THE LITTLE RED BUTTON

August 4th, 2018

What does the little red button signify?  In movies we see the little red button in control rooms for a launch, or underneath the desks of bank tellers, or in a special suitcase.

The little red button can be an abort button, or a panic button, or it’s the last step to launch something big.

It’s used for extreme events, when we are either retreating in panic or initiating a move forward with tremendous force.

Everyone has a mental version of this.  A little red button that we use.  But how is it wired?  Does it cue the frustration?  Does it release the floodgates of emotion and tumultuous language?  Do we always regret pushing the little red button, wishing it had some sort of locked cage over it?  Do we use that little red button to launch missiles in panic?

Or is the little red button something we eagerly look forward to?  Something we know we can’t push until everything is ready and set.  Something that has hushed reverence while we put together the rocket ship that will explore an exciting and new distant territory?

Imagine the young kid who has spent painstaking hours building her contraption, wiring parts together, fixing motors and wheels or levers.    Perhaps it all started when she came across a box of electronics and found a red button, unused, hooked up to nothing.  What did she imagine?  How inspiring could it have been to think about what that button could start.  And so she builds something and finally hooks up the red button.  Imagine that moment as she pauses just before hitting the button, like pushing the first of a long line of dominos.

We’ve got to ask, what’s our red button hooked up to?  An array of explosives that we’ve rigged for the next time someone pisses us off?  Or is it reserved for those special OCCASIONS when we’re ready to see what our hard work can do on its own?

This episode references Episode 105: OCCASION, if you'd like to fully understand the reference, please check out that episode next.