Marshall Ramsey

Watercolorist Wyatt Waters plays and sings one of his original songs on Now Who’s Talking with Marshall Ramsey

Wyatt Waters can paint. Wyatt Waters can sing. Wyatt Waters can write songs and play guitar.  I like to get him in the same room so that hopefully some of his talent will rub off on me.

I had him on my radio show today (Now Who’s Talking with Marshall Ramsey on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Monday’s at 10 a.m..)  We had a great conversation going and then he picks up his guitar and starts singing a song he wrote.  It was great radio and ended the show on a, pardon the pun, high note.

I love the radio show because I’ve been able to feature Mississippians who are succeeding. Most have overcome obstacles and chase their passions.  Sure, I could rail about on all that is wrong with this world.  I know you can get that by the bucketful in other places. But I prefer to feature what’s good.  Mississippi is full of pretty amazing people.

And I was proud of feature Wyatt today.  Not sure if any of his talent rubbed off on me, but I enjoyed having him on.  Next week I’ll have on Major General Augustus L. (Leon) Collins, the Adjutant General of Mississippi. His story is pretty cool, too.

But the one golden thread that has run all through my guests is that they’ve had people recognize their talent or gift early and give them support even when the odds were overwhelming against them.  My guests weren’t willing to coast on their talent’s coattails.  They worked like crazy to chase their passion.  And they believe in serving others.

I hope you learn something from the show. I know I am.

Sometimes the best memories aren’t found on the ground.

1929 Curtis-Wright Travel Air biplane owned by David Mars

My two oldest sons and I stopped by the Madison airport Saturday afternoon to see if a B-17 had made its promised appearance.  It hadn’t.  We visited with a couple of members of the Mississippi branch of the Commemorative Air Force (a group dedicated to preserving historic aircraft.) David Mars was outside, selling rides in his immaculate 1929 Curtis-Wright Travel Air biplane.   My middle son really wanted to go up in it, but wasn’t sure his mother would be thrilled that I took her child up in a plane without her knowing. So we went to the bookstore and bought my oldest son a running diary.  On the way home, I called their mom and told her how much the ride was going to cost and that I knew and trusted the pilot.  David Mars has four classic aircraft and has thousands of flight hours under his belt.  He is also an aviation historian — he even owns A Curtis Robin monoplane like the the Key Brothers made their endurance flight (with inflight refueling) in near Meridian. (Their plane, called Ole Miss,  is in the Smithsonian Institute.)

David Mars

So we plunked down the $130 and strapped ourselves in with the lap belt.  I had flown several times in smaller planes — even a World War 2 T-6 Trainer.  But I’ve never flown in an open cockpit biplane before.  My son and I sat together in the front seat.  My oldest son sat with David’s very nice teenage assistant and watched — he’d rather sit and talk to her than fly among the clouds.

The radial engine roared to life and we taxied down the runway.  Wind blew through our hair as the biplane sped down the runway.  First the tail wheel left the ground. And then we left the constraints of Mother Earth.

Over the Madison Airport, heading to the Reservoir.

David kicked the rudder and we went more over Old Canton Road. I could see out easier than my son — he being a bit shorter than me.  My stomach lurched as we hit a thermal.  And then I saw the Ross Barnett Jr.’s house. And then the giant Reservoir named for his dad.  David did a couple of acrobatic maneuvers called a wingover, allowing us a thrill that a roller coaster couldn’t match. We tipped sideways over a boat hauling a tube and waved at them.  We got an amazing view of the dam.

The plane then headed up the Reservoir past the fancy homes on the Rankin County side. We buzzed a small ultra-glide air strip and then shot back into the sky like a blue and red eagle.  He looped  the plane back across the Reservoir and we saw our house, my son’s school, the lake near our house, the Overlook and all the people partying in the boats nearby.  David climbed suddenly and did a dive. Our stomachs left the seat with the rest of us. (thank you lap belt!) We then headed over Madison and then I could see the airport.  My son and I both stood up and David took our picture. It will be interesting to see how that picture will turn out.

Over water.

I took one myself of my son as we touched down. He had the biggest smile on his face I’ve ever seen.  I’ll cherish that photo for the rest of my life.

We’ve driven by that biplane dozens of times but never stopped. Yesterday we did. And created memories for a lifetime. Sometimes memories aren’t found on the ground. You have to reach a little higher to find them.

Imagine a brand new Ferrari.  It has a 950 horsepower V-12 engine and will go from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds. Everything about it is designed for speed.  Top speed is over 200 mph and it can stop almost on a dime.

Now take the spark plugs out of the engine. What do you have?

You have a very expensive paperweight.  Even my little four-cylinder Honda CR-V could out run it.

Last night I took my sons to the local high school for a “Meet the athletes” night.  I looked at the student-athletes sitting on the gym floor and thought about their upcoming season. Being a former student-athlete, I know how hard their schedules are right now. They have to balance their school work and practice. It will be hard work. Then I thought about the kids with less talent that’ll out achieve the kids with more ability. They’ll be the Honda CR-Vs that’ll outrun the Ferraris.  Why? They have the spark.

What’s the spark? Motivation. The spark plug that fires our internal engine. The thing that moves us forward even when we don’t necessarily want to.

You can get the spark from external sources.  A boss. A coach. Anger. Fear. Praise. Criticism. Your friends. Your spouse. All are like sugar highs that can push you hard — for a little while.  But I’ve discovered (the hard way) that an external spark is fleeting at best.  Bosses, coaches, friends and spouses can be amazing motivators — but believe me, it can be devastating when they are discouraging.

The spark has to come from inside.

I’ve seen it with dieters.  They didn’t lose weight until they decided to lose weight for themselves and not for others.

If you want to see a good movie about a person with internal spark, watch Rudy.  Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger wasn’t even a Honda CR-V. He was a Ford Pinto running with Ferraris. He managed to play for Notre Dame and was the first person from his family to get a college education. He overcame great odds because he had passion.

What can kill your spark? Fear of failure. Fear of success. Depression. External discouragement. Bad news. Laziness. Disorganization. Poor self-esteem. For years, I’d procrastinate just to get enough adrenaline to get up the motivation to do my work. Trust me, that doesn’t scream quality. Steven Pressfield’s amazing book The War of Art explains what was happening to me perfectly. He calls it the Resistance and it is the part of your brain that holds you back to “protect” you.  I fight the Resistance every single day.

How? I’m changing my fouled spark plugs.  I am creating a framework to make sure I don’t become the Ferrari without the spark plugs. I’m setting goals and sticking to a pretty rigid daily schedule.  I’m cutting the Resistance out of my life.  I’m determined to succeed for all the right reasons. For reasons that are in my heart.

I’m probably closer to my Honda CR-V than a Ferrari. I’ll run until my wheels fall off. But I’ll be the little CR-V that could. All because of the spark.