Day 345: Jonathan Fong
“They say that our cells are constantly regenerating in our body, so that every seven years we’re a completely different person from a cellular level. I think that’s amazing when you think about it. So I’m constantly trying to regenerate myself from like an experiential level, because if my body is new, I want to be new psychologically as well. What am I doing or learning now that’s different from what I was doing seven years ago?”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Jonathan, for agreeing to be part of this Project, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Jonathan Fong: Yes. I’m Jonathan Fong. I am an interior decorator, floral designer, and event planner. I am an author and public speaker, and I’m really happy to be here.
Toni: Well thank you. So Jonathan, when you think of that word inspiration, who do you inspire and how does that happen?
Jonathan: You know, that is a hard question. I think that the people that I inspire the most are those people who never thought that they had a creative bone in their body. The creative impaired, if you will. They think that creativity is hard. You know, a lot of people think that they can’t be creative, you know, it’s only for artists or people with the right education that help them be creative. But I know that from the letters and emails that I receive that I inspire people. The people who read my books or who see my ideas on television or magazines or on my website, or if I’ve decorated their home or done their weddings or bar mitzvahs.
I think the reason that they’re inspired is that they see themselves in me, because I don’t come from a place where I’m like high on this mountaintop of creativity, and “I’m creative and you’re not and maybe if you try really hard you can be as perfect and creative as me” – no, I’m not like that. My message to anyone is that if I can do it, so can they, because I never thought of myself as particularly creative before.
You know, I’m Asian, so growing up I concentrated on math and science. I never got to do the creative stuff. I didn’t take art classes, I didn’t get to go to drama class, glee, anything like that. You know, I did play violin, but that was acceptable for Asian people. So creativity just wasn’t me. But the one thing I always had was a vivid imagination.
I can get wild ideas. So my ideas for decorating or for floral arrangements have always been a little out of the ordinary, and because I’ve never been really crafty – I can’t cut a straight line to save my life – I have to think of easy ways to create the things that were in my head. I had to make things easy for me.
So I like to show people how easy creating things can be. I think maybe it’s like the analytical math and science part of my brain that’s doing the problem solving. Like “Here’s something I want to do – now how do I make it easy? How do I do the different steps?” So I can take the creative spark that was in my brain and make it tangible and accessible.
Toni: Are the people that are in front of you that you’re teaching inspired by how easy you make it, and by the fact that you are very accessible and saying, you know, that I’m not … that you had to also work hard to do what you’re doing as well? I’m wondering though, also, if people that you’ve decorated for, that you’ve worked for, if they also have been inspired by seeing themselves in the work that you’ve created in their homes?
Jonathan: Oh, that’s a really good point. Yeah, I think when I’ve done something in their home that they just do not expect, because they never thought that something was possible. I like to show people possibilities – possibilities in decorating or possibilities in a floral arrangement or a centerpiece. I like to come up with relationships between things that people don’t usually associate together.
So if they have a photograph of their favorite vacation spot, I’ll take it and create like a wallpaper mural out of it and put that in their family room. So it’s a relationship that they never considered before, you know, photograph from a vacation and then a piece of wallpaper. It’s those relationships that are unexpected that they didn’t imagine before. It’s those possibilities that inspire them, that they go, “Wow! There’s so much that I could do that I never really dreamed about. There are things in my own life that I can take and create something out of it.”
Toni: By working that way with people, how do you think you help others to explore their own potential?
Jonathan: Well, I’m a big cheerleader when it comes to helping people explore their potential. I get very excited when people try a creative project. You know, when I teach classes and someone does a variation of my project that is actually funny and actually is very different from what I had taught, I love it. I encourage that, because that’s true creativity. I never judge, because there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to creativity.
One of the things that I say in my books and in life is “close enough.” People are so afraid to try things because they’re afraid it won’t be perfect. If it’s not perfect, they think people will laugh at them or judge them. I don’t demand or expect perfection. Perfection is boring. That’s why I say “close enough.” If you make a mistake, just say you meant it to be that way.
There’s tremendous freedom in knowing that it’s okay to be imperfect. So go ahead and try something. Who cares if you mess up. Just by trying something, I think you’re achieving something. You know, “close enough” is … I love those words. You know, it’s close enough. It’s not only good enough. “Close enough” is great, because it means that you tried it and you didn’t care what the outcome was.
Toni: What a great way to put that, “close enough” and the way to describe that. So Jonathan, what inspires you?
Jonathan: People do always ask me, “How do you think of ideas? What inspires you?” I have to say that the first thing that I usually tell people is desperation.
Toni: Oh.
Jonathan: I work really well under pressure, and if I absolutely have to think of an idea, desperation will inspire me. But when I talk about desperation, it’s a good thing. You know, I think that the reason that desperation works is because when I’m desperate, I don’t censor my ideas. I’ll take anything, thank you very much. I’m brainstorming, and I don’t shut down any of my ideas. And when I’m not censoring my thoughts, something really good can emerge from that.
If I have all the time in the world and I’m not desperate, you know, I’m just thinking of ideas, I tend to maybe censor my ideas a lot more. And when you do that, you could be shutting off some feeds to a really good idea.
And I’m also inspired by the strangest things, because you never know where inspiration can come from. I’m a pop culture junkie, so movies are a huge inspiration for me.
Toni: For example?
Jonathan: Oh, well, okay … for example … okay, don’t laugh …
Toni: Okay – too late!
Jonathan: I’ll admit that the one movie that’s inspired me the most is the movie “Flashdance.”
Toni: Okay. Okay.
Jonathan: And I tell you, it changed my life. Not that it inspired me to be a dancer or anything like that. No, but if you recall the plot, Alex, who is played by Jennifer Beals, dreamed of being a ballet dancer. Every time she got close to going after her dream, like applying to ballet school or having to audition, she would bail out. She made excuses.
Now why did she do that? It was because it was easier for her to just be a ballet dancer in her mind. What happens if she tried out and failed? That will only prove that she didn’t have what it took and she couldn’t take that. So by not auditioning, she could always say, “Yeah, I could have been a dancer – I just didn’t want it badly enough.” Or some rationalization like that. So the fear of failure was keeping her from trying. And when I saw that movie, oh – it just changed my thought process. I vowed that I would never, ever not do something because I was afraid I was going to fail at it.
Toni: How do you keep that momentum up, though, Jonathan? Because there’s a lot of people that are listening to this Project around the world, and they are experiencing that fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of success, and that is a defining moment when you beat that or you overcome that. How did you do that?
Jonathan: Just little baby steps. I constantly have to remind myself of that. I just started doing that right after I saw the movie. I remember I was in college at the time, and I thought “Okay, I’m never going to not do something because I’m afraid I’ll fail.” So there came up an advertisement for a musical theater workshop at school, and I thought, “I love musical theater. I will try out for this.”
I remember I even went to see the movie right before my audition, just to inspire me, like, “I’m not going to like bail on this,” and I auditioned, and I didn’t get it because I can’t sing or dance, but I was so proud of myself because I did it. I just tried, even though I was afraid of failing. I didn’t make it, but that wasn’t a failure to me. I tried it.
And just that realization was like, “Hey, it’s not so bad trying for something and not getting it, because just the act of trying was an achievement. I didn’t fail at that.” So, that was like the first thing I did. And then, ever since then when I’ve come up to a crossroads of “Okay, am I going to go for this or am I going to fail?,” I remember that. “No! I will not bail. I will try.”
So every like career step that I’ve gone on when I’m afraid, when I’m nervous, I have to really go for it because I’ve known from the past that it worked, and even if I fail, I still felt good.
Toni: But Jonathan, doesn’t it also go back to what you said as far as how you help other people explore their potential, by championing them and being enthusiastic and that cheerleader that they tried? They tried it. It may not have gotten to the exact, but it got close enough, and isn’t that what you’ve done as well to get over your own fears? That you tried, and maybe you didn’t make it, but you got close enough by trying. Aren’t you doing exactly the same thing?
Jonathan: Yes, for myself. I hadn’t even thought about that, really, that my “close enough” philosophy is what I’m constantly championing to other people … yeah, that’s how I be a cheerleader for myself. “Yeah, that was close enough. I’m really happy with that. But it was such an achievement to be close enough there. I may not have gotten the part, but I tried, and boy, that was great.”
Toni: Absolutely. So let me ask you this – what are you doing now to explore your own potential?
Jonathan: Well … all of us are unlimited potential, and I have to remind myself that my potential is unlimited. Like I said, I try to stretch myself constantly. If something makes me uncomfortable and nervous, I’ll go for it.
You know how they say that … I don’t know who says it …
Toni: “They.”
Jonathan: They say that our cells are constantly regenerating in our body, so that every seven years we’re a completely different person from a cellular level. I think that’s amazing when you think about it. So I’m constantly trying to regenerate myself from like an experiential level, because if my body is new, I want to be new psychologically as well. What am I doing or learning now that’s different from what I was doing seven years ago? Why should I be stuck in the mindset of seven years ago if the cells in my body are totally different?
So one thing I do is I always listen to my inner voice a lot. Not only listen, but trust it. Why do I have an instinct? Something is always talking to me. So is it my mind? Is it God? Who knows? But I just know that that little voice is like my inner GPS system, and I’d rather listen to my own GPS system than somebody else’s.
That little voice is usually telling me to try things or to expand my knowledge or to grow as a person, and I might not want to because it’s work and I’d rather just stay home and watch TV in my snuggie. But the voice tells me to stretch, and I know from experience that exploring every corner of my potential really makes me feel good and it makes me a better person.
I know a lot of people are thinking, you know, “My inner voice is always telling me not to do stuff, that I may fail.” And I really think that that’s not your inner voice. I think that’s like a memory of somebody else’s voice, like your parents or family telling you, “No, you probably shouldn’t do that.” That’s not your inner voice. I think your inner voice is out for your best interest and knows your potential. Our inner voice knows way more than we know, because who knows where that inner voice is coming from. So I trust it.
I also let things happen. I don’t resist the Universe. My current life as a decorating and lifestyle expert, really it just happened. Things kept happening. Opportunity after opportunity, and I just went with it. It happened so organically, and I didn’t try to make excuses or put a stop to things. “Oh, I can’t do this. I have a great job in advertising already. I don’t want to make a career transition. I don’t think this was the right way to go. This isn’t what is expected of me.” It just kept happening.
You know, life isn’t supposed to be hard. We make it hard, because we think that’s the way life should be, you know? It should be a struggle. But I basically just let life be. It’s like I’m on a raft just going down the stream, and things are going and I’m letting things happen. And I think when I let things happen, my potential keeps getting stretched because I’m introduced to new things that I never would have planned on my own.
Toni: Plus it’s that awareness. It’s being aware and being your own cheerleader so that you can keep moving forward when things reveal themselves. I would imagine that that’s incredibly important to not only take your creativity to the next place that’s meant to be, but it’s probably been very much a part of where you’ve taken your creativity from.
Jonathan: Right. You’re right. That awareness is really important, and to be your own little cheerleader at each of those steps, like, “Wow, that was great!”
Toni: Absolutely.
Jonathan: “I did that – let’s see what else will happen now.” You have to be so open, and “Oh, I can’t wait to see what happens next around the river bend.”
Toni: Absolutely, and what a great, great sentiment to leave the interview on. Jonathan, we can’t wait actually to post a link so that people can see your work and where to get your books and so forth, so that will be at the end of your transcript here. We cannot thank you enough for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Jonathan: Thank you. I’m so honored to be a part of it.
Toni: You’re welcome. It’s been a pleasure. Take care, Jonathan.
Jonathan: Thanks, Toni.
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For more information about Jonathan Fong: jonathanfongstyle.com
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