Who is D. Byron Patterson?

Lambpants Media Creative Mechanic

Artist, Writer, Musician, Singer, Actor...

When I turned 37, I decided that I was done with the whole tormented artist thing. It just didn't hold weight for anymore. Life is challenging enough, and there are plenty of angst-ridden artists out there to make people feel the dread of their mortality or the futility of their existence.

To take a different artistic route, I'd told myself, one that would bring joy to others or remind them that there is meaning to be had, THAT is a harder thing to do. But to do that, I needed to first bring joy to myself, something that had always elluded me.

I mean, really, how do you go about finding your own joy, your life's specific meaning? And then what is the first thing you do to get there? I had no idea, so I began to deconstruct my life. I looked honestly at who I was and where I'd been. Then, I imagined who I wanted to be, where I wanted to end up and what I'd need to do to achieve both. I got a glimpse of my path when I stopped making excuses for everything that had gone wrong with my life up to that point. I saw all my flaws, the imperfections and "sins" I'd long been ashamed to bear, and then I laughed at them all. I accepted them without shame or fear, and that absolute honesty liberated me. It was then that I saw the power in this thought:

"If you can boldy accept your imperfect humanity, you have nothing to fear. Everything you do is then infused with honesty, the first step toward igniting the fires of a joyful core. Whether it's spending time, talents or actions, that inner light shines from purity of heart, and there's nothing that can't be tried or achieved."

Being Young in Heart + Mind + Spirit = Fountain of Youth

Luckily, I'd enjoyed a notoriously puckish existence, which granted me some liberties to begin so honestly and boldly. I started the process of creating Lamby with those strokes. I soon found an oddly whimsical voice that inspired my belief in this as performance art for the family. Sure, all of this falls short of high art, or most other kinds of art for that matter, but in my view, it is art and it's accessible to nearly everyone. There's value in knowing that no one is perfect, but maintaining a real sense of intrinsic value isn't easy in today's world. Ironically, the combined weight of our imperfections, disabilities, and emotional or intellectual glitches connects us to each other as much as it detaches us from each other. No matter what we WANT to believe about celebrity, wealth and youth, the seductive veneer of their collective transience is superficial, deceptive by design. The perfection illusion makes us desire what we don't have and then forget what we actually have.

If it's not what the Joneses have, our perceptions of worth twist into false grotesqueries: that life is a reality show, that family and friends are commodities to trade, that children are objects (or worse, interesting pets that talk), or that dreams are interchangeable impulse buys at Target. We easily fool ourselves into thinking we no longer need to work hard for things we want, which is why everything feels worthless so easily. The world isn't nearly as perfect as we once wanted to believe, but the good news is that, as people and as individuals, we are all rediscovering or recognizing the real value of existence. We should revel in the nuttiness of our shared humanity as we prepare to humbly live, with meaning and authetic purpose. If we can just approach our day-to-day with simple honesty, and then teach our kids how to do the same thing.

If we can just laugh at ourselves more, then we can embrace what makes us human, and that can lead each of us to private and public discoveries of self confidence, integrity, and surer footing on our paths of happiness. When we honestly walk those roads -- potholes and bumps included -- we're naturally more open and engaged. That allows us better reception and perception, making us more likely to bring joy, as we have become capable of myriad feats of giving without even knowing it consciously.

I'm not saying we teach our kids to be self-centered. I'm suggesting that we teach them the value of self-acceptance, to be okay with what you have and who you are. If we use bold honesty as the catalyst to creative coping, expression and thinking then something as simple as laughing at yourself becomes a powerful asset. Life isn't easy - in fact, it's hard and it hurts and it never does exactly what you want it to. In essence, the only control you have is controlling how you perceive yourself. Being boldly honest with yourself, I firmly believe, helps you navigate through it all.

Where Does a Cartoon Lamb Fit into All This?

Having a healthier view of life genuinely inspires others. Since we're talking about kids here, then a disabled singing talking magic cartoon Lamb in blue cuffed pants resonates, especially to those fearful of being seen as too small, weak, crippled, ugly, unwanted, different, unimportant, etc. Inspiring a child to laugh is one thing, but inspiring her to be a competitive, socially-capable little person because of all the things that make her unique and imperfect requires more effort.

I can only hope that having a cartoon lead by example, kids can not only see themselves in Lamby they can make personal choices that might allow them to come into themselves much in the same (or a similar) way.