My Vision: Possible Experience

I just want to let you all know that this blog post will be a longish read. There is just so much to say and I will do my best to summarize my experience. I want to express how much I appreciate the conference, some of the things discussed at the conference, and how it strengthened my faith in Jesus.

One night, I was upset with my parents because I felt like they were not supporting my vision, which is to be a TV show and movie creator. I didn’t feel their support for a number of reasons that I won’t get into. I expressed my frustration with what I perceived as a lack of support, and it led to a conversation that left me feeling hopeless. I prayed to God that He would give me direction. I was so unsure of what my next steps needed to be. I wasn’t even in college (and still not).

Hours later, I’m browsing Facebook. I’m FB friends with a few people I liked in the animation industry. I don’t know these people personally, but I was friends with them as a fan. I come across a post by Butch Hartman, the creator of The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom, two cartoons I loved watching when I was younger (heck, they’re both still entertaining in my opinion as someone in my 20s). His post was about a conference being held near the Chicago area called Vision: Possible. It is about taking the next steps towards achieving your dreams.

I saw this post in my Facebook feed on October 7th, 2018.

I was blown away. God answered my prayer so fast and in such an obvious way! I had no clue about Vision: Possible until literally an hour or so asking Him to show me what I need to do. In fact, this was Vision: Possible’s FIRST conference (there’s been 5 more since then). After doing some more research, I felt I had to take advantage of this opportunity. Chicago is so close to where I live and I had friends in Illinois who lived even closer.

After deciding to purchase admission to the conference, I immediately thought of my best friend Maisie Merlock. She is an aspiring and ambitious actress who has been in commercials, short films, and other things. One of her best roles was in a TV show called Chicago Med, where she guest stars as a patient in the episode 8 of season 1. We’ve known each other since high school and is one of my closest friends. She is such a cool and creative person. If you want to support her, consider following her Instagram @ maisie_merlock and her Facebook page Maisie Merlock.

A scene from the Chicago: Med episode Maisie appears in.

Maisie agreed to come with me to the conference, and it was a great experience for both of us. We both learned a lot of things. Before I get into what was said at the conference that taught us and changed us so much, I want to talk a little bit about the speakers who were there.

One of the speakers at the conference is Carly Hartman, who is also the oldest daughter of Butch Hartman, the Hollywood cartoonist I mentioned before. She has a YouTube channel too, and one video I was very entertained by is the one where she attempts to draw her dad’s characters. She has such an inspiring and beautiful heart. She is a very smart person, loves business, and is a gorgeous gal! She has a business profile on Instagram as a Network Marketing Coach @ carlyyhartman. She is 23 years old and is very successful.

Another speaker at the conference is a young man named Nathaniel Spiers. He has a great story about how he became a web designer. He is very intelligent. He was in a sticky situation that led him to needing to hire a lawyer as a teenager, and he did it through teaching himself web designing. His story on how he overcame his obstacles through the grace of God was just awesome! He loves God.

Another speaker at the conference is Julieann Hartman, the wife of Butch Hartman. I was very moved by her passion for God. She is fearless! She is passionate, sweet, and has a strong faith in God. Out of all the speakers I talked to her the most. I told her some tough stuff I was going through and she was so loving. She made me feel like I can overcome any challenge, even the challenges that come with my form of autism. At the conference, she felt the need to tell us that “If Julieann yells at you, she’s not mad at you, she loves you!”

Lastly, the other speaker at the conference is Butch Hartman. I grew up on his cartoons. I love his artwork and sense of humor. He has a huge inspiration in my own cartoons, both drawing wise and storytelling wise. He desires to glorify God through entertainment. I felt like I could relate to his passion because our interests are similar and both our pursuits are dedicated to God.

Left to right: Carly Hartman, Butch Hartman, Julieann Hartman, and Nathaniel Spiers.

Butch Hartman’s vision is to create an entertainment streaming site that is called Oaxis. His mission is to provide quality family-friendly entertainment. Everything that will stream onto Oaxis are shows and movies that have Christian values at the center. I get monthly updates through email, and I am very excited by Oaxis’s progress each time. You can get monthly updates through email, too, by signing up for it at their website here: https://www.oaxis.tv/

Carly and Nathaniel were the first speakers to talk on Day 1 of the conference. They talked about not knowing how to get to where they wanted to go and not even knowing what they were doing at first when they started their businesses. This was so encouraging for me as someone who was in the same boat. Since then, I’ve been looking into opportunities to get closer to my vision using the resources I already have, but hearing about how they began their vision journeys made me feel like I could achieve my vision, too.

On Day 1, the speakers used Romans 12 as a key passage in the Bible that many of principles that would be taught at the conference would come from. It stressed the importance of renewing your mind with the Word of God and living out our salvation during our vision journeys. These verses would be referred back to several times throughout the conference, each time being totally relevant. One person who attended the conference praised the speakers for using Bible verses during the conference. He talked about how many Christian conferences don’t actually use Bible verses while discussing the topic of business. He loved that they applied verses to the steps they were teaching. Vision: Possible is the only conference I’ve ever been to, but I just couldn’t believe that Christian conferences would leave out Bible verses when it focused on “secular” things like business. The speakers made it so clear that Christianity has a place in the marketplace. In fact, it is Biblical. I wholeheartedly agree with this. Jesus was a carpenter, after all. Some of His disciples were fishermen, too.

One thing Butch Hartman talked about at the conference was something called an “Elevator Pitch.” The concept is to imagine yourself stuck in an elevator with a famous director for 30 seconds (the example Butch used was Steven Spielberg). The goal is to summarize your vision and its heart in a clear and summarized way, all in a matter of 30 seconds. We even did our own elevator pitches in groups at the conference. The goal is to express your idea and make it sellable in half a minute. Immediately, I wanted to practice making my own elevator pitch and pitch it to Butch Hartman before the end of the conference. On Day 2, I asked him if I could do this during lunchtime, and he said yes, but later. I was nervous at first that it wasn’t going to happen, but spoiler alert: it did happen. And in an unexpected way that I’ll tell you later.

Throughout the conference I took notes in a notepad the conference provided for us. I did my best to note the most key things, especially the ones that stood out to me (I’m not very confident in my note-taking abilities, since I’m tempted to basically write a manuscript of everything that’s being said). Here are 2 pictures:

I don’t want to get into the specific teachings at the conference. I wouldn’t wanna risk plagiarizing the speakers’ words. However, I will mention some of the things they talk about. They go into things like explaining the importance of networking and how to do it, motivate you to overcome your fears that get in the way of your vision (this was a BIG one for me), the preparation and execution phases of an idea, how to clarify your visions to yourself and others, and so much more! They do it in such a way that I, who is not familiar with the world of business and marketing, can understand. If you do not know where to start, but are passionate about your vision, then this conference is for YOU! It’s motivational, spiritual, packed with wisdom and advice, and so much more.

There is a Facebook page with weekly live videos that conference attenders can view. Butch and Julieann, as well as guests on occasion, will continue giving advice and encouragement. Not only that, they will also ask about your progress. In the live chat, you can ask questions, give brief updates on your vision, and share the glory of God. The page makes me feel like that I am still part of the Vision: Possible family (yes, they call it a family, and I agree). I feel like I’m apart of something bigger than myself. I felt so much purpose from this conference, and the Facebook page helps. I listen to their videos when I can.

At the conference, you can purchase a USB containing audio files of the conference that you can listen to whenever you want. Now, I had to get the audio files through email. Before the speakers can perfect the audio, the 2018 California fire happened, so it was delayed. Eventually, they just had to email the files instead. Either way, you can purchase audio of the conference to listen to after it’s over. I listen to the audio files from time to time, especially while cleaning. I want to praise the Lord right now for keeping the Hartmans’ house safe from the deadly fire! In faith, the family prayed over their home and believed God would protect their home. I know they will continue to bless others through their house.

I also want to mention the founder of The Hope Center, where the first conference was held. Her name is Nichole Marbach. She is a wonderful person who has been healed from Bipolar Disorder and emotional healing from a tragic past. She gave me wonderful gifts as well after the conference was over. They are so meaningful and precious to me.

I am still reading the book, and I highly recommend it based on what I’ve read so far.

By the end of the conference, the speakers, Nichole, and my best friend prayed over me. In short, I’m dealing with a lot of struggles because of things going on in my home. It was enough to put college on hold again and move out of the house with my sister. I’m happy that I’m moving out, but not all the reasons are positive. I remember telling Julieann about what I was dealing with at home and the challenges I was facing because of my Asperger Syndrome.

By the end of the conference, the speakers and Nichole prayed over anybody that needed specific prayer. We even prayed for a woman that was in a wheelchair for 25 years that she would be able to walk again. I’ve never seen anyone faith heal before, and I was afraid to watch. My faith was too weak to watch the speakers pray over someone who has been disabled for such a long time. I went into the bathroom, hoping that the prayer would be over by the time I got back.

When I finally returned, all the speakers asked if I was willing to be prayed over. My guess is that Julieann hinted to everyone that I had a situation that needed prayer while I was gone. Even though I was nervous, I let the speakers pray over me. The speakers, and my best friend Maisie, all laid their hands on me and prayed over my situation. After the prayer was over, I felt a pain that I’ve had for 6 years go away. It was incredible. I felt a courage and a hope I haven’t had before. Everyone at the conference prayed for me. I felt like people actually loved me, which is not a feeling many people with Aspergers feel often enough. When I was visibly nervous, two people from New York gave me shouts of encouragement. We talked earlier in the conference and they were such great people! They even looked at my drawings and gave feedback.

After the healing prayer was over, Butch Hartman looked at me and asked me to give my elevator pitch into the microphone. I was so nervous. My elevator pitch that I practiced for was such a quirky TV show idea. It was a comedy TV show. However, I somehow got the courage to tell him my vision, all within 30 seconds. He even made comments, and it felt good to hear from someone I looked up to for years. Someone I looked up to as both a Christian and a TV creator. He even got to look at some of my drawings afterward. At the very end, everyone got to be prayed over. It was so powerful.

Nichole and Julieann afterwards gave me and my friend some gifts to take home. One of the gifts Julieann gave me was a keychain from Hobby Lobby. It was of a mirror, and on the back it said, “Believe in the girl looking back at you.” She told me that this is something she felt God telling her to buy, but she didn’t know who it was for. She said when she met me and Maisie, she knew the keychains were going to be for us. I struggled with severe self-doubt, but when I read those words on the back of the mirror, it’s like God was the one speaking it to me, and I believe He was. Ever since, my self-doubts are less and less frequent. It still happens from time to time, but not as bad as it used to be. This is a message I wish for all you guys to believe in for yourselves: that you can do anything and know it to the point that you truly believe in yourself.

I recommend reading Butch and Julieann Hartman’s book Vision: Possible, which summarizes many of the points talked about in the conference. I’ve read the whole thing and it’s great! I reread it sometimes to refresh myself.

You can get this at Amazon for $12. It’s so worth it!

Here is the website for the wonderful conference: https://www.visionpossibleconference.com/ Here, you can see when and where the next one will be held.

One of my next steps I plan on taking is making a comic for Webtoon. I have one still in the works. I think it will be a great opportunity to network with creative people and promote my ideas. I think this will be a great opportunity to take advantage of while I wait for college (if that’s the direction the Lord decides to take me in the future). (Butch Hartman actually told me he thinks I would be good at comics ^^)

I believe in you guys! It’s why I started the channel and the blog. This conference strengthened the faith in my vision for you guys ❤

Art for the show that I elevator pitched at the conference.

Our visions WILL happen ❤ and so can YOURS

Methods I Personally Use to Get Rid of Writer’s Block that (usually) Do the Trick

So I posted possibly the last video for my YouTube channel. You guys showed so much support and I’m grateful for that! ❤ One comment from you guys talked about how you wanna start a blog of your own, but experiencing Writer’s Block. Boy, do I know how that is. However, I haven’t had a bad case of Writer’s Block in a while. Most of the time, whenever I do encounter it, I’m able to make it disappear within minutes. The reason why I think that’s usually the case is because of some tricks and methods I’ve learned over the years. I thought I’d help out this person (or any other writer experiencing this) by sharing advice that I personally use all the time.

Note: there are MANY places on the internet that offer advice on this topic. I may repeat what they have to say. To avoid potential plagiarism as much as I can, I’m going to speak only from experience. In other words, I will tell you the methods I use and how I’ve applied them to ideas I’ve created because of them. Because these will be ideas I plan on publishing one day as movies or TV shows, I’m going to try to be as vague as possible while still giving you enough information to get the idea. I only have one exception to this, and you’ll know why once we get to it.

Before we get into the methods that aim to kick Writer’s Block’s butt, I think it’s important to first define what originality is. Below, I included the definition you can find for “original” through a quick Google search (Google will show you the same definition from the same dictionary I’m using in the screenshot).

I used the Dictionary app that came with my MacBook Pro, which came out in 2017.

This isn’t my favorite definition of “original.” The way I define original or originality is a bit more lengthy, but I think it explains the words excellently. My definition is me paraphrasing the way I first heard it in a YouTube video. I WISH I could cite or show you the link to the video where I heard it, but I honestly forgot what the video was called or who I was listening to. (If you read my blog post about facial recognition, you know I struggle to remember faces too). However, I’ve heard similar definitions from other writers, so I think it’s safe to include my own definition in this blog post. My favorite definition is this: “Originality is taking multiple ideas or things that already exist and combining them in such a way that people haven’t seen before.”

If you think about it, nothing is truly “original.” Everything has been done before. No one has done or created something that is pure original. There’s even a Bible verse that confirms this (Ecclesiastes 1:9). In the link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-concept#Examples you can see examples of original movies, also known as in show biz: “High Concept” movies. One of the movies on there is Ghostbusters, which I’m gonna use for an example. Pest control has been around since agriculture. Stories of ghosts and the paranormal have always been around, too. Combine pest control with the paranormal, and you get a pretty neat idea that hasn’t been done before (until 1984 when Ghostbusters came out). Now when you see these two ideas combined, it’s most likely because you’re seeing a parody or knock-off of the movie. (Fun fact: the creator of Ghostbusters is on the autism spectrum.) I think it’s a good reminder to know that original ideas aren’t completely original. They didn’t come out of nothing, they came from something. See what I mean?

I will share a method I used for one of my newest stories, which I’m working on for the website Webtoon. It was inspired by how the TV show Invader Zim was created. The creator, Jhonen Vasquez, created the concept in under an hour just by combining things he already liked. He liked things like paranormal investigators, horror movies, dark humor, even backpacks (which inspired the Zim’s PAK), and more, and incorporated them into his TV concept. While trying to come up with a comic to have potentially monetized in my bedroom, I remembered this method. I made a list of things I liked on my Pages app on my MacBook Pro.

Here is the original list of things I made when trying to come up with an idea for Webtoon. I wrote the list and came up with the idea on May 25th, 2019.

When I couldn’t think of things that I also liked, I Googled “List of Hobbies.” One of the things on Google’s list was “Shopping”, which I do a lot. That’s when I got a new story idea: “Impulse Purchases with Sharpay Spree.” It’s a comedy about a teenage girl that goes on constant shopping sprees and buys the most ridiculous things, often acting as McGuffins for an episode. For example, she buys a haunted doll (who also sticks around as a main character). I’m a frequent shopper and I enjoy it (except when I experience “buyer’s guilt”), so my personal experiences fueled the concept. I’m still designing this story idea’s lore, so I need some time before you may see on Webtoon’s Discover.

First artwork I made for the Webtoon idea.

Another method I have used once is a method used by the developer of a video game that’s still being made. It’s called Yandere Simulator, and it’s by a man named Alex (yes, we share the same name). In an interview with a YouTuber named Bijuu Mike, he explains how he creates most of his stories. He often finds himself making a story based on a taboo. For his game Yandere Simulator, that taboo was a type of Japanese character called a “yandere,” which means a person who is willing to kill anyone who may date their love interest. I challenged myself to make up my own story based on a taboo, which I wanted to be a comedy like Yandere Simulator. The taboo I eventually chose was “slavery,” which was two years ago. I fell in love with my story, and still working on it almost every day. I imagine it as an animated TV series that takes place in space.

Now, I know some of you guys may not want to use this method specifically. After all, taboos are… well, taboo. It’s uncomfortable. To make this method applicable to any writer, replace “taboo” with any abstract concept. Abstract concepts include love, beauty, charity, anger, freedom, etc. You can find many examples with a quick Google search. I often find myself coming up with ideas by thinking about abstract concepts, and then think of ways to creatively make them concrete. To show you how this can work, I’m gonna come up with an idea on the spot.

It is now 6:31 pm CST. I’m gonna base my idea off of the abstract concept of “growth.” A married couple want to have a baby. The next morning, after making an attempt, one of them sees a little sprout in their backyard. The plant keeps growing and growing for no apparent reason. Weeks later, we find out the wife is pregnant. Months later she gives birth to a baby girl. After the baby is born, there is a door inside the tree. The parents open the door, and they see memories of their new little baby. Startled by what’s happening, they try to cut down the tree, but the tree doesn’t even dent.

The baby is now ten years old, and she is very sick. The tree is bigger now, but it is getting weak for seemingly no reason. Every other tree in the backyard is healthy. The memories are fading. The parents come to the conclusion that these are memories of their daughter. The reason why they are fading is unclear, but they think it’s connected to their daughter’s health in some way.

It’s years later now and the girl is healed by this point, albeit close to death when she was sick at 10. The more mature the girl, now a woman, becomes, the more strong the tree becomes. The memories inside the tree all have different filters. Some of the filters have a negative effect on the tree, such as memories of the woman being raped by an abusive ex-boyfriend. The woman has been coping in unhealthy ways, such as turning to alcoholism. She turns into a beast when painful memories are triggered, even by a dear loved one.

Although the tree is struggling to survive, which doesn’t need to be nurtured by gardening, it is still standing. The grown woman has been in consoling and getting help. She is finding healing through the church her family attends. Eventually, she feels called to start an organization that reaches out to traumatized people. Ten years later, this organization becomes very successful. The woman has helped so many people who have been hurt like her. Suddenly, tragedy strikes as the woman and dies in a car accident.

The parents are mourning. They come to the tree expecting to see it dead. However, it’s more alive than ever. A talking squirrel comes out of the tree, telling the parents that the memories are stronger than they have ever been. He explains to them that this tree is nourished by the person’s impact on the world. The reason why the tree was sick during the times she was overwhelmed by alcohol was because she hurt others, and that led to the memories becoming painful and dead. The squirrel explains that tree grew as the daughter grew (in regards to character, not physical growth), and it’s now in full bloom because of her legacy.

It’s 7:05pm now, and I just finished writing down the idea. This idea has potential and may need to be polished, but you now got a basic idea for a story. Perhaps I’ll call it The Tree of Legacy. Maybe I’ll change the title later, but the purpose of this story was to show how fast a person can come up with an idea by using the method. This entire idea started just from trying to come up with something having to do with “growth.”

Sometimes one of the best ways to come up with an idea is by simply researching. Inspiration can come from researching for an idea you already have or trying to come up with a whole new one. I have a story where there are women whose appearance are based on flowers, and I’ve actually looked up flower anatomy for inspiration. Did you know the little vase-like shape at the bottom of a flower is called a receptacle? What if I had the women wear a dress shaped the same way to represent it?

My last tip is this: don’t wait for inspiration. Sometimes the best ideas come when you least expect it, that’s true. However, don’t try to view research as “forcing” ideas into your brain. Think of it more like “increasing your chances of encountering ideas.” Not all ideas have to be big ones to be great. No matter what, research is important if you wanna give your ideas the widest possible potential to impact people. It gives you more material to work with. You can’t come up with a thoughtful idea without putting thought into it. That may seem obvious, but sometimes we get so distracted by things that we forget those simple truths of life.

So in summary:

Originality is using pre-existing things and combining them in ways we aren’t used to seeing.
Try to come up with ideas by using your own interests as a starting point.
Base an idea off of an abstract concept.
Research, research, research!
Don’t wait for inspiration.

I hope this post has been helpful for you. Feel free to comment what methods personally help you out. Have a good day.