The joy of doing the wrong thing.
I recently came across an interview with an intensely creative and passionate watchmaker, Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F, > link < and something he said caught my attention.
"So, when I finally started making a real living, 13 years ago, I got my dream car of the day. In those days I drove a TVR Griffith. Absolutely hairy, crazy car. I had it nine years and every time I took a turn I was like, “I’m still alive!” But the sensation that car gave me was much more than any Porsche or Ferrari … I’m not that sort of guy."
After he sold that car, he bought another hand-built sports car, a Weissmann (side note, this is one of my personal dream cars). Actually, there's 2 things I got from this segment of his interview. Firstly, there is the drive towards the passionate. Those that made TVR's and Weissmann's had a need to make the most exciting car they could. For no one was it simply a job. Some companies or creators give the appearance of looking for a way to make money, while others just do what they need and are hopefully rewarded. I'll get into this topic further in a future discussion.
My main focus here is the insanity of the car that Mr. Büsser bought. The fear it gave him when he drove it, the "sensation." This is the joy of doing the wrong thing. It's the feeling that you are doing what YOU want/need, to get a certain feeling in yourself, which may manifest as something as simple as just a "I want to say I want something and then do it" version of self-empowerment to a full-on rampage of adrenaline.
Let's stick to the full-on emotional rampage end of the spectrum. Put yourself on the edge of danger. Maybe this is like a mosh pit at a rock concert. I've been in many, and now at my age, I prefer the edge of them. I find a lot of people think these are chaotic and dangerous, but far from it. There is a culture within that rampage. When someone falls, everyone stops, picks them up, and then continues. I have never seen anyone injured. I have, of course, been kicked in the head. I've also been mugged in Barcelona, but I'd never avoid going back to that beautiful city. Being on the edge of physical danger has taught me one major thing. The fear of pain is almost always worse than the pain. I don't enjoy pain, but losing "the fear" has helped me go out, go further.
On the other end, doing the wrong thing, like with a bad car, you will learn something else. Mr. Büsser saw the direct transfer of passion from the creator into the object, which then he felt, and finally transferred into his own creations (the passion, not the terror). Sometimes we neet to do things because we love them. There may be a better way, a better car, a safer place to stand, but doing the wrong thing can teach us our limits, and how to grow beyond them. You might gain the ecstacy of learning something new, of being challenged, and then transfer that to who you are and what you do (or design, of course), but at the very least, you should get a good story!
