(4547,157,'2012-01-23 18:23:13','2012-01-24 02:23:13','It was an interesting time for Pharaoh and the elites. They were vastly wealthy, controlling ninety-five percent of the wealth of the empire. They were supreme rulers of the land, but they had a problem: what to do with this troublesome people group.\n\nAccording to legend, they were invited to live here in the distant past. But they bred like rabbits, and now they were threatening the status quo. Yes they had a problem, so Pharaoh came up with a plan. It was a good plan.\n\nPharaoh enacted laws that enabled him to use the criminal justice system to enslave this entire people group to the state. Not only did this relieve the threat that they posed, but it allowed for massive construction projects to be undertaken with virtually no labor cost, the likes of which the world had never seen.\n\nYes, Pharaoh had a plan, but <strong>God had another plan.</strong>\n\n<em>\"Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people out of Egypt.\"</em> (Exodus 3:9-10 NLT)\n\nIn ancient Egypt, God called one, then another, to stand up to Pharaoh with this simple message, \"Let My people go!\"\n\nBut I\'m not talking about ancient Egypt.\n\nIn her book, <em>The New Jim Crow</em>, Michelle Alexander lays out the chilling story of the use of the criminal justice system to enslave a people to the state. Once in the system, any conviction carries a life sentence of legal discrimination in housing, job opportunity, educational assistance, and participation in the political process. The list goes on.\n\nThe war on drugs was implemented in 1982 by then President Ronald Reagan. Funded over the intervening years with hundreds of billions of dollars, it has changed the face of criminal justice in America. It led to massive construction of new state and federal prisons at unprecedented rates.\n\nMs Alexander states that the prison population has soared from roughly three hundred thousand in 1980 to, in 2007, more than seven million. Today, one in every thirty one adults is in the criminal justice system either imprisoned, or on probation or parole. And don\'t believe these are drug lords, or even for the most part drug dealers. Over eighty per cent of these new drug arrests were for simple possession of marijuana (page 59).\n\nThe war on drugs has been, and is being waged almost exclusively in inner-city neighborhoods populated primarily by our black and brown people groups. And once in the system, they are condemned to what I call \"life on the installment plan\". With all the legal discrimination they face when released, the vast majority are re-incarcerated within the first couple of years. In many states, a third felony conviction rates an automatic life sentence.\n\nMs Alexander calls it \"The New Jim Crow\". I call it systemic racism. And I am implicated. We are all implicated. As citizens of this country, this war is being conducted in our name and, for the most part, with our blessing. It is destroying the lives of our children, and they are <strong>our</strong> children. It has decimated a generation of young black and brown men and women, and is working on the next.\n\nBut God hears the cry of the people, and <strong>God has another plan.</strong>\n\nGod is calling one, then another to stand up to today\'s Pharaohs with a simple message. It is the same message He gave to Moses and Aaron. \"Let My people go!\"\n\nSo the question for me is:\n\nDo I hear God’s call, and how will I respond to this group of the \"least of these?\"\n\nTo do nothing is to participate in Pharaoh\'s plan,\n\n<strong>But God, by God, has another plan.</strong>','Let My People Go!','','inherit','open','open','','4546-revision','','','2012-01-23 18:23:13','2012-01-24 02:23:13','',4546,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/23/4546-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4685,157,'2012-01-26 09:39:18','2012-01-26 17:39:18','It was an interesting time for Pharaoh and the elites. They were vastly wealthy, controlling ninety-five percent of the wealth of the empire. They were supreme rulers of the land, but they had a problem: what to do with this troublesome people group.\n\nAccording to legend, they were invited to live here in the distant past. But they bred like rabbits, and now they were threatening the status quo. Yes they had a problem, so Pharaoh came up with a plan. It was a good plan.\n\nPharaoh enacted laws that enabled him to use the criminal justice system to enslave this entire people group to the state. Not only did this relieve the threat that they posed, but it allowed for massive construction projects to be undertaken with virtually no labor cost, the likes of which the world had never seen.\n\nYes, Pharaoh had a plan, but <strong>God had another plan.</strong>\n\n<em>\"Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people out of Egypt.\"</em> (Exodus 3:9-10 NLT)\n\nIn ancient Egypt, God called one, then another, to stand up to Pharaoh with this simple message, \"Let My people go!\"\n\nBut I\'m not talking about ancient Egypt.\n\nIn her book, <em>The New Jim Crow</em>, Michelle Alexander lays out the chilling story of the use of the criminal justice system to enslave a people to the state. Once in the system, any conviction carries a life sentence of legal discrimination in housing, job opportunity, educational assistance, and participation in the political process. The list goes on.\n\nThe war on drugs was implemented in 1982 by then President Ronald Reagan. Funded over the intervening years with hundreds of billions of dollars, it has changed the face of criminal justice in America. It led to massive construction of new state and federal prisons at unprecedented rates.\n\nMs Alexander states that the prison population has soared from roughly three hundred thousand in 1980 to, in 2007, more than seven million. Today, one in every thirty one adults is in the criminal justice system either imprisoned, or on probation or parole. And don\'t believe these are drug lords, or even for the most part drug dealers. Over eighty per cent of these new drug arrests were for simple possession of marijuana (page 59).\n\nThe war on drugs has been, and is being waged almost exclusively in inner-city neighborhoods populated primarily by our black and brown people groups. And once in the system, they are condemned to what I call \"life on the installment plan\". With all the legal discrimination they face when released, the vast majority are re-incarcerated within the first couple of years. In many states, a third felony conviction rates an automatic life sentence.\n\nMs Alexander calls it \"The New Jim Crow\". I call it systemic racism. And I am implicated. We are all implicated. As citizens of this country, this war is being conducted in our name and, for the most part, with our blessing. It is destroying the lives of our children, and they are <strong>our</strong> children. It has decimated a generation of young black and brown men and women, and is working on the next.\n\nBut God hears the cry of the people, and <strong>God has another plan.</strong>\n\nGod is calling one, then another to stand up to today\'s Pharaohs with a simple message. It is the same message He gave to Moses and Aaron. \"Let My people go!\"\n\nSo the question for me is:\n\nDo I hear God’s call, and how will I respond to this group of the \"least of these?\"\n\nTo do nothing is to participate in Pharaoh\'s plan,\n\n<strong>But God, by God, has another plan.</strong>','Let My People Go!','','inherit','open','open','','4546-revision-2','','','2012-01-26 09:39:18','2012-01-26 17:39:18','',4546,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/26/4546-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4552,48,'2012-01-24 09:03:09','2012-01-24 17:03:09','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living!’”? This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected recently over a cup of coffee. We wanted to know how to think so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist.\n\nThinking outside of the box may be a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, act orderly, and creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. We place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or come to a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, that we keep ourselves, who are created in God’s image, packaged up neatly in little boxes. We go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hired wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new that does not fit into a schema, common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”.\n\nThe question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in? Let’s go back to the aerial violinist. Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents in violin performance with aerial acrobats. While wearing skimpy outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me, I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing this were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having turned 30. We wanted something more interesting, even beyond just moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine that could come together for one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Or maybe it’s even beyond that—maybe I don’t have to find the “one thing” that I want to do for the rest of my life. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years. Variety and change doesn’t have to mean one doesn’t have the ability to commit or the will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next big thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-2','','','2012-01-24 09:03:09','2012-01-24 17:03:09','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4553,48,'2012-01-24 09:10:49','2012-01-24 17:10:49','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living”? This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected recently over a cup of coffee. We wanted to know how to think so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist.\n\nThinking outside of the box may be a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, act orderly, and creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. We place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or come to a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, that we keep ourselves, who are created in God’s image, packaged up neatly in little boxes. We go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hired wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new that does not fit into a schema, common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”.\n\nThe question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in? Let’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her website, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents in violin performance with aerial acrobats. While wearing skimpy outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me, I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing this were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having turned 30. We wanted something more interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine that could come together for one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nOr maybe it’s even beyond that—maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years. Variety and change doesn’t have to mean one doesn’t have the ability to commit or the will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next big thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-3','','','2012-01-24 09:10:49','2012-01-24 17:10:49','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4555,1,'2012-01-24 09:25:06','2012-01-24 17:25:06','','woman stairs','','inherit','open','open','','woman-stairs','','','2012-01-24 09:25:06','2012-01-24 17:25:06','',4513,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/woman-stairs.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4554,48,'2012-01-24 09:11:09','2012-01-24 17:11:09','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living”? This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected recently over a cup of coffee. We wanted to know how to think so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist.\r\n\r\nThinking outside of the box may be a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, act orderly, and creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. We place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or come to a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, that we keep ourselves, who are created in God’s image, packaged up neatly in little boxes. We go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hired wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new that does not fit into a schema, common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”.\r\n\r\nThe question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in? Let’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her website, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents in violin performance with aerial acrobats. While wearing skimpy outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me, I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nMy friends and I who were discussing this were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having turned 30. We wanted something more interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine that could come together for one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\r\n\r\nOr maybe it’s even beyond that—maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years. Variety and change doesn’t have to mean one doesn’t have the ability to commit or the will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next big thing.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-4','','','2012-01-24 09:11:09','2012-01-24 17:11:09','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4556,1,'2012-01-23 09:29:56','2012-01-23 17:29:56','<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;font-size: small\">I</span> know I was supposed to be paying attention to the sermon in church yesterday, but I wasn’t.  I was busy paying attention to the sermon inside me that said, “Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.”  Why not cry?  Because a loved one hadn’t died and I hadn’t broken my arm five minutes earlier and my family adores me.  And I was in public.\r\n\r\nOK, so I was having a bad day, right?  Or feel like my life sucks?  Or I’m just a naturally negative person.  No.  What about: I have clinical depression, and depression is my “normal”.  There’s a lot more to living with it than just taking my meds and seeing my doctor and/or therapist on a regular basis.  To keep the disease from taking over my life, I work hard at my job and relationships, and keep active social connections through church, choir, two weekly small groups, yoga class.\r\n\r\nBut none of those change the fact that I fight going under, cry frequently, feel overwhelmed and alone and afraid <em>almost every day</em>.  Depression is my constant companion, but NOT socially acceptable.  I absolutely hate the almost automatic greeting between two people in our culture:  “How are you?”  You know the response.  “Fine.”  If your brain is engaged at all, you might say, “Pretty good” or “Tired.”  If someone is more than just an acquaintance, you might answer, “Queasy.  I’m still getting over the flu,” because you believe they care enough about you to be interested in such a personal detail.\r\n\r\nBut “I’m depressed, and am having trouble coping this morning”?  I promise you, not even the people who truly love me want to hear that, even though they may be aware it’s true when they ask.  “Why can’t you just suck it up, quote positive affirmations, help someone else…for God’s sake DO something and make it go away, or at least don’t let it show.”  Even my closest friends try to “fix” me by offering encouragement or prayer, and believe me, those really help.\r\n\r\nBut nothing makes the depression go away, and nobody struggles to make that happen more than me.  Comparing myself with other people has been a debilitating nemesis lately.  Those who are able to keep their commitment to exercise on a regular basis (or at all).  Authors who vigorously market their book and themselves, and it pays off.  The women with full-time jobs who come home, cook dinner, help this child with homework and take that child to soccer, and still have the mental energy to write tomorrow’s blog before bed.\r\n\r\nGod says, “Don’t compare yourself to anyone, not even yourself.  Let me help you plan today’s agenda, and give yourself grace.  Do what you can, and if you cry, it’s the way it is.”\r\n\r\nI don’t always listen to God, but it’s more helpful than listening to myself.  And you?  If you ask how I am, I’ll guarantee I won’t say “Fine”, and chances are I won’t tell you the truth if I’m in a bad place.  But please don’t pretend I’m invisible if you see pain in my eyes.  I didn’t choose this disease.','\"How Are You?\"  \"Depressed. How Are You?\"','','inherit','open','open','','4513-revision-4','','','2012-01-23 09:29:56','2012-01-23 17:29:56','',4513,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/23/4513-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4557,1,'2012-01-23 10:53:55','2012-01-23 18:53:55','It was cold that night, the night I killed Jesus. Unlike in the biblical story, I killed Jesus just after midnight when most people are sleeping. I killed him as privately as possible; few were there to actually witness his death. And I didn’t make it a big bloody display, beating him senseless, and nailing him to a cross. Oh no, Jesus was dispatched cleanly and humanely. He simply went to sleep.\r\n\r\nJesus was quietly taken into his execution chamber. It was medically sterile, as germ free as humanly possible. I know on that last walk he felt every lash he had received from the <em>criminal</em> “Justice” system. I imagine him recounting the loss of his acquaintances, then his friends. Family may even have abandoned him.\r\n\r\nHe was strapped to a gurney that night, and an IV line started. First we gave him a powerful barbiturate to calm him, and make him drowsy. Next we injected him with a drug that paralyzed his entire muscular system. No unseemly jerking or twitching permitted. Then potassium chloride was administered to stop his heart.\r\n\r\nGood night, Jesus. No suffering here.\r\n\r\nIt was almost the same protocol as when I had to put my wolf-dog Taz down last year. We had been together for nine years. She was abused as a young dog and we rescued her, giving her a loving pack and me a furry companion. She became my “best girlfriend”. We used to go to the woods a couple of times a week to run and play together. She was an amazing animal who loved me, my wife and kids, and our other four-legged family members.\r\n\r\nBut she was suffering. Old age had taken a great toll on Taz. She couldn’t run with the wolves any longer. Many days she could barely walk to the door to go out and do her business. The day came when she couldn’t do even that much.\r\n\r\nWe took Taz to our friend Bill’s veterinary clinic where I gently lifted her up onto an examination table. First Bill injected her with a tranquilizer to calm her, and make her drowsy. Joy and I were talking to her soothingly, and stroking her head. The paralytic and potassium bromide were administered, and Taz died in our arms. It was an end of suffering for her.<strong>            </strong>\r\n\r\nYes,<strong> </strong>it was cold that night, the night I killed Jesus. I was hundreds of miles away, standing on a street corner in the middle of the night freezing my ass off and holding a sign. There were about ten of us. We were in front of a church that left one door unlocked so we could come in and get warm as needed.\r\n\r\nMy sign said something inane like “Why do we kill people who kill people to teach people not to kill people?” It was a small protest against Tennessee’s death penalty, staged at the same time Cecil Johnson, one of “<em>the least of these,</em>” was executed at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville as I described.\r\n\r\nI still grieve for Taz. Her body is buried in our pet cemetery along with several others. Her last dog-tag hangs from the front axle of my Sportster, so every time I ride she gets to run with me again. But as I sat down to write this, I couldn’t even remember that Jesus’ name for me that night was Cecil Johnson. And so I wonder.\r\n\r\nI wonder if our protest was any more effective than spitting in the wind.\r\n\r\nI wonder if my standing in the cold made any difference whatsoever.\r\n\r\nI wonder if I was merely trying to mitigate my own guilt.\r\n\r\nI wonder why, if our execution protocol is so humane, I still heard Cecil/Jesus cry out in anguish that night “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”\r\n\r\nI claim to follow Jesus, but still, I killed Jesus that night.\r\n\r\nAnd if nothing changes, I will almost certainly kill Jesus again.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','I Killed Jesus','','inherit','open','open','','4520-revision-4','','','2012-01-23 10:53:55','2012-01-23 18:53:55','',4520,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/23/4520-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4558,1,'2012-01-24 09:32:18','2012-01-24 17:32:18','I wanted to avoid giving Mark Driscoll any further press.  I wanted to avoid reading, writing, or thinking any more about this man and what he has to say.  Most of all, I wanted to avoid using the words, \"Mark Driscoll\" and \"right\" in the same sentence.\n\nDarn.\n\nI have not read his latest book; I have no plans to do so in the near (or far) future.  I\'m not writing a review or a critique.  That\'s better left to people who are a) smarter than I am and b) nicer than I am.  There is no doubt in my mind that if I read the book, I would not be able to be reasonable.  That isn\'t fair to him or to anyone else.\n\nJust to make it clear, I don\'t care for a lot of what comes out of that man\'s mouth and keyboard.  He comes across as the sort of person who has all the answers and likes to share them, whether or not he\'s been asked.  I\'m not impressed with his position on women in marriage or in the church, nor by his brand of hyper-masculinized Christianity.  And although his church is doing well in terms of sheer volume, all that says about him is that he has great salesmanship.\n\nBy now everyone is probably wondering why on Earth I\'ve said that he\'s right about anything, given my dislike for his teaching.  Here it is: <strong>I believe he is right to open the conversation about marriage, family, relationships, sex, and men.</strong>  He\'s right that young men are leaving the church and not returning (so are young women).  He\'s right that churches are shying away from talking about intimacy.  He\'s right that we are failing to maintain our marriages.  He\'s right that we are in need of unconventional methods to address these issues.  He may be going about it in a somewhat strange and possibly uncouth way, but he\'s right to be heading down that path.  Driscoll is boldly opening Pandora\'s Box, and he\'s not afraid of what he will find inside.\n\nWhy aren\'t the rest of us taking the hint?  Why aren\'t we asking why we have such a mess?  When we ask why people (including men) don\'t come to church, we conclude that the best fix is to buy bigger buildings, equip ourselves with the latest technology, and ask more of our friends to show up.  When we talk about relationships, we\'ve stalled at talking about the \"Biblical view\" of love, sex, and marriage, with the emphasis on what we\'re not supposed to do.  The one thing we aren\'t doing is opening the conversation, asking the deep <em>whys</em> and speaking plainly with each other. Driscoll may be going about it in an unpleasant manner, but at least he\'s speaking out.\n\nThere\'s nothing wrong with disagreeing with Mark Driscoll\'s attitude or methods.  But it\'s reached the point of becoming unproductive.  Are we as ready as he is to talk frankly about the very real issues we face?','Mark Driscoll Is Right','','inherit','open','open','','4406-autosave','','','2012-01-24 09:32:18','2012-01-24 17:32:18','',4406,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4406-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4559,1,'2012-01-23 13:34:16','2012-01-23 21:34:16','I wanted to avoid giving Mark Driscoll any further press.  I wanted to avoid reading, writing, or thinking any more about this man and what he has to say.  Most of all, I wanted to avoid using the words, \"Mark Driscoll\" and \"right\" in the same sentence.\r\n\r\nDarn.\r\n\r\nI have not read his latest book; I have no plans to do so in the near (or far) future.  I\'m not writing a review or a critique.  That\'s better left to people who are a) smarter than I am and b) nicer than I am.  There is no doubt in my mind that if I read the book, I would not be able to be reasonable.  That isn\'t fair to him or to anyone else.\r\n\r\nJust to make it clear, I don\'t care for a lot of what comes out of that man\'s mouth and keyboard.  He comes across as the sort of person who has all the answers and likes to share them, whether or not he\'s been asked.  I\'m not impressed with his position on women in marriage or in the church, nor by his brand of hyper-masculinized Christianity.  And although his church is doing well in terms of sheer volume, all that says about him is that he has great salesmanship.\r\n\r\nBy now everyone is probably wondering why on Earth I\'ve said that he\'s right about anything, given my dislike for his teaching.  Here it is: I believe he is right to open the conversation about marriage, family, relationships, sex, and men.  He\'s right that young men are leaving the church and not returning (so are young women).  He\'s right that churches are shying away from talking about intimacy.  He\'s right that we are failing to maintain our marriages.  He\'s right that we are in need of unconventional methods to address these issues.  He may be going about it in a somewhat strange and possibly uncouth way, but he\'s right to be heading down that path.  Driscoll is boldly opening Pandora\'s Box, and he\'s not afraid of what he will find inside.\r\n\r\nWhy aren\'t the rest of us taking the hint?  Why aren\'t we asking why we have such a mess?  When we ask why people (including men) don\'t come to church, we conclude that the best fix is to buy bigger buildings, equip ourselves with the latest technology, and ask more of our friends to show up.  When we talk about relationships, we\'ve stalled at talking about the \"Biblical view\" of love, sex, and marriage, with the emphasis on what we\'re not supposed to do.  The one thing we aren\'t doing is opening the conversation, asking the deep <em>whys</em> and speaking plainly with each other.    Driscoll may be going about it in an unpleasant manner, but at least he\'s speaking out.\r\n\r\nThere\'s nothing wrong with disagreeing with Mark Driscoll\'s attitude or methods.  But it\'s reached the point of becoming unproductive.  Are we as ready as he is to talk frankly about the very real issues we face?','Mark Driscoll Is Right','','inherit','open','open','','4406-revision-9','','','2012-01-23 13:34:16','2012-01-23 21:34:16','',4406,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/23/4406-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(4560,1,'2012-01-24 09:34:05','2012-01-24 17:34:05','','Mark Driscoll','','inherit','open','open','','mark-driscoll','','','2012-01-24 09:34:05','2012-01-24 17:34:05','',4406,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Mark-Driscoll.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4563,48,'2012-01-24 10:46:31','2012-01-24 18:46:31','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hired wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new that does not fit into a schema, common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”.\n\nThe question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in? Let’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her website, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents in violin performance with aerial acrobats. While wearing skimpy outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me, I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing this were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having turned 30. We wanted something more interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine that could come together for one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nOr maybe it’s even beyond that—maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years. Variety and change doesn’t have to mean one doesn’t have the ability to commit or the will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next big thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-5','','','2012-01-24 10:46:31','2012-01-24 18:46:31','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(4579,48,'2012-01-24 15:11:30','2012-01-24 23:11:30','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs,  families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, JaniceWe wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-19','','','2012-01-24 15:11:30','2012-01-24 23:11:30','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-19/',0,'revision','',0),(4564,48,'2012-01-24 10:58:33','2012-01-24 18:58:33','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her website, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents in violin performance with aerial acrobats. She truly has a unique act, and if you are ever in Branson, MO I suggest you catch her act at Branson Belle or view some of the videos on her website. Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean have the ability to commit or the will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next big thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-6','','','2012-01-24 10:58:33','2012-01-24 18:58:33','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4565,48,'2012-01-24 11:08:09','2012-01-24 19:08:09','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\". She truly has a unique act, and if you are ever in Branson, MO, I suggest you catch her act with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> or view some of the videos on her website. Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-7','','','2012-01-24 11:08:09','2012-01-24 19:08:09','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(4566,48,'2012-01-24 11:09:22','2012-01-24 19:09:22','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\". She truly has a unique act, and if you are ever in Branson, MO, I suggest you catch her act with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> or view some of the videos on her website. Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-8','','','2012-01-24 11:09:22','2012-01-24 19:09:22','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(4567,48,'2012-01-24 11:16:33','2012-01-24 19:16:33','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\r\n\r\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\r\n\r\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\". She truly has a unique act, and if you are ever in Branson, MO, I suggest you catch her act with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> or view some of the videos on her website. Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\r\n\r\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Breaking out of the Box','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-9','','','2012-01-24 11:16:33','2012-01-24 19:16:33','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(4569,48,'2012-01-24 11:18:50','2012-01-24 19:18:50','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\". She truly has a unique act, and if you are ever in Branson, MO, I suggest you catch her act with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> or view some of the videos on her website. Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-11','','','2012-01-24 11:18:50','2012-01-24 19:18:50','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(4568,48,'2012-01-24 11:17:01','2012-01-24 19:17:01','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\r\n\r\nThinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\r\n\r\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\". She truly has a unique act, and if you are ever in Branson, MO, I suggest you catch her act with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> or view some of the videos on her website. Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\r\n\r\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-10','','','2012-01-24 11:17:01','2012-01-24 19:17:01','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(4571,48,'2012-01-24 13:51:50','2012-01-24 21:51:50','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. What is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the MMilwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments solely as a musician is impressive.\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-12','','','2012-01-24 13:51:50','2012-01-24 21:51:50','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(4572,48,'2012-01-24 13:53:38','2012-01-24 21:53:38','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices, when one of my friends tolWhat is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought.\n\nSimilarly, we place God into boxes, and we are inevitably confused, angry, or end up in a crisis of faith if He dares to operate in such a way that disregards our tidy little God construct. It is not surprising then, with our early childhood training and neat little God boxes, that most of us also keep ourselves and our lives packaged up tightly in boxes. We follow the same patter: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments solely as a musician is impressive.\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-13','','','2012-01-24 13:53:38','2012-01-24 21:53:38','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(4573,48,'2012-01-24 13:57:16','2012-01-24 21:57:16','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices, when one of my friends mentioned Janice Martin, an aerial violinist. We wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. We follow the same pattern : go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments solely as a musician is impressive.\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Maybe there is still hope that I can combine playing viola, writing, and drinking coffee into a fulfulling career.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-14','','','2012-01-24 13:57:16','2012-01-24 21:57:16','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(4574,48,'2012-01-24 13:59:49','2012-01-24 21:59:49','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices, when one of my friends mentioned Janice Martin, an aerial violinist. We wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-15','','','2012-01-24 13:59:49','2012-01-24 21:59:49','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-15/',0,'revision','',0),(4575,48,'2012-01-24 14:01:14','2012-01-24 22:01:14','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices, when one of my friends mentioned Janice Martin, an aerial violinist. We wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-16','','','2012-01-24 14:01:14','2012-01-24 22:01:14','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-16/',0,'revision','',0),(4577,48,'2012-01-24 14:09:38','2012-01-24 22:09:38','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices, when one of my friends mentioned Janice Martin, an aerial violinist. We wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\r\n\r\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-18','','','2012-01-24 14:09:38','2012-01-24 22:09:38','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-18/',0,'revision','',0),(4576,48,'2012-01-24 14:09:00','2012-01-24 22:09:00','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices, when one of my friends mentioned Janice Martin, an aerial violinist. We wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this aerial violinist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\r\n\r\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nMy friends and I who were discussing Janice Martin\'s act were still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, careers, and families, and having reached the milestone 30th birthday. We also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nI think it is more than that, however.  Maybe we don’t have to find that “one thing” to do for the rest of our lives. Maybe, just maybe, it’s okay to do something completely different and change careers every 5 years, or 10 years, or X years. Variety and change in vocations and careers doesn’t necessarily mean there is an inability to commit or  a lack of will power to see things through. It might just mean the project is finished and it’s time for the next thing.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-17','','','2012-01-24 14:09:00','2012-01-24 22:09:00','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-17/',0,'revision','',0),(4578,0,'2012-01-24 14:52:04','2012-01-24 22:52:04','Reposting the guest post by Jamie the Very Worst Missionary for the Women in Ministry Series.\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Ed Cyzewski\nAUTHOR EMAIL: edcyzewski@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://www.inamirrordimly.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 76.181.77.53\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Ed Cyzewski\n    [Email] =&gt; edcyzewski@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; www.inamirrordimly.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Reposting the guest post by Jamie the Very Worst Missionary for the Women in Ministry Series.\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; edcyzewski\n)\n','Ed Cyzewski - 2012-01-24 14:52:04','','publish','open','open','','aa35508946a25c0c99cabfd3a74ea0f6','','','2012-01-24 14:52:04','2012-01-24 22:52:04','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=4578',0,'feedback','',0),(4580,48,'2012-01-24 15:14:05','2012-01-24 23:14:05','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-20','','','2012-01-24 15:14:05','2012-01-24 23:14:05','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-20/',0,'revision','',0),(4581,48,'2012-01-24 15:15:25','2012-01-24 23:15:25','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-21','','','2012-01-24 15:15:25','2012-01-24 23:15:25','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-21/',0,'revision','',0),(4583,48,'2012-01-24 15:31:28','2012-01-24 23:31:28','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nour brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, she is a formidable artist. It should be no surprise that such a unique talent would take an equally unique path.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-23','','','2012-01-24 15:31:28','2012-01-24 23:31:28','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-23/',0,'revision','',0),(4582,48,'2012-01-24 15:28:48','2012-01-24 23:28:48','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nIt may be that our ability to categorize things and box things in serves an important purpose. In fact, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, she is a formidable artist. It should be no surprise that s\n\n&nbsp;\n\nTruly, just taking her accomplishments in piecemeal format, she is a formidable artist.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-22','','','2012-01-24 15:28:48','2012-01-24 23:28:48','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-22/',0,'revision','',0),(4584,48,'2012-01-24 15:31:47','2012-01-24 23:31:47','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, she is a formidable artist. It should be no surprise that such a unique talent would take an equally unique path.\r\n\r\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-24','','','2012-01-24 15:31:47','2012-01-24 23:31:47','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-24/',0,'revision','',0),(4585,48,'2012-01-24 15:39:33','2012-01-24 23:39:33','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-25','','','2012-01-24 15:39:33','2012-01-24 23:39:33','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-25/',0,'revision','',0),(4586,48,'2012-01-24 15:43:27','2012-01-24 23:43:27','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlining in Branson, MO with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-26','','','2012-01-24 15:43:27','2012-01-24 23:43:27','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-26/',0,'revision','',0),(4587,48,'2012-01-24 15:46:56','2012-01-24 23:46:56','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for another season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-27','','','2012-01-24 15:46:56','2012-01-24 23:46:56','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-27/',0,'revision','',0),(4588,48,'2012-01-24 15:52:15','2012-01-24 23:52:15','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves or hoops hanging high above the ground), but she also displays an amaTruly, she is a formidale artist, putting tiche often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-28','','','2012-01-24 15:52:15','2012-01-24 23:52:15','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-28/',0,'revision','',0),(4589,48,'2012-01-24 15:53:12','2012-01-24 23:53:12','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves or hoops hanging high above the ground), but she also displays an amazing grace, beauty, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting tiche often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-29','','','2012-01-24 15:53:12','2012-01-24 23:53:12','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-29/',0,'revision','',0),(4590,48,'2012-01-24 15:56:57','2012-01-24 23:56:57','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance,. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting tiche often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMusically trained at The Juilliard and Indiana School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-30','','','2012-01-24 15:56:57','2012-01-24 23:56:57','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-30/',0,'revision','',0),(4591,48,'2012-01-24 15:58:23','2012-01-24 23:58:23','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMusically at the Indiana University and the Juillliard School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-31','','','2012-01-24 15:58:23','2012-01-24 23:58:23','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-31/',0,'revision','',0),(4592,48,'2012-01-24 15:58:25','2012-01-24 23:58:25','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMusically at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-32','','','2012-01-24 15:58:25','2012-01-24 23:58:25','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-32/',0,'revision','',0),(4593,48,'2012-01-24 16:00:19','2012-01-25 00:00:19','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMusically at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she boasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-33','','','2012-01-24 16:00:19','2012-01-25 00:00:19','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-33/',0,'revision','',0),(4594,48,'2012-01-24 16:07:54','2012-01-25 00:07:54','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including\n\nplay at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world\n\nleaders.\n\nboasts such honors as solos with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut. The Stradivari Society even awarded her the honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin in recognition of her accomplishments. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-34','','','2012-01-24 16:07:54','2012-01-25 00:07:54','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-34/',0,'revision','',0),(4604,48,'2012-01-24 16:34:23','2012-01-25 00:34:23','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  Like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration, like Janice Martin, to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves?\n\nGod created us in His image, and like Him, we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-44','','','2012-01-24 16:34:23','2012-01-25 00:34:23','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-44/',0,'revision','',0),(4595,48,'2012-01-24 16:12:32','2012-01-25 00:12:32','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloomg with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut.  Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-35','','','2012-01-24 16:12:32','2012-01-25 00:12:32','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-35/',0,'revision','',0),(4606,48,'2012-01-24 16:38:03','2012-01-25 00:38:03','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I do know that life is too short to try to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-46','','','2012-01-24 16:38:03','2012-01-25 00:38:03','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-46/',0,'revision','',0),(4599,48,'2012-01-24 16:21:07','2012-01-25 00:21:07','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-39','','','2012-01-24 16:21:07','2012-01-25 00:21:07','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-39/',0,'revision','',0),(4596,48,'2012-01-24 16:14:46','2012-01-25 00:14:46','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. as well as a Carnegie Hall debut.  Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nBut, I wondered, how did she go from talented classical musician to aerial violinist? Where did the aerobatics\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-36','','','2012-01-24 16:14:46','2012-01-25 00:14:46','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-36/',0,'revision','',0),(4598,48,'2012-01-24 16:16:42','2012-01-25 00:16:42','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, the, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where did the aerobatics come in to this story?\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-38','','','2012-01-24 16:16:42','2012-01-25 00:16:42','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-38/',0,'revision','',0),(4597,48,'2012-01-24 16:15:14','2012-01-25 00:15:14','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also headlines in Branson, MO where she is returning for a second season with the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a>\'s show <em>Encore!</em> Watching the videos of her available on her website, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while playing upside down, holding yourself up by silk scarves high in the air), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while dangling from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. as well as a Carnegie Hall debut.  Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nBut, I wondered, how did she go from talented classical musician to aerial violinist? Where did the aerobatics come in to this story?\r\n\r\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-37','','','2012-01-24 16:15:14','2012-01-25 00:15:14','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-37/',0,'revision','',0),(4600,48,'2012-01-24 16:22:17','2012-01-25 00:22:17','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-40','','','2012-01-24 16:22:17','2012-01-25 00:22:17','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-40/',0,'revision','',0),(4601,48,'2012-01-24 16:22:28','2012-01-25 00:22:28','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\r\n\r\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-41','','','2012-01-24 16:22:28','2012-01-25 00:22:28','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-41/',0,'revision','',0),(4602,48,'2012-01-24 16:23:43','2012-01-25 00:23:43','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Or more importantly, we wanted careers that were uniquely suited to ourselves. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns After Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-42','','','2012-01-24 16:23:43','2012-01-25 00:23:43','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-42/',0,'revision','',0),(4603,48,'2012-01-24 16:29:42','2012-01-25 00:29:42','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWe also wanted careers or callings that were unique and interesting, even beyond moving away from the typical 9-5 office job.  Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  I do long wish for a similar inspiration to break myself out of the \"career/vocation box\"; are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that I previously thought I could not combine, that together would create one exceptionally unique career, much like the dangling aerial violinist? But but I would like to have this woman’s ability to completely bust out of the box.\n\nGod created us in His image, so we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-43','','','2012-01-24 16:29:42','2012-01-25 00:29:42','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-43/',0,'revision','',0),(4605,48,'2012-01-24 16:35:15','2012-01-25 00:35:15','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\r\n\r\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly something that appeals to me for my own career, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves?\r\n\r\nGod created us in His image, and like Him, we too are creative beings. Isn’t it high time we moved in more freedom in creating…and not just in creating more boxes? Life is too short to do things just to fit inside someone else’s or our own self-built boxes.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-45','','','2012-01-24 16:35:15','2012-01-25 00:35:15','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-45/',0,'revision','',0),(4607,48,'2012-01-24 16:39:13','2012-01-25 00:39:13','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-47','','','2012-01-24 16:39:13','2012-01-25 00:39:13','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-47/',0,'revision','',0),(4608,48,'2012-01-24 16:39:16','2012-01-25 00:39:16','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\r\n\r\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-48','','','2012-01-24 16:39:16','2012-01-25 00:39:16','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-48/',0,'revision','',0),(4611,48,'2012-01-24 16:42:09','2012-01-25 00:42:09','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-51','','','2012-01-24 16:42:09','2012-01-25 00:42:09','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-51/',0,'revision','',0),(4609,48,'2012-01-24 16:39:58','2012-01-25 00:39:58','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\r\n\r\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-49','','','2012-01-24 16:39:58','2012-01-25 00:39:58','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-49/',0,'revision','',0),(4610,48,'2012-01-24 16:40:35','2012-01-25 00:40:35','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly?\r\n\r\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-50','','','2012-01-24 16:40:35','2012-01-25 00:40:35','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-50/',0,'revision','',0),(4612,48,'2012-01-24 17:16:30','2012-01-25 01:16:30','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nShe is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, she was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did she go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Janice returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The final breath of inspiration came one evening while in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. That performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. And this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-52','','','2012-01-24 17:16:30','2012-01-25 01:16:30','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-52/',0,'revision','',0),(4613,48,'2012-01-24 17:20:25','2012-01-25 01:20:25','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. This is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-53','','','2012-01-24 17:20:25','2012-01-25 01:20:25','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-53/',0,'revision','',0),(4614,48,'2012-01-24 17:21:03','2012-01-25 01:21:03','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. This is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.\r\n\r\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-54','','','2012-01-24 17:21:03','2012-01-25 01:21:03','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-54/',0,'revision','',0),(4615,48,'2012-01-24 17:24:39','2012-01-25 01:24:39','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.\n\nFrom there, it is all history, as they say. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. She ha\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-55','','','2012-01-24 17:24:39','2012-01-25 01:24:39','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-55/',0,'revision','',0),(4616,48,'2012-01-24 17:26:07','2012-01-25 01:26:07','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nWearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-56','','','2012-01-24 17:26:07','2012-01-25 01:26:07','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-56/',0,'revision','',0),(4617,48,'2012-01-24 17:28:18','2012-01-25 01:28:18','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside one of its already pre-conceived schemas. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  AAnd, like many of my generation, I long for a  career or vocation that  moves away from the typical 9-5 job.  Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-57','','','2012-01-24 17:28:18','2012-01-25 01:28:18','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-57/',0,'revision','',0),(4618,48,'2012-01-24 17:31:15','2012-01-25 01:31:15','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidale artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: The US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C. as a solo violinist, including solos at the White House, the Capitol and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-58','','','2012-01-24 17:31:15','2012-01-25 01:31:15','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-58/',0,'revision','',0),(4619,48,'2012-01-24 17:35:02','2012-01-25 01:35:02','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone is truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-59','','','2012-01-24 17:35:02','2012-01-25 01:35:02','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-59/',0,'revision','',0),(4620,48,'2012-01-24 17:36:26','2012-01-25 01:36:26','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Are there gifts, talents and interests that I have -- or you have-- that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-60','','','2012-01-24 17:36:26','2012-01-25 01:36:26','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-60/',0,'revision','',0),(4621,48,'2012-01-24 17:40:26','2012-01-25 01:40:26','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Thinking Like an Aerial Violinist','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-61','','','2012-01-24 17:40:26','2012-01-25 01:40:26','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-61/',0,'revision','',0),(4622,48,'2012-01-24 17:42:01','2012-01-25 01:42:01','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Breaking Out of Boxes, Dangling From Scarves','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-62','','','2012-01-24 17:42:01','2012-01-25 01:42:01','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-62/',0,'revision','',0),(4623,48,'2012-01-24 17:59:43','2012-01-25 01:59:43','','aerial violinist_1','','inherit','open','open','','aerial-violinist_1','','','2012-01-24 17:59:43','2012-01-25 01:59:43','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/aerial-violinist_1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4624,48,'2012-01-24 17:46:56','2012-01-25 01:46:56','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I am searching, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Breaking Out of Boxes, Dangling From Scarves','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-63','','','2012-01-24 17:46:56','2012-01-25 01:46:56','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-63/',0,'revision','',0),(4625,48,'2012-01-24 18:46:49','2012-01-25 02:46:49','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nHow else can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I continue the searchg, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Breaking Out of Boxes, Dangling From Scarves','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-64','','','2012-01-24 18:46:49','2012-01-25 02:46:49','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-64/',0,'revision','',0),(4626,48,'2012-01-24 18:53:05','2012-01-25 02:53:05','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement for her next career move. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration.\n\nHow else can we  find inspiration to break out of the career/vocation schemata we have created for ourselves? I don\'t have all the answers to that question, but I continue the search, because I do know that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Breaking Out of Boxes, Dangling From Scarves','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-65','','','2012-01-24 18:53:05','2012-01-25 02:53:05','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-65/',0,'revision','',0),(4627,48,'2012-01-24 18:59:26','2012-01-25 02:59:26','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are tu\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Breaking Out of Boxes, Dangling From Scarves','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-66','','','2012-01-24 18:59:26','2012-01-25 02:59:26','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-66/',0,'revision','',0),(4629,48,'2012-01-24 19:04:20','2012-01-25 03:04:20','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-68','','','2012-01-24 19:04:20','2012-01-25 03:04:20','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-68/',0,'revision','',0),(4628,48,'2012-01-24 18:59:34','2012-01-25 02:59:34','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\r\n\r\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Breaking Out of Boxes, Dangling From Scarves','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-67','','','2012-01-24 18:59:34','2012-01-25 02:59:34','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-67/',0,'revision','',0),(4631,48,'2012-01-24 19:06:04','2012-01-25 03:06:04','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-70','','','2012-01-24 19:06:04','2012-01-25 03:06:04','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-70/',0,'revision','',0),(4630,48,'2012-01-24 19:04:23','2012-01-25 03:04:23','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hopes of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\r\n\r\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-69','','','2012-01-24 19:04:23','2012-01-25 03:04:23','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-69/',0,'revision','',0),(4633,48,'2012-01-24 19:08:29','2012-01-25 03:08:29','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on  solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-72','','','2012-01-24 19:08:29','2012-01-25 03:08:29','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-72/',0,'revision','',0),(4632,48,'2012-01-24 19:06:54','2012-01-25 03:06:54','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell you, the pieces she plays are difficult enough to play standing on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do; the trouble is, I have so many and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snuggly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\r\n\r\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-71','','','2012-01-24 19:06:54','2012-01-25 03:06:54','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-71/',0,'revision','',0),(4634,48,'2012-01-24 19:11:44','2012-01-25 03:11:44','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who later dropped it for a Psychology degree), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up to you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-73','','','2012-01-24 19:11:44','2012-01-25 03:11:44','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-73/',0,'revision','',0),(4635,48,'2012-01-24 19:17:29','2012-01-25 03:17:29','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-74','','','2012-01-24 19:17:29','2012-01-25 03:17:29','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-74/',0,'revision','',0),(4637,48,'2012-01-24 19:19:39','2012-01-25 03:19:39','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-76','','','2012-01-24 19:19:39','2012-01-25 03:19:39','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-76/',0,'revision','',0),(4636,48,'2012-01-24 19:17:33','2012-01-25 03:17:33','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this artist does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemas”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside an already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into a schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause an existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for “exceptions from the rule”. The question is, do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.  Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often-touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nSo, then, how did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show. The performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing.  Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\r\n\r\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n\r\nFurther Credits:\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-75','','','2012-01-24 19:17:33','2012-01-25 03:17:33','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4550-revision-75/',0,'revision','',0),(4640,149,'2012-01-24 21:20:18','2012-01-25 05:20:18','Growing up in the church and in a Christian family, I remember hearing about a lot of different people in our community who weren’t <em>acting </em>very Christian.\n\nHow does one <em>act</em> Christian? It seems simple, but can be very complicated. Don’t Christians just follow the way of Jesus, choosing to live as he lived, engaging as he did?\n\n<strong><em>Christian</em></strong> \\ˈkris-chən, ˈkrish-\\\n<strong>noun</strong> <strong>:</strong> one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ\n<strong>adjective : </strong>of to, or relating to, Christianity or being a Christian; based on or conforming with religion of Christianity\n\nWhen people ask if I am a Christian, I usually say that I am “christian-<em>ish</em>.” This has nothing to do with being lukewarm, but is because of my desire to be viewed separately from the general Christian contingent. Though it boasts many good and desirable qualities, Christianity as a religion has been known to judge, to condemn and to look down upon, at times. There may be those who will judge me and even presume to know me, and in their condescending eyes I’ll seem to <em>act</em> much less Christian then they do.\n\nAnd they’ll be right...because I’m not <em>acting Christian</em> at all.\n\nIt feels more honest to follow Jesus organically then to label myself Christian and become part of the club. I’d rather be found trying to follow in the footsteps of Jesus then be found <em>acting</em> like a Christian. I’d rather risk it all, trip and fall while conquering mountains with Jesus than play it safe and just go through the motions, doing chair aerobics in the comfort of the church.\n\nWhether I go to church or label myself “Christian,” does it really matter? It’s written in 1st Corinthians 13:1-3 that even if I were the most amazing “Christian,” doing all the church stuff, I am nothing without love!\n\nI\'d rather spend time with \"non-Christians,” allowing them to notice something different about me that they can’t see and be attracted to the love of Jesus in me, than to be repelled by a “brother” or “sister” in the Lord because I am different than he or she.\n\nI’d rather be good to the bad than blend in with the bland. I\'d rather <em>be</em> loved by someone than be <em>told</em> that someone loves me. I’d rather feel and share the love of Jesus than just talk about it.\n\nIt’s important to me to be a part of my community and not pretend that it’s my “holy” segregation makes me a Jesus freak. The principle of “in the world, but not of it” doesn’t work unless it’s informed by Love.\n\nWhere I once bought into to the fear-based mentality of avoiding this world’s reality, I’m learning to embrace the beauty of a world created for me. I’m learning what it feels like to be free, I’m learning to taste, touch, hear, smell and see. I desire faith that lives, moves and breathes because I’m disgusted with a convenient, oppressive theology. A little less conversation and little more action please!\n\nKeep it real. Follow Jesus.','Acting Christian','','inherit','open','open','','4639-revision','','','2012-01-24 21:20:18','2012-01-25 05:20:18','',4639,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/24/4639-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4653,48,'2012-01-25 08:43:44','2012-01-25 16:43:44','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this performer does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemata”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into an existing schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause the existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for these “exceptions from the rule”. The question is: do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents with aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.¹‚² Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.³\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society.¹ She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few.¹ Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nHow then did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music.³ The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show; the performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other.³ No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows.³ From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n[1]<a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">www.janicemartin.com</a>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n[2]Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n[3]Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n</div>\n&nbsp;','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-86','','','2012-01-25 08:43:44','2012-01-25 16:43:44','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/25/4550-revision-86/',0,'revision','',0),(4650,48,'2012-01-25 08:34:55','2012-01-25 16:34:55','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this performer does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemata”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into an existing schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause the existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for these “exceptions from the rule”. The question is: do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents with aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.[1]</sup>,[2]</sup> Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.[3]</sup>\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society.[1]</sup> She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. 1 Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nHow then did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music.[3] The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show; the performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. [3] No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. [3] From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n[1] <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">www.janicemartin.com</a>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n[2]Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n[3]Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n</div>\n&nbsp;','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-84','','','2012-01-25 08:34:55','2012-01-25 16:34:55','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/25/4550-revision-84/',0,'revision','',0),(4644,48,'2012-01-25 08:18:30','2012-01-25 16:18:30','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this performer does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemata”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into an existing schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause the existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for these “exceptions from the rule”. The question is: do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents with aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn1\">[1]</a><sup>,<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn2\">[2]</a></sup> Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn3\">[3]</a>\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. 1 She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. 1 Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nHow then did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. 3 The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show; the performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. 3 No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. 3 From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref1\">[1]</a> <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">www.janicemartin.com</a>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref2\">[2]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref3\">[3]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n</div>\n&nbsp;','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-78','','','2012-01-25 08:18:30','2012-01-25 16:18:30','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/25/4550-revision-78/',0,'revision','',0),(4643,48,'2012-01-25 08:17:05','2012-01-25 16:17:05','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this performer does?\n\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\n\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemata”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into an existing schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause the existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for these “exceptions from the rule”. The question is: do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\n\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents with aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn1\">[1]</a><sup>,<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn2\">[2]</a></sup> Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\n\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn3\">[3]</a>\n\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. 1 She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. 1 Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\n\nHow then did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. 3 The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show; the performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. 3 No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. 3 From there, it is all history, as they say.\n\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n<div><br />\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref1\">[1]</a> <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">www.janicemartin.com</a>\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref2\">[2]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref3\">[3]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\n</div>\n</div>\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\n\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\n\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\n\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\n\n<em>Photo courtesy of  Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\n\nFurther Credits:\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\n\nSilver Dollar City Publicity (2012). <em>Encore!</em> Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-77','','','2012-01-25 08:17:05','2012-01-25 16:17:05','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/25/4550-revision-77/',0,'revision','',0),(4645,48,'2012-01-25 08:25:15','2012-01-25 16:25:15','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this performer does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemata”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into an existing schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause the existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for these “exceptions from the rule”. The question is: do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents with aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn1\">[1]</a><sup>,<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn2\">[2]</a></sup> Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn3\">[3]</a>\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. 1 She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. 1 Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nHow then did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. 3 The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show; the performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. 3 No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. 3 From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\r\n\r\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref1\">[1]</a> <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">www.janicemartin.com</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref2\">[2]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref3\">[3]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n&nbsp;','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-79','','','2012-01-25 08:25:15','2012-01-25 16:25:15','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/25/4550-revision-79/',0,'revision','',0),(4646,48,'2012-01-25 08:25:48','2012-01-25 16:25:48','“At what point do you say, ‘Wow, I really want to dangle upside down from silk scarves and play the violin for a living\'?” This question was posed by myself and couple friends of mine as we reconnected over a cup of coffee. We were discussing life paths and career choices-- still trying to figure out what we wanted to do “when we grew up”, despite having  graduated from college and started various jobs, families, and all recently having reached the milestone 30th birthday. It was in this context that one of my friends mentioned the aerial violinist, Janice Martin. We collectively wondered: what is the secret to thinking so decidedly out of the box as this performer does?\r\n\r\nTo be sure, thinking outside of the box is a rather cliché concept now, the subject of countless self-help books, business seminars, and the like. Regardless, it truly is something people seem to have a hard time executing. We learn early on as children to draw inside the lines, follow all the rules, and act orderly and contained. Creativity, while not completely disregarded, is often more of an afterthought. Most follow the same pattern into our adult life: go to school, build a career, get married, have kids, and those who dare to do those in a different order or on a different timeframe are often questioned or ridiculed.\r\n\r\nTo add to this, our brains seem hard-wired to place everything into neat little boxes.  Psychological theory calls these boxes “schemata”:  mental structures to organize information. Every time your brain receives new information, it tries to fit it inside already pre-conceived schemata. It is an efficient and quick way to store, retrieve, and process information, helping us to respond quickly and appropriately to many situations. However, when we encounter new experiences or information that does not fit into an existing schema, a common reaction is to ignore or quickly forget the offending information. Occasionally, new information that differs so completely from a schema but cannot be ignored will cause the existing schema to be altered or to create a separate schema for these “exceptions from the rule”. The question is: do these schemas we have created for ourselves and our roles sometimes needlessly box us in?\r\n\r\nLet’s go back to the aerial violinist. According to her <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">website</a>, Janice Martin is a classically trained violinist, pianist and vocalist who works with the Cirque du Symphonie, combining her talents with aerial acrobats to be the \"world\'s only aerial violinist\", and also returned to headline the show <em>Encore!</em> aboard the <a href=\"http://www.showboatbransonbelle.com/\">Showboat Branson Belle</a> in Branson, MO for the second season.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn1\">[1]</a><sup>,<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn2\">[2]</a></sup> Watching the videos of her performances, I am struck by not only her musical prowess (and I am a classically trained violist, so I can tell that the pieces she plays are difficult enough while performing them on solid ground, let alone while dangling by scarves), but she also displays an amazing grace, power, and strength in her aerial performance. Her vocal and piano performances are equally impressive, even if not performed while hanging from the ceiling. Truly, she is a formidable artist, putting the often touted \"triple threats\" to shame.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin is a unique artist to say the least, so it should be no surprise that her path there is equally unique. Musically trained at the Indiana University and the Juilliard School of Music, she found her first job in perhaps an unlikely place: the US Army, where she played in the US Army Band in Washington, D.C., as a solo violinist, including performances at the White House, the Capitol, and the State Department for President Bill Clinton and other world leaders.<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftn3\">[3]</a>\r\n\r\nAfter her enlistment with the army, Martin was awarded honorary use of the 1708 Burstein/Bagshawe Stradivarius Violin by The Stradivari Society. 1 She then toured domestically and internationally, soloing with the Milwaukee Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Portland Symphony, European Union Chamber Orchestra and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, to name just a few. 1 Her career and accomplishments as a musician alone are truly impressive.\r\n\r\nHow then did Janice Martin go from an internationally recognized musician to an aerial violinist? Where do the aerobatics come in to this story, exactly? After the death of her friend and sponsor, Joseph Burstein, Martin returned to New York in hope of creating a show of her own that encompassed more than just the realm of classical music. 3 The necessary creative inspiration came one evening while Martin was in the audience of a Cirque du Soleil show; the performance that night moved her so much that she determined to become an aerialist and, combined with her violin virtuosity, have a one-woman show like no other. 3 No doubt this is where her training in the Army came in handy once again, what with the vigorous physical training, including rope climbing. Janice Martin debuted at Carnegie Hall and then spent over a decade traveling and performing her self-choreographed shows. 3 From there, it is all history, as they say.\r\n\r\nSo, what can we learn from this fascinating woman? Wearing skin-tight outfits and dangling upside down from scarves and rings from great heights while playing the electric violin is not exactly my dream job, but I certainly enjoy watching Janet Martin live out her dream.  And that\'s what I want to do-- live out my dream; the trouble is, I don\'t just have one, and I haven\'t quite figured out how to combine them all so snugly like Ms. Martin has. Do I-- or you-- have gifts, talents and interests that seem incongruous, but somehow together create one exceptionally unique career, much like this daring aerial violinist? How can Ms. Martin\'s unique path help to inform our own search for a fulfilling and interesting career or life?\r\n\r\nFirst of all, Ms. Martin pursued her passions diligently and put in the hard work. Take it from this former music major (who admittedly dropped it only three semesters in to pursue a psychology degree instead), getting into Juilliard doesn\'t happen by doing the bare minimum in your practice sessions. Opportunities to grow, use, and express your talents won\'t open up for you if you aren\'t seeking excellence in whatever it is you do. So, the things you love to do? Learn to do them well. Practice. Practice. And then practice some more.\r\n\r\nMs. Martin also did something a lot of us could do more of: get out there and live life. She didn\'t just sit at home, absorbed in her own brainstorming sessions or creating a mission/purpose/vision statement. No, she was out enjoying life, and it was there, while taking time to attend a Cirque du Soleil show that she found the final inspiration. New experiences, new relationships and new adventures will bring fresh ideas and inspiration. You know what the same old thing brings? More of the same old thing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t have all the answers on how to think outside of the box, as I\'ve gotten myself into some ruts that lasted for years. But at this point in my life, I\'ve realized that life is too short to try to squeeze myself into a box, be it someone else’s or one of my own creation.  And to you, Ms. Martin, I say, \"Bravo.\" You are truly an inspiration.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo courtesy of Silver Dollar City Publicity</em>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref1\">[1]</a> <a href=\"http://www.janicemartin.com/\">www.janicemartin.com</a>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref2\">[2]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). Encore! Returns after Stellar First Season [Press Release].\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"/Users/Owner/Desktop/Janice%20Martin%20Doc.docx#_ftnref3\">[3]</a>Silver Dollar City Publicity (2012). From Humble Beginnings to Carnegie Hall [Press Release].\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n</div>\r\n&nbsp;','Not Your Ordinary Day Job','','inherit','open','open','','4550-revision-80','','','2012-01-25 08:25:48','2012-01-25 16:25:48','',4550,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/25/4550-revision-80/',0,'revision','',0),