Zombie Slackers

One of our favorite fall activities is Baton Rouge' family friendly Halloween Parade. My dear friend Kelley Stein created this fun event to help celebrate her favorite holiday and raise money and awareness for some important causes in our community. You can learn more about her group and the parade here http://1031consortium.com/

Getting ready for the parade lets our family's inner artists run wild. We line our fences with float sized vinyl sheets and paint our themed float decorations for Cub Scouts Pack 205's float. Late each night, by the light of a projector, we, and occasionally some friends, get our Picasso on.

Last year's float was Where the Wild Things Are themed. We were pretty proud of our pièce de résistance. Of course, we also set the bar pretty high for ourselves in future years.

This week, we began designing, sketching and painting our float wrap. In fact, in one night, we were able to sketch, in white chalk on black vinyl, the entire design of one side of the float. All we had to do was paint in the colors.

That was before it rained overnight and washed our hard work away. Turns out chalk sketches on vinyl don't hold up in the rain.

And while David and Hunter were distraught at having to start completely over, I was not.

1. The only part of the design I worked on, and liked, I had taken the time to prime. I had done my homework, realized I only wanted to have to paint my design once, and so I took every precaution to make sure it STUCK. So even my sketched outline was still there after the rain, because I had properly prepared the surface.

2. I wasn't thrilled with David and Hunter's edited version of my original idea. My zombies were on a mission, encouraging viewers to vote in the upcoming elections. Their zombies were just zombies for zombies sake. They were without a purpose. No wonder they got washed away.

Now I'm not sure if the do-over will mean that Hunter and David's zombies will get with my program. And I'm not saying that God sent a cleansing rain to wipe clean these zombie slackers. However, I do think their washing away illustrates two really important life lessons.

1. Preparation pays off.
My purposeful zombie, properly sketched on well primed vinyl, withstood what nature had to throw at it. It took me longer to get my dutiful zombie up, but I will spend less time on him in the long run because I started with a plan to create a lasting image.

So whether it's a project or presentation at work, or parade float vinyl, our best and most fruitful work depends on our preparation, our priming of our canvas.

Incidentally, had David been better focused on his preparation, he would have covered his chalk sketches for the night, because we encountered this exact same problem last year. How quickly we forget!

2. All the preparation in the world won't get you far without Purpose.
I know it's a bit of a stretch, but if Hunter and David's zombie's had known what they were made for, maybe they would have fought harder to stick around. While their creators were lacking in the preparation department, the zombies themselves were easily washed away without a purpose for being, a raison d'être.

If you ever want a great lesson in the power of both preparation and purpose paying off with big results, watch children trick or treating.

Ask a 10 year old the importance of the size of the trick or treating bag, bucket or pumpkin. Hunter won't even go out without a container big enough for 3 pounds of candy and treats. He anticipates the big haul, so he makes sure he has the right equipment to handle it.

Ask a kid the best neighborhoods to trick or treat in. They can tell you. And they will give their parents directions to make sure they're getting the most out of their trick or treating time. No wasting time on blocks where no one's home - they've got limited time and mean to make good use of it.

And on Halloween night, as you sit in your driveway welcoming the little beggars, or as you follow your own herd of them through the streets, you will have no doubt in your mind that kids can be both purposeful and passionate about work when they see the Reese's at the end of the trail.

Speaking of Reese's, what candy do you always make sure to steal, I mean requisition, out of your kids' haul each year?