In this past week I have been pleasantly surprised with some new discoveries:

1. I discovered that finely crushed cheese snack crackers add a nice bite to meatloaf.
2. I discovered that after my pork tenderloin has marinated for several hours in a marinade of teriyaki, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic, margarita mix, and mustard, I can add onions, tomato sauce, honey, and pepper jelly to the marinade to create a great sauce for the pork and the accompanying rice.
3. I discovered a fascinating documentary from 1999 called 'Under the Covers' all about two guys (a photographer and an artist) who formed a partnership in the 60's and 70's creating album covers.

These discoveries are notable due to the intensity of the surprise. I was not expecting much from the cheese crackers in the meatloaf or the pepper jelly in the pork sauce; (I was out of panko bread crumbs and orange marmalade and just substituted what was handy), but Wow! And the dvd documentary, I had picked up from a local used record shop for $1.99 about six months ago mainly because I thought it was a bargain, (obviously also not expecting much), and again, Wow! This last discovery led me back to my personal collection of albums and album covers for further rediscoveries.

Now I am sitting here with my iced tea on a Monday morning looking forward to what surprises may come my way this week. Because I was rewarded this past week with some simple surprises I am now involuntarily more hopeful that I will be rewarded again this coming week.

I see 3 factors at work here: (1) Expectations; (2) Creativity; and (3) Surprise. Some thoughts:

• If I expect too little, I am afraid that will result in dormancy.
• If I expect too much, I know I will be disappointed.
• I would rather expect too much because, despite the disappointment, I believe an actively hopeful mindset is more likely to lead to creativity.
• Delusional thought from expecting too much can be harmful if excessive, but a moderate amount may be necessary and helpful toward creativity and one's sanity. For example, a reasonable amount of thinking one is better off and even thinking one is better is a modern defense that can encourage and protect, allowing for continued learning and growth. It must be tempered though with an active humility. ('Active Humility' was previously defined and discussed in this post followed the next week by this post.)
• I don't believe 'realistic' expectations are possible in the sense that reality changes with every moment and I don't believe we can keep up. But though we may not be able to realign our expectations with each new moment, I do believe we can learn to learn from disappointment and move on; and in this sense our expectations appear realistic in that we continue to function despite the disappointment.
• I would define functional creativity as (a) being alert for and attentive to ALL possibilities, (b) making choices outside one's comfort zone, (c) translating thought into action, (d) evaluating results, (e) utilizing the new knowledge consistent with one's character, and then (f) starting the process again.
• Is a lack of expectation different from expecting too little? I have been going back and forth on this and (for now) I believe it depends on if 'a lack of expectation' is due to laziness or legitimate prioritizing.
• If I expect surprises they won't be as surprising. Surprises are best when they take you by surprise; and though obvious, I must remind myself of this so I do not confuse surprise and gratitude. I believe some of the best surprises are a result of functional creativity as defined above.

Crushed crackers, pepper jelly, and album covers... ...Who'd have thought?