Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?

Glee is a word that means great delight.

The etymology of the term goes back to the root word meaning, to shine.

But what’s beautiful about having glee is, it’s more than simple joy. Glee has a cheerfulness, gaiety, hilarity and of course, musicality to its expression. It also happens to be one of the greatest television shows in history. One that has been widely credited for lifting the planet’s spirits in dispiriting times.

And if you think about it, is there no other emotion more important to the creative process? It’s certainly a driving force for me to make things.

Because at this point in my career, making things is no longer about impressing my heroes or earning approval from strangers or even making money from my work. It’s mostly about creating mutual glee.

Recently, I was listening to a radio interview with a horror filmmaker who was explaining his creative motivation. Anytime he makes a new monster movie, the conversation he has with himself goes like this:

Make the most you thing you possibly can. Make something that makes your friends and family think that you’ve finally lost your mind. Nothing brings an artist more glee than when people they love say, dude, what the hell is wrong with you?

Every artist can relate to this experience. The satisfaction of knowing that your art had the exact intended reaction on somebody important to you, there’s nothing better.

Let me share a case study from a recent project. When the official card deck of my innovation gameshow first arrived from the manufacturer, the only word that could describe my reaction was glee.

Just holding the damn thing made me as giddy as a schoolboy. Probably because the spirit of the entire project is rooted in my inability to mature beyond twelve years old. But that’s the point.

When my friends, family members and colleagues received their boxes in the mail, at least half of them responded with some variation of the phrase, dude, what the hell is wrong with you?

Behind my back, most of them probably told their spouses the same thing. Scott has officially lost his mind.

Good. That’s the goal. Like when my face appeared on national news years ago with the job title under my name as, nametag wearer.

My parents could only respond with glee.

Well, you’ve really outdone yourself this time. Four years of college really paid off. Money well spent son.

That’s the shine of glee, and the more of it we can get on ourselves and others, the better the world will be.

In a world where dispiriting times never seem to be far away, keeping people busy with great gasps of delight seems like a worthy cause.

When was the last time you made something that made someone think you had finally lost it?