Cebo Campbell

Enchanted Rock: Misfit PTO Day

I work my ass off.

You all know this about me. I put everything I have into all that I do. I don’t give pieces of myself, but whole sheets, peeled away to coat projects with the sheen of my life and creativity. It’s exhausting work to be true, but a pleasureful exhaustion, Spartan-like in renumeration. My skills afford me multidisciplinary mastery and my competitive nature a greed to win. In other words, I go hard and get it, enjoying every moment along the way. The great difficulty is not the output itself… that is my love affair…the difficulty is in refilling myself of what I gave—recharging my creative power.

With most pure artists, you give what you get. You taste, touch, feel, and see as much of the world as you can—assimilate and synthesize it into a vibrating kernel that explodes onto a medium. With Business artists, you get what you can and give all you have; bound, at times, to deadlines, expectations and deliverables, giving every ounce of your power with little time left to allow the world to recharge you creatively. For me, this has always been the struggle. Every company I have ever worked for and even the companies I have owned (yep even me), offered no time for such things. Production was more important than inspiration; output more important than input. It is an EXTREMELY important thing to employ, yet a very easy thing to miss. Who has time to be inspired to work when there is so much work to be done? No company I have ever known realized the error in this, save one: Misfit Inc.

Misfit PTO (paid time off) day is our opportunity to go out and be inspired. It is not just about being paid for a day off, but taking a day to go and see something new, experience something you’ve been wanting to try, taste a dish you’ve been aching to have, or travel to a remote place just to witness the performance of clouds—all paid for by the company. It’s paid time to refill; the missing link between pure artists and business artists.

My latest Misfit PTO day, led me to Enchanted Rock, two hours West of Austin, TX. I first heard about the place the day I moved to the city. It is an enormous pink granite pluton rock formation rumored to have magical and spiritual powers. Of course, you know my wife loves that kind of stuff and we were implored, quite often, by artist friends to see and experience the rock. As stories go, the rock is considered a living rock, creaking and groaning as it expands and contracts with the temperatures of the day. It has energies, people say, that you can feel and hear. I didn’t believe it, so my wife and I woke before dawn and made the drive, cruising through vast Texas farmland while the sun lazily illuminated it all. The formation can be seen from miles away. It’s pink dome protrudes from the earth like partially buried brown egg encrusted with diamonds. It sparkled in the morning light and before I touched it’s granite skin, I knew it would be magical. We arrived with night chill clinging to dawn. I wore shorts and sneakers, expecting to find myself enduring a tough climb and blazing sun. The rounded plume, however, was not a climb, but an angled hike to the summit. Up close, the place was as impressive as it was from afar, three imposing domes against the sky, each of them pink and shimmering and silent. The energy was there, as everyone said it would be, and it proved more than enough to recharge me.

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We spent the full day with the rock, hiking to the summit, touring the rock cave, and circuiting the loop expanse around the valley. In the afternoon, I napped atop the largest dome and watched the sun set in purple-pink strokes. My description of it all would only serve to minimize a magnificent experience. But I will say, my favorite part of the day was at it’s end. As we climbed down, the coming night making it difficult to see, my wife stopped me at the rock base, grabbed my hand to face the rock and say goodbye. Stars awoke above it. I closed my eyes and let the day replay in my mind. Cool wind moved in swirls. I listened for the magic of moving rock. That is when I felt it. A vibration galloped through me. It coursed from my feet to my head and then down to my hands; electric and unstoppable. This is what my friends encouraged me to feel. This is the purpose of MisfitPTO. When the vibration hit my fingertips, I knew precisely what it was because I’d felt it before. My hands needed to make something.

Artists, as you shape the world, it shapes you. Go outside and recharge yourself. Not every company has a PTO like Misfit (they damn well should), but if you are a maker and your pool of creativity is low you have to fill it. My motto, which I give to you free of charge, is if you no longer have a desire to creatively go out on a limb, you need to climb a tree.

Go be inspired. Your work will be better for it.

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About

I am an author and a Creative Director. My latest books are:

Sky Full of Elephants – coming 2024

Violet in Some Places – Available at Not A Cult

As a full-time creative (Chief Creative Officer at Spherical), I spend most days at the desk leading a team of creatives to brand some of the best hotels in the world. So, I write in the nooks and crannies of my available time. I wake up at 5:30am just to get in a few hours putting words on paper. I write on the train. I write on planes. I write waiting in lines. I feel I have to write. The reason is simple: representation.

Cebo Campbell Author of Violet in Some Places

I often tell the story of Ferris Bueller; a kid who decides to skip school and, on charm alone, steals a car, impersonates a cop, drinks underage, tampers with computers, and at every step exposes his best friends to peril, only to go home and fall asleep with his mother to kiss him into sweet dreams. I asked myself if Ferris were Trayvon Martin, how might that story end? I know the answer. So do you. And this is why representation is so important. I aim to contribute more stories into the world that diversely feature regular (but beautiful) lives made extraordinary. Art, I believe, is the only way to accomplish this. All my creative work is inspired by and aims to add to all the great work in the world.

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