Blog of Actor Chad Bozarth - Chad Bozarth

Old Books and Dirty Bathrooms

3/3/2016

Chad Bozarth

I love old books. I love how they look, how they smell, and the ancillary history attached to each one. I wonder who owned this book before? What did they do? Why did they sell it? Did they need some extra cash? Did they just not like the book anymore? I like to own books. I know the concept of a library is fairly commonplace in our society, but, I want to make a book my own…I want to keep it. In fact I have a bit of an addiction. I have much trouble leaving a bookstore without buying a book.

I stopped into a used bookstore one night as I often do and like clockwork, like “Old Faithful,” like, ummm, always happens whenever I enter a Blockbuster or a book store or some place that requires a bit of browsing, I was all but overcome by the need to go to the bathroom. I cannot escape it! …I went into the bathroom and was somewhere between disgusted, disappointed and just over all frustrated when I saw how nasty the bathroom was. I think the inside of my trashcan at home is more clean…well, maybe not. I went in and relieved myself. As I walked up to the sink I saw an employee with a broom and a dustpan. As I walked out of the potty I pondered what I had just seen. This guy was seriously in there sweeping. I mean the place was all but toad infested, but man, he was right on that little piece of toilet paper on the ground and the dust on some vent in the ceiling. I’m not trying to diss the guy. In fact the little scenario got me thinking about life in general.

We can be in the midst of something crazy, something dirty, something that is clearly a mess to the rest of the world and everyone else around us, yet we busy ourselves sweeping up, when we really need to bust out with the Pine Sol, a rag and some elbow grease. How often do we deceive ourselves into thinking that “we’re ok” or that we are being productive, when really we are just engaging in busy work that will do nothing to clean our “bathrooms?” Are you fat? Diet Coke won’t help. Are you skinny? Reading a muscle magazine won’t help. Are you lazy? Buying a book about making money won’t help. Life is short. Stop sweeping and start mopping.

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Your Life is a Book Not a Page

2/25/2016

Just Keep Swimming. -Dory

I have a tendency to over dramatize things. When I’m sick I want everyone around me to feel bad for me and when I’m happy I just can’t figure out how anyone else could possibly be sad. Maybe I’m just an egocentric, self-centered, narcissist. It’s dangerous to take a snapshot of a moment in your life and pass a self-verdict that such a shot is an accurate summation of your life in its entirety. Maybe you don’t do that. I do. There are days I feel that a gray veil has been placed over the world. Other times, the birds are singing and the sky makes me want to fly. (Please note that I do not do drugs…except for the occasional Prilosec to abate my acid reflux or a friendly Tylenol to massage my aches and pains).

Life is a book that has already been written by God. Sometimes we find ourselves on a page or a chapter we don’t particularly like or approve of. Other times, the chapter just simply does not make sense. My simple recommendation is to keep turning the pages. Take Spiderman for example. On page one you might read about a guy getting bit by a spider. Who wants to get bit by a spider for heaven’s sake!?…and a radioactive one at that. Some people might get discouraged and stop on that page. Who wants to read about a guy getting bit by a spider? I’m sure Peter Parker was not particularly fond of that page either. But flip a few pages or chapters ahead and you have a man in a really cool outfit climbing buildings and shooting spider-webs out of his wrists. That’s pretty sweet if you ask me. You see, the pain only makes sense in the context of the entire story. Some people want Spidey-sense without having to get bit by the spider. Some people would say Parker was unlucky to get bit by a spider. I would say he hit the jackpot.

We all have a tendency to complain…about everything. Of course, complaining about the present is kind of silly in the context of the entire story. Spidey stopped complaining pretty quick once he realized he could jump off of buildings and not die…HELLO awesomeness.

Let me sum up this ragged tale. Don’t envy great people, because they probably went through a lot crap to become great…or else they got bit by a radioactive spider. Don’t get discouraged if you are currently wading through a pool of dung as it is such swimming lessons that make for greatness. The End.

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Why You are Not as Creative as You Could Be

2/22/2016

Frog

An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. -Edwin Land

You were created to be creative. You are hardwired to think creatively. Unfortunately, most of us do not experience creativity at the level we are capable of. Creativity is the root of all greatness. Many books have been written on the keys to success and so forth and many of those books are very much worth reading. There is something to be said for hard work and perseverance. There is no substitute for those brothers of success, however shoveling dirt from one pile to another is hardly worth the sweat. Creativity is not a substitute for hard work and perseverance, but is rather the spark that makes such work worthwhile. Hard work without creativity is worthless, as is creativity without hard work.

What is the difference between you and the great Creatives of our world? Is creativity a gift for only a select few? Yes and no. Are there some outliers like the DaVinci's and Steve Jobs' of history who have a unique gift for thinking creatively? Yes, but I would like to put forth that creativity is like a muscle. Although there are a gifted few, we all can increase our creative prowess just like we can build any other muscle, namely, through proper exercise and use. Trust me, you have much more in you than you realize.

Why are you not as creative as you should be? I'm sure the answer varies by person, but generally the answer is fear. This is the part where you roll your eyes, and think you are about to get a bunch of psycho babble. Well, I'm no psychologist, but humans are pretty much all the same. From a very early age we are encouraged to be creative. We draw pictures that look horrible and are told they look beautiful. We pretend to be our favorite superheroes and dream of one day conquering the world. We are asked what we want to be when we grow up and are met with encouragement no matter how crazy our answers are. Then, as we get older, something happens, and society is less interested in us expressing our creativity and more interested in conforming to best social practices. I'm not sure exactly when this happens, but it definitely happens. One minute, you are a knight, conquering the world, the next minute you are forced into doing things the way everyone else does things.

Some people never stop dreaming and these people are the people we admire or denigrate. You see, most people can't handle being on the tails of the Bell Curve. Most people can't handle the baggage that comes with being creative. Think about Steve Jobs for a moment. Imagine his life. Once he proved to the world that he was a creative genius he was then under almost constant pressure to continue coming up with the next life changing Apple product. Rarely was an Apple announcement met with neutral opinions. No, people either loved or denigrated Jobs' newest brain child. Human beings are excellent observers of other human beings and we quickly realize that creative people are either loved or hated. Have you ever met someone who had no opinion of an artist? Start talking Picasso with someone and you will be met with adulation or laughter. This is the price the Creative must pay and the question you must ask yourself.

Can you handle the praise and the persecution of being creative? Are you afraid of success? What if you tell someone your ideas and you get laughed at? What if your ideas are met with praise? Can you handle the stress of having to be creative a second, third or even fourth time? What if your creativity runs out? What if people love you because of your creativity? Fear is the root of your monotonous life. Before we begin to start talking about how to increase our creativity we must sit down and take stock of our own thoughts and emotions and recognize that fear of failure or even success could quite possibly be the thing that is keeping us from stepping out and being creative.

Ok, so you agree with me that fear is the problem. What do you do now? Here are five things to remember before you read any further:

People will judge you
People will love you
People will dislike you
People will judge you
People will judge you

So what? If you spend your life worrying about what other people say or think about you then you will never reach your full potential and you are giving people way too much control of your life. Wouldn't it be stupid if Bill Gates took all his critics to heart? Everyone knows Microsoft has plenty of haters. So what? Bill Gates is a billionaire who has produced a product that most everyone in the world who uses a computer uses or has used at some point in their life. Forget the critics. What if Jim Carrey stopped making movies because of the people who don't think he is funny? Do you think successfully creative people have no critics? Do you think they have magically received nothing but praise, adulation and encouragement their entire lives? Of course not.

There will always people who don't like what you do. How many amazing inventions would we be without today if their creators had listened to their critics? Didn't someone once say that the idea of a horseless carriage would never catch on? Didn't someone once say we would never go the moon? Didn't someone once say the world was flat? The neigh sayers are a dime a dozen. Me, I'm going to the moon.

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Dream Big

2/18/2016

Chad Bozarth

this is not a Nintendo game. There are no continues and there is no reset button.

Me in 2nd Grade

I remember Second Grade like it was yesterday. Although in many ways Second Grade seems like a whole ‘nother life ago I remember it well. I remember I had a crush on my teacher, Ms. Hogan. I remember recess when I would go underneath a building and play GI Joe’s with my best friend Marc. I remember playing soccer in the field outback, Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies, and this rich kid at school who had those special pump tennis shoes. Man those were cool, at the time anyway. I remember dressing up like Superman and feeling like I had a million years ahead of me to live and conquer the world.

Those were the good days. But days, turn into years, turn into grades gone by and you suddenly find yourself out of college and well on your way to your destiny or whatever. Life used to be filled with possibilities when you were young and not surrounded by life-cynics. If you’re anything like me, you probably dressed up like Batman or Robin Hood or some other such thing too. But somewhere along the line you stopped dressing up. Life has a way of kicking you in the gut and forcing you to breathe in the funky air of your reality. Life turns into an 8-5 and you don’t even dress up like Batman on Halloween anymore.

Why am I writing this? One, because I’m a sentimental type and I like reminiscing about the past. B, simply because the future businesses, non-profits, etc. that will change the world will be formed by people who have decided to reject cultural norms, refuse to be thrown into a box of cynicism and “such and such can’t happen because,” and embrace a lifestyle of creativity, dreaming and dressing up. It’s never too late to dream. You never hear anyone say, “Man, I wish I would have continued with the status quo, same old same old.” You only have one life. And this is not a Nintendo game. There are no continues and there is no reset button. “Game Over” means Game Over. A canvas with a few mistakes beats a “clean” blank canvas every time. Carpe diem. And remember, it's not enough just to dream big. Bonsai's may have big dreams, but the pot restricts them. Sometimes you have to uproot yourself and find a bigger pot. Sometimes "you have to put your body where your destiny is," as my dad used to say.

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Brainstorming and Power Teams - Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime

2/10/2016

Robin: "Gosh, Batman, is there anything you don't know?"
Batman: "Oh yes, Robin. Several things, in fact."

Chad Bozarth

Me, with my #1 teammate

Batman has Robin, Ironman has the Avengers, Superman has the Justice League, Robin Hood has his band of merry men, heck, even the Lone Ranger has Tonto. The list for great partnerships and teams, both fictitious and real could fill up a book by itself. All of these heroes of fiction were highly capable of great feats individually yet, they still chose to either have a partner or be involved in some type of team of sorts. Remember what happened when the teenagers on Captain Planet put their powers together? The point is, that while it's great to be great individually, the power of a team exponentially increase the impact and effectiveness of an individual.

There is a reason sayings like “two are better than one” have become cliches. They are true. Think about the great manifestations of creativity we enjoy every day. The majority of them are actually the result of a team working together. I know of no Oscar winning films that were made without a team. I know of no great companies or products that were not the result of teamwork. Bottom line: teams are important.

In our individualistic culture we tend to idolize the power of one and the magnificent feats achieved by amazing individuals like Kobe Bryant or Tiger Woods. The problem with aspiring to be like these people is that quite frankly you probably never will be anything like them. We have so many self help books that kiss your butt and tell you that you can be an amazing person. While that's true for some, more than likely you will not be the next LeBron James. So what? You have been given seeds to be great in your own right. You might not change the world, but you could very well change your own world.

So, how do you find a team? I have no magical formula or mystical answer. Forming a proper team can be somewhat difficult, but definitely possible and worth the headache. There are thousands of people out there, just like you, desperately wanting to create something worthwhile. For me personally, I am friends with a group of guys that I run ideas by all the time. I met them years ago in business school and utilize them to this day. In fact, I would say the greatest benefit I gleaned from business school was not any particular academic knowledge, but rather the interesting people I met with whom I was able to form long term friendships. My first little business I attempted was the result of working together with a classmate. Now, I'm not suggesting you spend thousands of dollars to go to business school to make friends. That's not very cost effective, but you will have to do some work.

My greatest opportunities for teamwork have rarely happened by chance. For me personally, I have three particular areas that I focus on in my life: business, acting, and missionary work. All three of these things are my passions and the places I direct the majority of my energy to. For all three of these areas of my life, I have strategic relationships that help me not only be more creative, but help me to accomplish my goals.

Concerning business, I have an important group of people I met in business school that I use to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of concerning entrepreneurial endeavors. I also have a smaller group at work that works together to accomplish goals specific to my day job.

Concerning acting, I take a weekly acting class with a veteran in the acting field. Not only am I constantly being challenged by her, but the class is filled with many different interesting people who help me be more creative. Further, meeting these like minded people in this setting has afforded me many excellent relationships and opportunities to creatively collaborate on different projects.

Concerning missionary work, I went to a Bible College and go to church to continually expand and sharpen my understanding of the Bible. I have traveled extensively and have a network of relationships all over the world. These relationships have taken time to develop, but are well worth it.

Ok, let's talk a bit about brainstorming. Once you have your team in place you will have to figure out a way to effectively facilitate the quick exchange of ideas. I have done everything from meeting at Starbucks to using Google Docs. Choose whatever is best for your team.

In regard to your team, it is very important to be a part of a group of people that are humble and non-judgmental. It is better to work alone than to share ideas with arrogant people who will put you down. You do not have time for negative people. I am friendly to most everyone, but I do not allow negative people to have close proximity to me nor do I share ideas, goals or plans with them.

During your brainstorming and exchanging of ideas it is of the utmost importance to never be judgmental of other people's ideas and to never pre-judge your own idea. It is true that when you are engaged in the free flow of ideas, some ridiculous things are bound to come up, but those ridiculous ideas could spark a revolutionary idea in someone else. And when I say don't pre-judge, I mean don't pre-judge. If a giant, pink elephant with wings pops into your head, throw it out there. You never know what that will spark in someone else. The Ad Agency that came up with Chick-Fil-A's “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign surely did not prejudge ideas. Cows encouraging people to eat chicken is pretty crazy. Crazy, but effective.

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Honesty and Creativity

2/8/2016

If you get an impulse in a scene, no matter how wrong it seems, follow the impulse. -Jack Nicholson

Have you ever watched a movie with horrible acting? Have you ever sat back and thought about what made the acting so horrible? It’s fairly easy to point out bad acting when you see it and when you see good acting sometimes you almost don’t realize how good it really is because the good one’s make it look so easy. I’ve been taking acting classes for about five years and have a whole new appreciation for the craft of acting. It’s funny. I used to think that the key to good acting was looking good and having a great personality. I thought if I had a bright smile and a twinkle in my eye that I would magically be discovered in the mall and instantly be propelled into a major motion picture. I was wrong. I thought the key to good acting was, well, good acting. That’s not the key at all. The secret to good acting is honesty. When you see a good actor cry in a movie they are really sad, not pretending to be sad. When you see a good actor angry in a movie they are really angry, not just pretending to be so. That’s the reason bad acting sticks out like a sore thumb. Bad acting is the result of someone pretending to be sad or angry or happy. The people who win Oscars are masters of feeling real feelings. When they cry we cry. When they laugh we laugh. We become so immersed in the movie, we forget we are watching actors at all. A great actor will make you forget you are watching a movie at all. That’s the secret. Back to my acting class. So instead of teaching us how to lie well, my acting teacher (Nancy Chartier) takes great pains to help us be true to the moment. True acting is reacting, not forcing fake emotion. She spends hour after hour in class stripping away the fake masks, emotions and ways of being that distort and diminish our true scent. Like the smell of an old shoe in a room filled with roses, our self-conscious walls taint our true selves and hinder our true scent.

True creativity is impossible without honesty. All creativity is a risk. To truly be creative, means to open yourself up to possible ridicule and rejection. To be creative requires the removal of the walls of separation we put up to fit in and be willing to lay our very selves bare.

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The Seinfeld Principle

2/7/2016

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. -Steve jobs

My wife and I had the super cool opportunity to go watch Seinfeld perform at the WinStar last night in Thackerville, OK. (we took the picture above, that's why it's so fantastic) We've always loved watching Seinfeld's TV show so it was special to see him do stand-up live.

I love Seinfeld (the TV Show). Many people do not. Regardless of your personal opinion regarding the merits of this American classic, I put forth that there are a few important lessons we can learn from Seinfeld on the road to becoming more creative. If you are a comedian, preacher, teacher, host or any other type of public speaker, you would do well to watch a few episodes and contemplate Seinfeld's brand of humor.

I remember watching a special program about the making of Seinfeld one day. In it, Seinfeld and show creator, Larry David discussed the spark that would later turn into the show. They were walking through the grocery store one day and an idea hit Larry, what if they made a show about nothing? On the surface this sounds ridiculous. What does that even mean to make a show about nothing? I remember they actually used this particular concept in an episode. George tried to sell this idea to a Network. So, a show about nothing huh? Can you imagine what people's reactions to this must have been? What if Larry David and Seinfeld would have listened to their critics?

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about Larry's creativity and guts to move forward with such an outlandish idea, but want to focus further on Seinfeld's brand of comedy. Each show begins with a snippet showing Seinfeld, who is a stand-up comedian, both in real life and in the show, doing his act. It doesn't take long listening to his act before you realize that he is a different brand of comedian. He is not wild and crazy like Jim Carrey. He is not off the wall clever and multi-personalitied like Robin Williams. Seinfeld stands in front of the audience and begins his act by saying things like “have you ever?” or “you know what it's like?” He connects with the audience not through his vast intellect or wit, but through a special brand of empathy. Seinfeld masterfully focuses on everyday events that everyone has experienced and paints a picture of these events, describing each detail meticulously. This is an excellent method for anyone trying to be a comedian, but is also extremely useful for those of us who want to be more creative.

Sometimes the key to being more creative doesn’t start with lightbulbs, sparks or other forms of “inspiration.” Sometimes looking at everyday situations and thinking about them for a long period of time can breed high levels of creativity. I don't want to veer off into too much of a rabbit trail, but this an integral component to effective communication. Empathy, personal identification and common experience can quickly create an effective atmosphere for a receptive audience.

Not only is this type of observational thinking effective for communicating it is also a highly effective method to nurture creativity. Yes, many great, world-changing ideas have come from a “spark” or “lightbulb” moment out of no where, but many times these sparks are the result of mulling over a particular problem over and over again. Below are some steps to take and questions to ask yourself to try and cultivate your inner creativity. Make sure you keep a notebook, scrap of paper, napkin or computer handy so you can be ready when creativity hits you.

Look at any object you use every day and think about it for at least 5 minutes. It may seem weird at first, but take about 5 minutes and just think about any, normal object you see or use everyday. Maybe it's a toilet, coffee maker or pencil. Just pick anything. Mull over it for 5 minutes and wrie any observations or ideas you have down.
Think about routine activities, tasks or errands your perform for at least 5 minutes. Again, it might seem a bit strange but pick anything you do at least 3 times a week and just think about it.
Think about the purpose of the object or activity you thought about and then do your best to make fun of it. Everything has a purpose. It doesn't matter if an object seems stupid to you, it was still created with a particular purpose in mind. Now that you have grown accustomed to thinking about everyday items and tasks. I want you to take some time and do your best to make fun of that item or task. Don't stop there, make fun of the person who made the object (in your mind of course...not to their face). Even if you like the item or think it is useful, make fun of it anyway. Make sure you write down the observations that begin to come when you start making fun of these things.
Write down what you would change about the object or task. Now that you've had your fun making fun, put your money where your mouth is. You think you're so smart. You had the nerve to make fun of someone else's creation so now it's time for you to bring out your suggestions for what you would do to change it.
I don't actually have a step five so feel free to make one up.

Congratulations, you have just been creative. Ok, so maybe you didn't have any world changing ideas, but I'm willing to bet you did have a few meaningful things come to mind on how those objects or activities could be changed or improved.

Bonus: Not only have you just proven to yourself you can be creative, but you have also learned the secret to effectively communicate your ideas to an audience. Next time you need to communicate to a boss, co-worker, or audience, think about Seinfeld and the power of observation.

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fried chicken and cereal

1/5/2016

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.
-Dr. Suess

Hamburgers and fries just go together. Can you imagine chips without salsa? For some reason the human brain loves to categorize and organize all the information we take in. Our brains seem to do this seemingly without any effort on our part. We love things that go together. Mashed potatoes need gravy, and if you ask my Uncle Dean, macaroni and cheese needs ketchup, although I tend to disagree, ick. For the most part, there is nothing wrong with this natural human inclination. The world would be quite chaotic if we didn’t categorize and organize. Thank goodness CPA’s, accountants and other detail oriented people. How I made it through so many accounting and statistics classes I’ll never know. Anyway, while logic and organization are key components to success in just about everything, sometimes it’s good to take brief vacations from logic and organization and explore the world of what could be.

When we watch movies, especially Sci-Fi movies, we are required to accept a fictional world with fictional rules. It’s not very fun to watch Star Wars or Lord of the Rings if you spend the whole time thinking about how lightsabers and rings with special powers are not possible. Most people don’t have any problem with suspending belief while watching a movie or reading a good book, but in the context of real life people tend to be more cynical and realistic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting a prolonged LCD trip void of common sense. What I am suggesting is taking moments out of your day or week to suspend responsibility, logic and organization.

Ideas are rooted in passion and emotion. Think about the process of making a baby. No one is thinking about how a baby is made while they are in the middle of making a baby. That just wouldn’t be fun. A baby is the result of an intense moment of passion. Creativity is just like making a baby. If you are constantly preoccupied with the hard materials of life you will never have time to imagine what could be. This is the power of the architect, for example. The building of a house requires an architect’s imagination and a builder’s ability to take that imagination and turn it into an organized step by step process that will eventually become a house.

What if hamburgers didn’t come with fries? What if fries weren’t made from potatoes? What if you put chocolate syrup on a steak? What if Fried Chicken and cereal could be eaten together? What if gasoline came in single serve boxes?

Go ahead, try it. It’s kind of fun once you get started. Take a few minutes and come up with the most ridiculous pairings you can possibly think of. AND DON’T PRE-JUDGE YOURSELF. Even as I was making the list above, I gave myself pause when the idea of Fried Chicken and cereal popped into my head. I almost didn’t even put that in the paragraph. See how our minds work? Our mind has been so castrated by societal and cultural norms that it can be very hard to wax creative.

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