Those of you who know me well, probably know how much of a biography nerd I am. Some might even go so far to say that I'm obsessive when it comes to learning everything there is about noteworthy people. These folks can be inventors, business tycoons, understated 'accidental' activists (like Rosa Parks), artists and the like. I am fascinated by every element of the human experience, and how people's lives are shaped by their social environments, the grit of their passions, and the driving psyches behind their motivations and mindful decisions. I can't get enough...
Tonight I satiated that endless curiosity by watching a documentary on Ben & Jerry, the ice cream magnates. Much of the company's history was common knowledge, having grown up in the 1980s, and since I attended college in Vermont. But what I found most inspiring were the interview segments where the men talked about their personal struggles, and their intense humanitarian principles that their business needed to rise above the pure profit driven models they detested. These guys were a couple of left wing hippies wanting sidestep the greed and corporate toxicity that they believed were ruining America. (Think: *Wall Street,* the movie. "Greed is good." Is it? Is it really?!?)
I *need* to hear about the turbulent periods these kinds of people go through. I think it helps me feel more grounded when I go through my own rough patches. No one is immune or exempt. We all have those moments and triggers that push us past our base of knowledge. This documentary was an illustration that 'success' is about being adaptable, receptive to changing trends, and inventive enough to know how to ride those tides to a new, and hopefully improved outcome.
But success isn't an end point – it isn't a permanent state of being. It's more of a state of mind, a process that requires tremendous maintenance and constant intentional evolutions. Even if we 'achieve' the loftiest of accomplishments, it doesn't imply that we will be eternally suspended in that glow of victory. Fortunes can be made, and depleted. High level promotions can sometimes lead to lay offs when corporations restructure. Chart topping, number one pop songs slide their ways back down, and then off the top 40's lists. A sad, but true fact. (I think the Taoists are right...)
(I say all of this having acquired much success in my younger years: I was in all honors classes, tested well, won national awards for my metal work and musical abilities, was athletic in my much younger years, and was a regionally recognized activist – getting my name in the New England newspapers roughly a dozen times in my junior year of high school. Instead of wanting to ride that chariot of success into the sunset, I developed a stomach ulcer and decided to redefine success, and stop looking externally for affirmations about my self worth. I chose a college without tests, and without grades, where we had to write term papers instead, and got page long comments from our professors, instead of report cards and grade point averages. I did pretty well, but it could have been a mess. That's why hearing about others' experiences weathering the metaphorical storms mean so much to me.)
This documentary about "the people's ice cream" really granted me the faith in myself that I will eventually find my niche. Hearing about a company that integrated their social consciousness into not only their business model, but into their products themselves, gave me hope that we don't have to abandon our ideals in order to sustain our standard of living. Even though Ben & Jerry felt forced to sell the company that bares their names, they are still dedicated to social calls of action both on the national political scope, as well as the grassroots community base.
As I sit here in my mid thirties, daydreaming about what may become of me and my yet to be fully harvested talents, I hope that I can live as passionately and compassionately as these two blokes have. If only I could decipher what that "one thing" is that will help me "wow" the world. Then I'd be living the Americone Dream...
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