What Looney Tune Are You?
Letter Zero.73
Dear friend,
I have a fun test for you today. You know those dumb “find out which celebrity you are most like” quizzes? What if instead of clickbait one of those questionnaires could uncover a profound realization about who you are and what you were put on Earth to do? Challenge accepted.
Answer the following questions to find out which Looney Tunes character you are…
1. Do you lack natural talent, the effortless speed and elegance that others seem to be blessed with?
2. Do you have a hunger inside you, an unquenchable need to do something that’s never been done before?
3. Do you work harder than normal people consider reasonable in order to get what you desire?
4. Do you embrace the latest technology, eagerly adopting advanced tech even before it is ready for the mainstream?
5. Do you spend every free moment studying your craft?
6. Are you able to think of novel ways to solve old problems?
7. Do you push yourself past your limits, regularly exceeding what someone like you should be capable of?
8. Have you learned through trial-and-error, seemingly made very mistake imaginable in your quest to master your craft?
9. Do you realize the danger in your ambition but still accept the risk, knowing the danger that comes with exploring extreme territory?
10. Are you an artist, able to create entire worlds that other people practically lose themselves in?
11. Are normal people perplexed by your activities, the only way they can rationalize your behavior is with excuses like, “it must be nice to have that much free time.”
12. Do your adversaries flaunt their victory, sticking their tongue out at your shortcomings, leaving you to eat their dust as they fly away into the sunset?
13. When things are at their worst, has it felt as if reality was bending and shifting with the desires of some invisible audience who wants to see you suffer?
14. Are you able to absorb blows, healing quickly from injuries that would cripple ordinary, less determined beings?
15. Do you wear your failures like a badge, never letting your past mistakes embarrass you or shake your belief in yourself.
16. When you fall down do you get back up, brush yourself off, and get right back to work with a perseverance that is unfathomable to people who don’t share your passion?
17. Are you able to shrug off failures, never making the same mistake twice, always looking for a fresh approach and altering your thinking as new knowledge is discovered?
18. Can you tune out noisy distractions, the tweets and beep-beeps of a culture constantly mocking people like you: someone who survives on the outskirts of civilization, an outsider stubbornly refusing to conform to expectations?
19. Do you carry on, even when every signal is telling you that tomorrow will be the same as today, do you hold on to hope that you are on the verge of a breakthrough?
20. Have you seen things people wouldn’t believe, observed things that shouldn’t be possible, realized that the rules we’ve been taught don’t hold true, wondered if the system is an illusion, started to plan an escape from the cartoonish frame that has boxed you in?
21. After everything you have been through, are you still thrilled by the chase, do you still love the work, feel inspired to keep improving, blessed to have another chance at life, a breath away from breakthrough, convinced that success is just around the corner?
If you answered yes to these questions, you are the Coyote, my friend. Stay creative.
Your friend,
Ade
P.S. If you’ve never read the 9 simple rules that makeup the world of The Coyote and Road Runner, they are a fantastic example of how constraints lead to new ideas. Here they are as described by their author, Chuck Jones:
1. The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote except by going ‘Beep-Beep!
2. No outside force can harm the Coyote — only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products.
3. The Coyote could stop anytime — if he were not a fanatic.
4. No dialogue ever, except “Beep-Beep!"
5. The Road Runner must stay on the road — otherwise, logically, he would not be called a Road Runner.
6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters — the southwest American desert.
7. All materials tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.
8. Whenever possible, make gravity the Coyote's greatest enemy." For example, falling off a cliff.
9. The Coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.
And if you want to go even deeper, I recommend this video of Every Frame a Painting called “Chuck Jones: The Evolution of an Artist.”