On Becoming a Leading “Word Artist” on Stage and Page: How to ASPIRE-2 – Part II

Here’s another concept- and performance-based acronym for outlining temperament and tools, techniques and tactics for enhancing imagination along with a capacity for innovation and connection. (You know I’m a charter member of an original, self-proclaimed AA group – “Acronyms Anonymous!”) All you have to do is ASPIRE2…

I = Imagery and Irony

Imagery. According to Gregory Berns, Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently, “When confronted with information streaming from the eyes (or the ears, touch, etc.) typically the brain will interpret this information in the quickest and most efficient way possible…To be efficient, the brain will draw on past experiences and any other source of information, such as what other people say, to make sense of what it is (processing). The brain takes shortcuts in the interest of efficiency (and) saving energy.” (Alas, one of the consequences can be “black or white,” “all or none,” b.s. – “be safe” – thinking. Such thinking is not just simplistic; even worse, it’s dull! What eventually bubbles to the surface of consciousness is an image in the ‘mind’s eye.’ Perceptions of the world are really specters of our imagination.”

While we usually associate imagery to an “actual or mental picture – a picture or likeness of somebody or something, produced either physically by a sculptor, painter, or photographer, or formed in the mind, e.g., by a writer, poet, (or inspiring leader/storyteller),” as illustrated above, the process is more universal than imagined.

So my task as a “leading word artist” is to develop ideas that create “mental pictures” both vividly accessible and optimally challenging, maybe also unsettling, and, hopefully, playfully compelling:
a) to grab people’s attention away from all the other competing stimuli and
b) to disrupt habitual, one-dimensional, “tried and tired” or “experience-dependent-categorization” and stimulate enriched or novel perceptions (i.e., the way the brain processes sensory signals) thereby helping others imagine new possibilities and pathways.

Consider my poignantly and playfully provocative poetic mind-scape called, “Double-Edged Depression”:

Waves of sadness, raging river of fear
Whirlpooling madness till I disappear
Into the depths of primal pain...
Then again, no pain, no gain.

Depression, depression
Is it chemistry or confession?
Depression, depression
Dark side of perfection!

Climbing icy spires, dancing at the ledge
The phoenix only rises on the jagged edge
In a world of highs and lows...
Hey the cosmos ebbs and flows.

Depression, depression
It's electrifried obsession
High flying depression
Exalted regression?

So I'm pumping iron and Prozac, too
What else can a real man do?
In a life of muted dreams...
How about a primal SCREAM?

Depression, depression
Even inner child rejection
Depression, depression
Hallelujah for creative expression!

(c) Mark Gorkin 1994
Shrink Rap™ Productions
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I can’t “imagine” a better closing quote than this from Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes.”

Irony. One potent tool for shaking up people’s mindscape is irony: “humor based on opposites or contradiction – humor based on using words to suggest the opposite of their literal meaning; incongruity – incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen, especially when this disparity seems absurd or laughable.” Of course, not all are equally adept at grasping or grappling with this double-edged message. Playing off the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities, a truly classic New Yorker cartoon ironically lampooned the dangers of self-righteous rigidity in the face of seeming contradiction. A nattily attired, pompous looking publisher standing behind his power desk begins to chastise a humbly dressed, hat in hand Charles Dickens: "Really, Mr. Dickens…was it the best of times or was it the worst of times? It could scarcely have been both!" With irony there may be a fine line between lampooning and lancing. (Of course, some inflated ego’s periodically need to be skewered.)

Speaking of fine lines, ironical humor can also help you escape being caught in a tricky triangular bind. Personally, I find the challenge often involves negotiating that delicate distinction between “disarming and demoralizing” humor. Consider how, with an ironic touch of absurdity, the posturing of two antagonists is reframed in an all too human context. As a mid-'90s Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant at a large US Postal Service Processing & Distribution Plant walking the workfloor was commonplace. (Believe me, humor was not a luxury.) One day, I came upon a couple bantering, seemingly playfully, if not a bit seductively. A collegial chorus was also present. The banter suddenly turned fairly provocative and the woman now mouthed the "f u" expletive while throwing her antagonist the proverbial finger. The onlookers quickly warned the couple about me: "Be careful, this guy is the 'Company Shrink.'" Then the male provocateur egged me on: "Now what do you think about what she just did?" With tension building, I nervously paused, then rallied: "What do I think? I just think she thinks you're # 1," and walked off with collective laughter behind me. (A vital humor skill: learn to playfully nip the hand or hands that feed you!) And hopefully, with good-natured irony, the intervention is seen as more healing or harmonizing than hostile.

And sometimes the irony or incongruity can emerge from a mere paradoxical pairing, as found in one of the stanzas of “The Reorg Rag” ™, a lyric about the human impact of budget freezing, downsizing and Reduction in Force (RIF):

Work's now a casino, a high tech RIF** RAFFle:
When will we know? Why does management waffle?
Buddha-Computah…who's pink slipping away?
Here's your ticket to ride; uh, shopping's good in Bombay.

“Buddha-Computah” satirizes our culture’s seemingly deifying all things IT. (And now we have IBM’s, Watson; his post “Jeopardy” exploits makes “W” “The Smartest Machine on the Planet.” Does W have a calculating mind or a memory on electronic steroids? After crunching the two top Jeopardy players, game host, Alex Trebek, warily asked: “Now whose job is on Watson’s radar?”) Alas, these days, at the organizational battlefront, the computer is not just a tool of enlightenment; the all-knowing, mind, job and culture-shaping “Buddha-Computah” determines who wins or loses, who remains or is let go. And you quietly fade out as your job (with or without you) is automated or goes overseas.

Perhaps my goal-mantra is transparent: “To be a wise man and a wise guy!” Hey, a Psychohumorist ™ has got to be double-edgy. (Of course I let the audience decide where to place the emphasis on my role-moniker. ;-)

Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is an acclaimed keynote and kickoff speaker as well as "Motivational Humorist & Team Communication Catalyst" known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN programs for both government agencies and major corporations. In addition, the "Doc" is a team building and organizational development consultant. He is providing "Stress and Communication, as well as Managing Change, Leadership and Team Building" programs for the 1st Cavalry Division and 13th Expeditionary Support Command, Ft. Hood, Texas and for Army Community Services and Family Advocacy Programs at Ft. Meade, MD and Ft. Belvoir, VA and Andrews Air Force Base/Behavioral Medicine Services. Mark has also had a rotation as Military & Family Life Consultant (MFLC) at Ft. Campbell, KY. A former Stress and Violence Prevention Consultant for the US Postal Service, The Stress Doc is the author of Practice Safe Stress and of The Four Faces of Anger. See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" -- www.stressdoc.com -- called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio (NPR). For more info on the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-875-2567.