In this month’s article we referenced an essay Susan wrote that appears in Life Is Huge. Here is an excerpt of that essay.
The best party I ever attended was in the year 1986 … and it was called the “1991 Party.” Let me explain.
This wonderful evening was created by members of a very forward-looking and love group that Mark and I belonged to in Los Angeles called The Inside Edge. The premise of the party was as follows:
- We all had to envision what we would like to have happen in our lives five years into the future—which in our case was 1991.
- After we created our vision, we were then to “stretch,” that is, to make our vision much more than we actually thought we could accomplish.
- When we came to the party, we were all to act-as-if it really was 1991 and our vision had come true. That means we were to dress the part, talk the part, and come with “props” demonstrating our amazing journey to the achievement of our vision between the years 1986 and 1991.
- In addition to talking about our own success, we were to applaud the success of everyone else as well.
As you can imagine, this was a perfect scenario for an evening of congratulations, excitement, laughter, fun, and creativity!
What did I envision? In 1986, I was embarking on a career as a writer. As yet, I had not succeeded in getting my first book accepted by a publisher. My stretch for the party was that three book contracts would be signed by the year 1991. (Mind you, I would have been happy if one book contract had been signed!) In the spirit of the party, I showed up with three mock books. Throughout the evening, I “fabricated” a story about the incredible success of my books. I even told my remarkable story of success to a video camera that recorded it all for posterity…as did everyone else.
It was an evening of people supporting each other in their dreams. As Mark and I went around the room congratulating everyone on their successes, we, too, were bombarded with congratulations. … What was so significant to me was that by the end of the evening, I actually believed that creating three books by the year 1991 was a definite possibility! Why not? It was no longer a stretch. And what did happen by the year 1991? You guessed it. I actually did create three successful books—with a fourth one on the way! It’s amazing what that one party did for me!