Out of the Box By Michael A. Black

This time of year “out of the box” most likely refers to opened presents. I guess it could also be considered a kissing cousin to “out of the bag,” which is most often associated with a cat making a frenzied escape. Of course, if a cat is thinking out of the box it might mean another unpleasant incident. There’s also “boxing day” in Canada, which I’m told has nothing to do with the “sweet science” of fisticuffs. I believe it’s some kind of gift giving holiday north of the 48^th parallel. Those Canucks are thoughtful people, aren’t they? For me, “out of the box” means not allowing restrictions to inhibit your thinking. Where would we be if not for those intrepid souls who dared to try thinking out of the box?

Think about some of the great innovators of the last century like Thomas Edison and Wilbur and Orville Wright. I used to keep one of Edison’s quotes on my desk for inspiration: I am not discouraged by failure because each one brings me a step closer to success. Just for the record, think about what this man invented: the electric light bulb, motion picture camera, the phonograph, to name three. He also suffered from severe hearing loss due to scarlet fever and a brutal beating he received as a youth. Wilbur and Orville are another good example of that old, American stick-to-itiveness. (That’s a word you don’t hear much anymore.) The Wright brothers were so certain they could get their contraption to fly that they kept trying over and over until they finally made that fateful ninety seconds in the air. Things kind of took off from there.

For all the great inventors and innovators we can point to, there are also examples of those who thought outside the box and failed miserably. I’m tempted to cite our politicians in Washington as we continue to slide toward the fiscal cliff everybody’s talking about. It’s interesting to watch them as they blame each other for the country’s economic problems. In this case, I’d like to seal them all up inside a box and not open it until they’d learned to work together to get something done. I’m hoping by the time you’re reading this the whole thing has been solved. As I write this, we’ve still got a couple days left.

But I’m being a bit pedantic, aren’t I?

As if all the world’s problems could be solved simply by a box. Still, it would be nice to be able to box up ignorance, prejudice, hatred, violence, and all those other nasty things, wouldn’t it? But didn’t they try that once? I remember reading something about this chick named Pandora . . .

Comments

[camille minichino]

Such a great "out of the box" post, Michael! And only you can make fisticuffs seem like a sweet science!

[rita lakin]

Nice blog, Michael.
Not pedantic, thoughtful.
Now what do I do for an encore on Friday? LOL

[Susan Shea]

Fun rumination on the theme, Michael. I enjoyed today's blog!

[Mysti Berry]

Wouldn't it be cool if there was a reality show where contestants had to work *together* to win? If people didn't let themselves be whipped into frenzies of win-lose "games" like Black Friday? Well, here's hoping 2013 teaches us all a little something. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!

[Michael A. Black]

Yeah, that might be the next reality show, Mysti. Actually, I went through an outward bound type of program years ago in training. We were all used to working together and handled this fourteen foot wall pretty easily. When we almost had everyone over, the instructor stopped us and made us start all over again because "someone had cheated." After we'd scaled the wall a second time the instructor admitted that she made that cheating charge up to teach us that sometimes "life isn't fair." Needless to say, we emphasized that fact as we chased her through the rest of the obstacle course.