BrainPort's goal: To Give Sight to the Blind.
Today, I had the pleasure of seeing something I was once passionately connected to live on without me, get the media recognition it deserves, and inch EVER SO CLOSELY to the amazing and impressive and humbling finish line. From my bath tub, I did a fist pump in the air, celebrating the moment. Let me explain.
You might not know this about me, but in college, I was (for a long while) pre-med. (Don’t laugh… I’m smarter than I look. Lol…)
In all seriousness, though, this whole pre-med thing was much more of a passionate decision for me — rather than a rational one. It started when my brother lost his eye in a hunting accident. At the time, I was consumed with fear regarding something happening to his other eye, and couldn’t stand the thought of his being in total darkness. It was unthinkable, unbearable.
I began researching a bionic eye. Having — at the RIPE OLD AGE of 19 — given up on men who would, I predicted, NEVER meet the expectations my Dad had modeled for me, I decided to become a doctor. (This was in leu of my previous plan to have a family! =) Lol, again…. ) Instead, I’d throw myself into this whole idea of a bionic eye. I’d become a doctor and be part of the solution.
I spent a great deal of time with people who were essentially using “bionic ears” and learned as much as I could regarding the premise of sensory replacement. I learned of a company doing JUST THIS bionic eye thing, but they were SO FAR away from something useful.
The course work came easy for me. I was challenged and stimulated by the students around me… They were so driven, so smart, so committed. I loved much of it.
But, fast forward a couple years. I met my Mister, and fell in love. FAST. My fears for my brother lessoned and — with them — my passion for becoming a doctor. It was with more than a healthy dose of shame that I gave up on the whole doctor thing. Shame because I felt like I’d not followed through on a goal. Shame because I was walking away on such an intimate desire to fix what had happened to my brother. Shame because I’d sort of fallen in love with the idea of being Dr. Michelle. =) Shame because I’d “given up” on a challenge I set for myself.
But, the bottom line was that situational passion wasn’t enough. It only carried me so far. In business and in life, we’ve got to learn where our CORE passion is. Because situational passion is fleeting.
I must confess it’s been a long time since I’ve thought about the bionic eye. But today, in Fast Company magazine, I saw Wicab’s BrainPort celebrating the fact that their hard work and dedication to giving sight to the blind is now undergoing an FDA study, with a potential clearance date of 2014. **FIST PUMP!!** Cheers to them… to their tireless efforts, multiple disappointments followed by renewed determination, and endless “Let’s try this again” energy. With tears in my eyes, I take my virtual hat off to EACH member of this amazing BrainPort team.
And my hat’s off to EACH OF YOU. EAch of you reading this blog… determined, undaunted by temporary failures, boldly pursuing and creating your own work, and risking it all to create jobs for others. My CORE passion is entrepreneurial. It’s always been there… the desire — no – the NEED to create, to challenge, to produce, to provide. I know you get it.
What we’re doing here is noble. We’re job creators. Income producers. Change agents. And we’re the backbone of the economy. So, let’s make this week ROCK. I’m honored to stand among you, and thrilled to be cheering you on!
