Quantity with Quality
Who Needs Some Gourd-Infused Profanity?
I think we all do at this point
This is my next story in a series of articles responding to Dr Mehmet Yildiz’s challenge to produce a short quality article with three take home points each day for thirty days.
I have chosen to use Wikipedia’s main page as inspiration, choosing one topic from the “Did You Know” section as topical encouragement.
The gourd-centric ode to fall, It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherf*ckers is a 2009 essay by Colin Nissan. Labeled as, “the fall season’s most iconic essay” by Randall Colburn of The A.V. Club, the piece goes viral each year as the fall season begins.
Nissan’s piece, initially distributed by the American non-profit publishing house, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, garners no royalties except for sales of coffee mugs emblazoned with the essay’s title.
In his essay Nissan delivers a quirkily profane, yet inspired homage to the fall season; and especially to decorative gourds. Simultaneously disparaging those seeming to be overly obsessed with seasonal decorating and yet stirring up yearnings for the fall season, it is clear to see why the short piece seems evergreen — or perhaps ever-orange, yellow and brown.
Garnering over one million views in the days directly after release, it remains McSweeney’s Internet Tendency’s second-most read piece of all time 10 years after its debut. Martha Stewart has even referenced the piece when proclaiming that the season (decorative gourd, that is) is not overrated.
What We Can Learn from a Viral Ode to Autumn
Nissan was unsure of the reception of his essay because of the profanity yet submitted the piece anyway and accepted some friendly edits from McSweeney’s editor, including a more positive ending.
We might all identify with the urge to go a little overboard celebrating our favorite holidays, and so the comic sentiment strikes a chord.
Meanwhile, the essay picks the most polarizing of all the seasons to deliver its message. For every person excited about the crunch of leaves and the crisp bite in the air, there is someone that actively despises pumpkin-spiced… anything.
Take home points:
- Don’t be afraid to hit “send”. Go ahead and publish your essay, submit that job application for a role that is a stretch, or pitch that client you think you will “never” get. You may be pleasantly surprised by the reception.
- You don’t have to please everyone. Clearly Nissan’s piece is a lampoon of super-enthused decorators everywhere. Nevertheless, it became very popular, and even embraced by the epitome of overly enthusiastic decorators herself, Martha Stewart.
- Celebrate the absurd; absurdly. Especially in a time like now when the world is facing a new unknown, taking some time to appreciate, or at least acknowledge, the ridiculous can be cathartic.
Today is a good day to take our mind off the present for just a moment and cast an eye towards fall, and gourds. Think of it as way to renew your spirit.
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Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.
