I love the number eight, don’t you? I love that eight has the confidence to deny conventional spelling rules, and not only once, but twice: Both the “ei” and the “gh” are true acts of brilliance and trend setters for powerful words like “reign” and “fight.”
I wonder if eight would be spelled “eight” if it were named after, rather than before, the birth of social media and the Internet. Think about it: www.ate.com is naturally the more alphabetically attractive search engine favorite.
Speaking of, look at the impact “eight” can have on its word peers in a sentence: “We ate fine dining on the lawn.” Make one replacement and you have: “We eight, fine dining on the lawn, …”
By inserting himself, “eight” not only alters the meaning of the sentence but fundamentally shifts a peer from being a noun to a verb.
Like the number eight, I believe you too can insert yourself into a situation with your peers and alter the outcome, and maybe even change the participants significantly.
I also love that eight has artistic moves named after it. You never hear anyone say to an ice skater, “Let’s see you do a figure seven.”
I love that eight is an exact amount and infinite at the same time. Eight is a racetrack, a snowman and, if you are lucky, you’ll find it sitting on top of your Leopold’s ice cream cone.
My favorite aspect of eight is its double personality. A kindergartner from the Charles Ellis Montessori School and I once chatted about how two threes make an eight.
Yet a Jenkins High School engineering student was convinced the only number I could double in order to get to eight was a four. Here we have two truths, two perspectives and, yet, one answer.
Through our work at The Creative Coast, we are often meeting people who are working toward the same goals and have the same vision. However, they come to the solution from a different perspective. Too often along the way they are speaking two different languages, communication breaks down and potential genius evaporates.
For example, take a company of welders who are putting in long hours to provide for their growing families.
They seek to build a business through current marketing channels, yet they may not know or even relate to the social media expert with thousands of contacts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
The digital marketing expert similarly has little respect for or knowledge of welding. Alone, one is an underutilized skill and story with no audience while the other is a huge audience without a story. Together they are a powerful job-creating force.
What is separating you and your ideas from an opposite, yet important perspective? Is it the molten lava otherwise known as the Savannah River? Educational labels? Cultural background? Skin color? Of course we all have the barriers to collaboration we unwittingly and irrationally build.
I don’t have a “how to” manual with instructions for breaking down those barriers. Yet I can promise you that as you transcend such barriers, you will discover beauty, creativity and innovation beyond your own imagination.
Like the number eight, your newfound perspective is likely to be fast, beautiful and maybe even tasty. I can promise you that your Savannah neighbors and The Creative Coast will be infinitely proud of your resulting creation.
Bea Wray is executive director of The Creative Coast, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the creative and entrepreneurial community within the region. Wray can be reached at 912-447-8457 or bea@thecreativecoast.org.