Ron got excited every month when he received his issue of Technology Review, vicariously living through, and celebrating the accomplishments of, the endless lists and reviews of accomplished young scientists and inventors. He imagined himself as a winner one day, though he had just turned 37 and, thus, could only squeeze onto the scant few lists out there that stretched their limit of 'young' to include all those under 40.
He saw himself as an untapped creative genius, possibly greater than any of those listed monthly and yearly in the trade and consumer zines, in the blogs and tech sites, anywhere. He knew that many artists, writers, poets and other imaginative forces did not kick it into gear until their 40s, 50s, even 60s and 70s, after retirement, as centenarians, and beyond. He read about their accomplishments in history books, encyclopedias, Wikipedia, forums, blogs, etc., and unconsciously concluded early on that the world thought them a curiosity more than something that could be systematically studied and celebrated in splashy annuals. Thus, he marvelled at their brilliance, but still felt part of something larger by associating himself with the undergrads, recent PhDs and dotcom geniuses some of whom actually dropped out of college.
Then, he stumbled upon an AARP magazine's list of creative individuals over 50, and he was immediately rapt. They were as exciting and inspiring as the nearly ubiquitous, Google-fied, under-30 lists that permeate Popular Science, Scientific American, Technology Review, and so many other consumer science periodicals.
Thus the phenomenon:
The 37 year old Boomerang Kid is equally inspired by the AARP list of oldsters and the Technology Review list of youngsters, sort of feeling a part of both, but not fully of either.
This is not a malevolent or destructive effect. But, it is an alert of sorts. It indicates that untapped generative force is still rarefied, but flies though space on the wormy craft that is the arrow of time. Pristine but meandering. Hopeful but glimpsing the end of the universe.
It is quite the clarion call to the never-do-well but always dreaming set. It indicates that lack of accomplishment has built up a mass of unused creative energy, but it also indicates that the arrow of time is flying through the cosmos and has become a craft for those undertaking the journey of consciousness from adaptability to refashioning the multiverse. It indicates that, although a meandering life may have preserved the rarefaction of generative energies, it is still the calling and passion of man to eventually expend those energies on some great work of note.
It is to this end that we summon the boomerang kids:
Find inspiration in both those retired and those still in undergraduate school. Find it is any list.
Feel the excitement via the slightly more tech end of the Under lists and the more artful end of the Over lists, but know that they cross pollinate and overlap and that there is no mutual exclusivity. There are no limits and no restrictions.
You are both and neither.
You are special.
Something more.
Download those Photoshop and Illustrator trial versions.
Behold those huge cloudy symbols of high concept.
Whip out that laptop and bootstrap that startup!
Imagination is the supreme faculty.
Digital artwork by Oleg Karassev
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