

I don't know anyone who doesn't vent about their job from time to time... or their crappy boss or conniving co-workers... or "selling air." The difference with re-kindlers is that one way or another, whether it's an epiphany brought about by Cirque du Soleil or a life-altering adventure across the Southwest landscape, they re-ignite the flame and find a reason to stay the course. 


The truth is we all need to change our frame of reference once in a while in order to see things in their best light. So... rattle the creativity cage slightly and appreciate what you have. A little gratitude goes a long way. Instead of seeing the tedious journey ahead, pause, look back, and remember how far you've already come. At least this way, you'll really know if you've hit the end of the road or if you just need a little more fuel in the tank.