The Monkey, The Plushie, and the Artist
- JP de la Rama
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Why Guidance Is the Real Creative Superpower
When a Baby Monkey Broke the Internet… and Reminded Me Why Artists Must Lead
“If we don’t guide what we create, something else will. And the algorithm was never meant to be a parent.”
Setting the Stage
A week ago, the internet wasn’t arguing about politics.
It wasn’t debating AI.
It wasn’t doomscrolling about recession.
It was obsessed with a monkey.
Yes. A monkey.
Meet Punch — a baby monkey abandoned by his biological mother in a zoo in Japan. In the absence of maternal care, the caretakers gave him an orangutan plush toy.
And he clung to it.
Everywhere he went, the plushie went.
When they tried to clean it, he wouldn’t let go.
That toy became his mother.
And millions of people around the world felt something.
Because deep down, we all understand one truth:
Every child needs guidance.
The Real Problem We Don’t Want to Admit
We live in a world where:
Kids are raised more by algorithms than by parents.
Social media shapes values faster than schools.
Information is abundant, but wisdom is rare.
Even my five-year-old already knows how to swipe a screen.
That scares me.
Because access without guidance is dangerous.
And here’s where this hits deeper than parenting.
As artists, freelancers, creatives — we are also raising something.
We are raising:
Stories.
Audiences.
Communities.
The next generation of thinkers.
But if we don’t guide what we create…
If we don’t inject intention into our work…
If we don’t mentor the people watching us…
Then the algorithm becomes the parent.
And that’s terrifying.
Before vs. After
Before:
We consume. We react. We let culture raise our kids and shape our art.
After:
We guide. We mentor. We create intentionally.
That’s the shift.
Emotion commits the crime — logic does the cover-up.
Emotion tells us: “Aww, that monkey is cute.”
Logic later tells us: “Abandonment has consequences.”
The same is true for creativity.
Emotion makes us create.
Logic shapes it into something meaningful.
THE SOLUTION
Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
If you’re a parent, you are your child’s first algorithm.
If you’re an artist, you are your audience’s influence.
You cannot outsource guidance.
You cannot delegate values.
You cannot expect society to raise what you are responsible for.
So what do we do?
1. Be Present, Not Just Available
There’s a difference between being in the same room and actually guiding.
When I draw with my daughter, I’m not just supervising.
I’m teaching. Explaining. Interpreting.
That’s intentional leadership.
2. Curate the Inputs
What comes in will come out.
The shows.
The games.
The comics.
The cartoons.
If you’re an artist, what you consume shapes what you create.
If you’re a parent, what your child consumes shapes who they become.
Choose wisely.
3. Build With Purpose
Every project you release is influence.
Ask yourself:
What am I normalizing?
What values am I embedding?
What kind of future does this work support?
Ask and you shall receive.
If you ask better questions, you build better work.
4. Lead by Example
Kids imitate.
Audiences observe.
If I want my daughter to be moral, creative, disciplined — I must embody those traits first.
If I want my audience to respect original art — I must protect mine.
Guidance is not spoken. It is modeled.
The Bigger Lesson
Punch clings to a plushie because he lost guidance.
We don’t have to lose ours.
Whether you’re raising a child or building a creative career, one thing is clear:
What lacks guidance becomes vulnerable.
And in today’s digital world, vulnerability gets exploited fast.
FINAL THOUGHT
The world may be chaotic.
The economy unstable.
The creative industry is volatile.
But inside our homes.
Inside our studios.
Inside our stories.
We still have control.
And sometimes, it takes a baby monkey holding a stuffed toy to remind us of our responsibility.
CALL TO ACTION
If you’re a parent, creative, or both:
Take 10 intentional minutes today to guide something.
Your child.
Your craft.
Your audience.
Because if we don’t guide what we build…
Something else will.
And I refuse to let the algorithm be my daughter’s parent.
How about you?
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