Musings from the Minds of MACLYN: Rigg Reflects

All my life, I’ve been a sworn Enemy of Average.

The foul beast Banality and its minions marched through my village and razed it to the ground.

I swore vengeance. I crusaded to be different. Fought to feel fulfilled. Defied despair.

I often felt I was waging the war alone.

If I could reach through the slipstream of time, I’d pay that embattled lad a visit, wearing a warm grin of unbridled reassurance, and tell him the tale of his future:

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You take the reins of your life back, and see a want ad for “an ink-stained badass.” Someone who reads Walt Whitman on their lunch break. Someone like you. You have to answer that clarion call.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

From the moment you walk in for your interview, you can’t help but think “this is what a workplace should feel like.” You’re met at the door by a company president with electricity in his veins and purpose in every step. Then an obsidian-clad creative mastermind with a leather jacket, skinny tie, and cerulean shoelaces shakes your hand. You’ll one day talk Irish mythology and mull over the nature of existence, but for now he invites you to spend a day building a campaign pitch from the ground up after a jovial conversation about creative portfolios and Captain America.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You’re paired with an architectural inventor, a lover of vintage vinyl and classic cars, whose lovable air is apparent to all. You instantly become friends. And then you go all out. Full throttle. No brakes. There’s no time in life for half measures. And art, words, human feeling, it’s what you live for.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You get a phone call inviting you to join this happy few of sage-like warriors. You don’t think the elation will ever end. (It doesn’t.)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You get to write videogame jokes about PAC-MAN, meet Olympic gold medalists, and evangelize a certain ubiquitous brand of donuts you and your grandpa loved to share.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You learn from titans of the industry while waltzing along the razor’s edge. Every day, you help build something that was never there before. You’re a crucial component of a crew of craftsmen constructing glittering beacons out of the intangible. You especially thrive on the tight deadlines, like Indiana Jones sliding under the stone slab with just enough time to snatch his fedora.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You wake up every morning, and journey to an office where everyone has a Nerf weapon on their desk and a smile on their face. Where they jam to music, debate beat poets and quantum physics, and carry out another riveting attack on Average.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

At every morning’s meeting, where you review the day’s battle plan, you behold the faces of the motley, magnificent crew. A lover of gonzo literature always running toward another creative supernova, while others just try to keep up. An oil-painter with the craft of Caravaggio and a penchant for hardcore rap. A new mother with the most formidable blend of foresight and organization you’ve ever witnessed. A musically omnivorous runner of marathons who splits sides with wry humor. A Dungeons & Dragons player with a doctoral mind, in the peak of physical and mental fitness. An artistic powerhouse with a t-shirt shop in his basement. A van-driving athlete who always has everyone’s back. A scarlet-maned planner with a passion for interior design. A volleyball player with a rainbow in her head. A charisma factory who once ran an 80s radio show. And a Polynesian deity carved into a turquoise totem, who whispers eldritch secrets of advertising.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

You know lots of workplaces call themselves a ‘family’. But families are dysfunctional. Some members you rarely even see. You realize MACLYN isn’t a family, because it’s closer. It’s a merry band of friends, a corps of creative forces crusading against Common. They grill out on a fine summer’s day. They set asphalt ablaze with go-karts in the name of charity. And they truly endeavor, with every breath, to annihilate Average.

THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

A future emblazoned in electric blue.
And it’s beautiful.