Changing the Bulb

I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun. -Thomas Edison

Our landlord recently made the executive decision to have all of the lighting in our apartment changed.  When she left a message and then promptly sent an electrician to make the switch, I didn’t raise any objections.  Rather than making the transformation one bulb at a time as problems came up, she chose to do a full electrical rebranding to LED lighting throughout the apartment.  It wasn’t until after all the lighting was replaced that I realized we had been living in comparative darkness.  The LED lighting made our apartment appear much brighter, we could see areas that had previously been unnoticed and relatively neglected (and LEDs consume much less energy as well!).  The simple act of changing the lights gave us new perspective on our living environment as we hit an optical “reset.”

“Getting sunlight in your eyes first thing in the morning is absolutely vital to mental and physical health.  It is perhaps the most important thing that any and all of us can and should do in order to promote metabolic well-being, promote the positive function of your hormone system, get your mental health steering in the right direction." Andrew Huberman

Sometimes we feel like there are so many things out of reach within our working environments, and unless we’re CEOs or CFOs (or some other “C”) we can’t casually go about making executive decisions to replace all the lighting at our workspaces.  Still, there are certain things we can do to put a bit of luminary autonomy within our grasp.  Despite first glance, light is one of the factors that we are able to have some measure of control or flexibility over while we work, even if it takes a bit more effort.  After having our home lighting switched to LED, I started to think about the importance of light with regards to well-being at work. 

One of the things I have been trying to ensure each morning is that I have some exposure to natural light.  If I am working at home, I make sure to spend a few minutes outside in the morning and I’ll also keep the blinds open to welcome Mr. Sunshine.  If I wake early enough and need to head into the office, I make sure to give myself that natural exposure to light on my cycling commute to and from the office.  Besides natural light itself, one of the things that adds more joy to my work is the ability to be able to choose what kind of light I’m exposing myself to—bright office lights, dimmer/softer lights in the common area, natural light by the window of a meeting room, or a combination of electric and natural light within the Louisa Coffee Shop across the street from our office. The simple fact that we use laptops (for the most part) helps give us that extra bit of freedom to put the decision of what type of light we want to surround ourselves with.

"We have found based on the work that we have done, that control of an environment whether it be lighting or temperature, helps people feel better about their perceived productivity." Emily Dunn, senior consultant from HOK. (source)

When I think about electrical lighting, my mind goes back to the American inventor, Thomas Edison.  Although I am by no means a well-schooled Edison historian, I am familiar with one of his most famous quotes—"genius is one percent inspiration and 99% perspiration." I imagine this well-used sentence of Edison's forever stuck upon the walls of companies, maybe behind the desks of a CEO, in the board room of a more traditional enterprise, pasted on the door of a bathroom stall, eternally promoting the hard-working ethic of tireless workers and that good ole’ fashioned “American Dream,” giving us that extra bit of effort we need wherever we might just require a bit of a push. It’s one of his most quoted expressions, and it lights the fires for those bosses and employees who value effort above all else.  But Thomas Edison wasn’t just someone who promoted the value of working hard for the sake of working hard.  He also highly valued doing something that brings one joy. The combination of light and work don't always need to be about productivity--it's ok to enjoy and have fun in what we do.

“My main purpose in life is to make enough money to create even more inventions.” Thomas Edison

The ability to “see things in a different light” may indeed involve a literal and physical shift in the electrical outputs or adjustment and relocation of where we are doing our work.  Mr. Edison helped pave the way for us to make it possible to physically see things in a different light. Sometimes, however, “seeing things in a different light” can be much more abstract and we may need to make mental perspective shifts in order to bring joy and creativity to our situations.  One such example of a person who is able to shine a spotlight on those hard-to-see areas without the need to replace bulbs with LEDs is Jesse Appell 艾杰西 . 

Jesse is not an inventor or an electrician.  He is, however, an observer and a creator—a creator of comedy and of his own personal and business narrative.  I first met Jesse many years ago when we were both living in #beijing and he joined Beijing Improv, a longstanding improv community and performance group in China's capital city.  He had arrived in Beijing on a Fullbright Scholarship focusing on a cross-section of Chinese and American comedy, as well as learning from Chinese “cross-talk” 相聲 masters and becoming a student and master of the form himself.  As a comedian and creator, Jesse has the ability to shine a spotlight on phenomena that most of us would find banal and perhaps even slightly annoying.  One such example is when he created a cover of the then-popular “Gangnam Style,” renaming it “Laowai Style.”  Each and every non-Chinese speaker will know the word “Laowai” 老外 as the Chinese term that roughly translates to “foreigner.”  While most expats might grow used to and even begrudgingly grow numb to hearing this word, Jesse instead chose the term as inspiration for a comedic and fresh creation.  In another video, （Mo Money Mo 發展【Development】 released in 2013）,the rising comedian and internet upstart delivered a satirical statement on China's then growing economy, mixed in with subtle political references and historical backstory that were just kosher enough to keep him afloat from heavy censorship at the time.

"I say pursue something you care about outside of work and put your creative energy there--obviously if your work encourages something self driven and creative, even better, but don't think you're not a real creator just because you're not being paid or don't know how it fits into your career." Jesse Appell

As covid restrictions and lockdowns continued to play a game of cat-and-mouse with Chinese citizens, Jesse has had to take a look at his profession in a different light as well. Like the rest of the world, the Covid-reality has turned his previously chosen passion of Chinese stand-up-mixed with rap-parody videos upside-down. As he found himself stranded in the US after so many years of living as an expat in China, he quickly got to work making more videos that found humor in light of the whole situation, as well as turning to another passion of his, Chinese tea, into a business investment. He made the best of the quarantine situation and continued to exercise the comedic muscles which he pushed to the limit in Beijing, creating a Youtube show entitled Jesse@Home Talk Show. It was during this time that Jesse continued to highlight the insanity and reality of Covid life, all from his dining room in Boston. Now with Covid restrictions out the window, he has relocated to Los Angeles and continues to build upon comedic performance as well as supporting himself through his online tea business, Jesse's Tea House.

"I don't think it comes automatically, but by trying to remove pressure on yourself to get everything done smoothly and linearly, you get to live in the moment more, and that can bring joy." Jesse Appell

While we may not all be inventors or comedians, we all have the capacity to be creators of joy if we let ourselves be in the moment and give ourselves permission to see things in a different light.  We might not feel as if we have the ability or the social equity to adjust the electrical lighting in our workspaces, but we do have the ability to physically move about, as well as adjust our mindsets and perspectives.  Perhaps there is an inventor or a comedian within all of us, after all.

How can we set up our environments to let out the creative spark of joy?

What do we need to do to shine the spotlight on the "normal" and turn it into magic?

It could be as simple as flipping a switch on the wall.