May 23, 2012

opportunity: your obligation as an artist

This post first appeared in April 2011.

now's the time by encourage creations

notecard by encouragecreations - click image for more info

We spend a lot of time waiting for opportunities to fall into our laps.

We wait & wait – watching others take advantage of lucky chances, wishing that was us. Art isn’t about waiting though, it’s about stretching yourself, making stuff happen.

Your obligation as an artist is to create opportunities for others.

Sound crazy? Think about it. A traditional artist creates a product that others engage visually. It creates an opportunity to change, to challenge, or to inspire. If art is about new perspectives, new perspectives are about opportunity.

If you’re a less traditional artist like me, your art may create opportunities by connecting people, by informing, or by questioning. The opportunities may be direct – artist to patron – or indirect – patron to patron.

Artist, how will you create an opportunity for someone else today?

Filed Under: Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , 4 Comments
May 17, 2012

my invocation: an open call to your creative spark

This post first ran in May 2011 in response to Danielle LaPorte’s Firestarter Invocation.

Click the image to get your free download of Tara's invocation.

I believe that you have what you need.

I believe that you grow as you learn.

I believe that you learn as you act.
I believe that you are enough.

Our ideas are not empty vessels to pour ourselves into.

Our ideas are full + overflowing, ready to satisfy us.

Let us be liberated from assumption, the choices of others, and our perceived liabilities.

Click here to get your free download of Tara’s invocation.

Filed Under: creating action, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments
April 18, 2012

The other side of “Do what you say you’re going to do.”

Do what you say you’re going to do.
Do what you say you’re going to do.
Do what you say you’re going to do.

For me, this is the hardest of all life principles. But it’s a mantra that Danielle LaPorte lives, works, and plays by.

I get down on myself for not doing what I say I’m going to do: for not following up, for not keeping in touch, for not delivering by my self-imposed deadline. I beat myself up and question my own worthiness.

But the lesson here is not as simple as “do what you say you’re going to do. And if you don’t do it, you don’t deserve to move forward.” The lesson is:

Don’t say what you’re not going to do.

The lesson is to learn when enough is enough, when soon is really too soon, when good intentions are just a cover for disinterest.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.” . . . “I’ll send you the link.” . . . “I’ll do my best.” If you don’t mean it with every bone in your body, then just don’t say it. Pause. Say thank-you. Say how you feel. Say nothing at all. Habitual convo-filler sucks wind. I can’t scientifically prove it, but empty promises are bad for the ozone.
– Danielle LaPorte, The Fire Starter Sessions

Pause. That’s something I need to do more often. Think before I speak. Clear the calendar before I commit.

Maybe you do too?

***
If you want more DLP in your day, I suggest you head over to my site and enjoy a 15 minute interview I did with her. I don’t ask the usual questions and I know you’ll find both some laughs & aha! moments from our time together. Click here to check it out!

Or go grab a copy of the book — right now. It’s fresh wisdom for the New Economy. Click here!

Filed Under: book review, Read & Play Tagged With: , 6 Comments
April 11, 2012

Makers are messengers, too.

Oh, that's just me making a statement with Megan Auman jewelry.

Makers are messengers, too, ya know.

Your job isn’t to write the next killer blog post, craft the next hard-hitting piece of journalism, or take the mic & rock the stage, but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook from having a message.

Makers are messengers, too.

What you create with paper, pixel, wood, or metal is a manifestation of what you believe. What is birthed from your imagination & your own two hands isn’t just a “thing” but an idea bigger & more vibrant than the sum of its materials.

Yes, makers are messengers, too.

When Megan Auman designs a necklace, she’s really saying, “Be beautiful, be bold. Make a statement today & everyday with what you wear.”

When Sara Selepouchin sketches a new diagram, she’s really saying, “Fun and function can — and should — go hand-in-hand.”

When Janice Bear stitches a garter, she’s really saying, “You are not the uniform you have to wear. Keep your own unique spark alive.”

The message is in the act of making. It’s in the product that is made. And it’s certainly manifest in the use of the object.

So it’s good to know that the message you are speaking through what you create is exactly the message someone is waiting to hear. Your message is the point of connection.

In the book, Design-Driven Innovation, Roberto Verganti suggests that understanding the greater message & meaning of what you create allows for an entirely new form of innovation: the innovation of meaning.

An ordinary object – a necklace, for instance – can have many meanings. Most simply, it is a means to decorate your body. Other meanings are also quite common: signifying friendship or love and representing a personal interest. But can you take a necklace and make it mean something new? Deliver a new message?

That’s exactly what Megan is trying to do when she creates a necklace. Beyond body decoration, beyond symbols of relationship or interest, Megan is saying: wear this necklace and make a statement of your truth.

This meaning is unexpected. And sure, for some undesired. But for a select few – Megan’s very best customers – it is exactly the message they’ve been waiting to hear.

Megan is the messenger.

Yes, makers are messengers, too.

Instead trying to tell the story of your work on its physical features, the length of time it took to get the finish just right, the esoteric technique you used on the underside, tell me your message. Shout it out. Say it soft. Just say it.

We’re waiting.

Maker, what’s your message?

***
I – along with my Reclaiming Wealth co-conspirator, Adam King – are coaching a cadre of messengers through creating a premium offer of their product or service. We want to help unleash a group of message-centered, value-driven products into the market later this year. You in?

Click here now to find out more about Make Your Mark.

{ photo by Regina Miller of Origin Photo, Philadelphia }

Filed Under: Buy You, For You Tagged With: , , 4 Comments
February 1, 2012

This is NOT a “how to not care about what others think” post.

Photo by Jake Botter

Photo by Jake Botter

We all know we shouldn’t care what other people think about our decisions.

The vast majority of us still twinge with the thought that someone could misunderstand our motivations or question our preferences. I do.

I am, by nature, a fairly intuitive person. I detect quite a bit of below-the-radar information that is flying about in conversation or lack thereof. Most of it is good information. It helps me stay engaged, understand where things are going, and stay ahead of the game.

However not all this information is helpful.

Whenever I start to believe that I know what someone else is thinking in terms of me, I lose.

I let that perception get in my way. I assume many things and start to operate on my assumptions.

I’ve tried over & over again to reprogram that behavior by reminding myself that it doesn’t matter what other people think. It only matters that I’m true to me and my own values. But I’m a people pleaser. I always want to have the right answer, the shared interest, the story that lets you know I understand.

But here’s is my aha! realization from the last year or so… When pricing, emailing, having coffee, making an offer, buying, selling, tweeting, texting, talking, laughing:

It’s not about learning how to not to care what others think. It’s about understanding that you don’t know.

You just don’t know what others think. You might think you know. But you don’t.

You don’t know what others think. You don’t know how they’ll react when confronted with your most true beliefs & desires.

Be true to you and allow others to be true to themselves.

You tell me: do you care what others think? How do you reconcile that with your actions?

Filed Under: Plot Notes 11 Comments