Glen Keane was pinning up some inspirational drawings in his room one day as I happened by. He explained that he hoped that some of the artist’s genius would enter him through osmosis. Glen laughed, but he was serious. And serious he has a right to be for osmosis works.
The conscious mind must be selective of the things that vie for one’s attention because it can only process one thing at a time. You could liken it to a telephone line where the voice travels over a single concentrated vehicle. The conscious mind “listens in” to whatever it desires to pay attention. The subconscious mind, however, receives an unbroken deluge of information, not through a single line but more like radio waves that travel in all directions. The subconscious mind receives constantly from all directions; all the information picked up by the five senses (and psychically) in the form of subliminal “osmosis.”
Most everyone is acquainted with the classic example that took place in a theater some years ago. A subliminal advertisement for coke and popcorn was flashed on periodically during the film. The flashes were so fast the conscious mind couldn’t pick it up, but not so the subconscious. It picked up the message and acted on its own — the coke and popcorn sales rose by something like 20 or 30%.
Later, some fellow capitalized on this method by recording several tapes of a positive thinking and self-help nature, but with only the sound of waves breaking at the seashore audible. The problems the tapes deal with are common everyday problems such as procrastination, self-image, eating problems, and the like. The person seeking help listens for an hour a day (or something like that) and while the conscious mind is soothed by the wave sounds, the subconscious deals with the subliminal suggestions in its mysterious but inevitable fashion. The premise is that a lot of negative influence has gotten by the “guard” at the mind’s door and has polluted the whole thinking process, and consequently, the mind and the body — one’s whole life in many cases. Testimonies from those who used the method are quite fantastic (and a heartening sense, that is).
So, be convinced that osmosis (subliminal input) is a very serious business, and a potent vehicle to guide your mind in the direction you want it to go (or change some undesirable direction it has inadvertently taken).
By all means, as artists aspiring to excel in animation, avail yourselves of this excellent form of self-help. If there are those who don’t aspire, then you need to work on that missing link.
In a previous handout I said positive thinking comes in many forms. The subliminal form is one of the more potent and effective. Besides, it can make life rather pleasant — surrounding yourself with the best drawings you can lay your hands on and perhaps a few “quotable quotes” of a positive thinking nature. Your subconscious loves to take all this information and find some way to express it. It has nothing else to do for 24 hours every day but manipulate and match bits of information, trying to piece something usable out of them for you to use. It’s quite impersonal, so it can also build an evil and destructive think tank — without you being aware of it. Remember it is subconscious and aimless unless you consciously control it.
In the book, The Power In You, by Wally “Famous” Amos (the chocolate cookie man), there are interspersed throughout, encased in “boxes” to set them off, some choice bits of wisdom. They are designed to sum up the surrounding text, but are gems in themselves. Here is a sample.
“Each of us has free will and we have chosen the results in our lives, either passively or actively.”
“That goes hand in hand with the “guard at the door” bit — you can either choose what you want to feed your mind (life-improving nourishment) or you can be passive and allow just about anything to get in there and take root.”
“Success is the result of an attitude that can find the positive, worthwhile aspects of everything it comes into contact with and denies anything that may be negative or hindering.”
So if the guard at your mind’s door has been letting you down by letting a lot of negative stuff in, maybe it’s time for a “changing of the guard.” Some exciting things could be directed into that cauldron of creativity you’re carrying around up there.
In the space left, I have crammed in a potpourri of visual delights to feast your hungry subconscious. Incidentally, you don’t have to look far for good drawings — these were all done by fellow Disney artists.
