Moonlandia

January 28, 2012 in Inspiration with 0 Comments

Moon Horizon

A politician finally promised a base on the moon in return for electing them president.

For a moment, let’s put aside all the political pandering points and just look at the idea.  The dream consists of going back to the moon for  the first time since 1972 (Apollo 17).  It’s an audacious dream, probably a bit impractical, but one I think that’s desperately needed again.

We’ve forgotten how to dream big.  As a kid, I dreamt of being an astronaut one day.  From galaxy wallpaper to shuttle Legos, space travel became a minor obsession that filled my thoughts.

And then we grow up.  I lost that spark of imagination for a while.  The creative side of me focused on coloring inside the lines rather than drawing the image myself.  Give a kid a box of crayons and they immediately begin creating something.  Give the same box to an adult and they just look at you funny.

That’s why so many people laughed when they heard the idea for a moon base.  To me, those people are the ones who can’t dream anymore.  I’m sure President Kennedy’s critics tried to kill the dream of an Apollo program.  But he pushed through and convinced the American people it was the right challenge – the right dream for us.

Starting from practically nothing, President Kennedy and NASA took us to the moon.  Not only should we go back, we should use it as a jumping off point for the rest of the universe.  We need an audacious dream like this just to prove we can still dream.

And yeah, John Stewart’s name of Moonlandia is actually pretty cool.

Vision and Strategy

January 27, 2012 in Create with 0 Comments

“Through the years, I had learned that if you think about strategy (the “how”) too early, it will actually inhibit your vision (the “what”) and block you from thinking as big as you need to think. What you need is a vision that is so big that it is compelling, not only to others, but to you. If it’s not compelling, you won’t have the motivation to stay the course and you won’t be able to recruit others to help you.” – Michael Hyatt

I have a lot of ideas.  I’m one of those guys with a half-dozen notebooks with ideas, sketches, and notes scattered throughout.  I might go through 7 or 17 different versions of an idea to get it right.  And those are just the ones for our creative community at Save the Artist.

No matter how I decide to act on an idea, to execute that strategy as Michael puts it, I also put the focus on the idea itself first.  Because if I don’t love it, there’s no point.  My dreams and plans are big – they require others on my team to help out.  And if I’m not excited and communicating that right, then the idea gets off to a rocky start.

January’s over but the year’s just getting started.  I need to get the idea solid before anything else.  There’s plenty of time left in the year to pull it off.

Frustration

January 26, 2012 in Inspiration with 0 Comments

“We as artists chose this path because it’s hard.  We pour our passions, our ideals, our dreams into the things we create.  But sometimes that’s not enough.  Passions lose steam and dreams get lost when the work gets too hard.  When that happens, we can get very frustrated – and that can either destroy you….or become the greatest asset you’ve ever had as an artist.  The men and women of the Apollo space program undoubtedly became frustrated at times.  But they chose to use that to push them forward.” – via Save the Artist

I wrote those words a few weeks ago and it’s amazing how many times I keep coming back to them.  Frustration sucks but it’s a good thing in the long run.

Too Lazy and Don’t Respect

January 25, 2012 in Create with 0 Comments

Too Lazy Don't Respect

Ah tl;dr.  It’s the way commenters try to get away with having an opinion on something without taking a moment to understand the author’s.  A title catches their eye, they skim it really quick, and then make voice their thoughts to the world in the comments section.  It doesn’t matter that this one article might have been weeks of blood, sweat, and tears to make sure the story is told just right. All the tl;dr commenter wants is to show why the author is wrong.

So don’t look for sympathy from me when I skip over that commenter like they don’t exist.  tl;dr is just their way of saying too lazy and don’t respect.

"What makes play such a powerful socializing tool, then, is that it is the means by which imagination is unleashed."

link

“You have a talent that none of the rest of us have. Just find out what it is and use it. It’s doing nothing that’s the enemy.”

- Lady Sybil in

Downtown Abbey

link

Success Is Work

January 16, 2012 in Quotes, Thoughts with 2 Comments

One thing for sure is the fact that everyone that I’ve interfaced with works extremely hard. Sure, they work “smarter” but they still work hard at it, refining their techniques, honing their craft, and pushing through the daily spells of being tired and opting to “jump back in” when they really don’t feel like it.

Those that truly further and advance their careers take one less “smoke break,” watch one less Youtube video, turn off the sitcoms and video games, read one less RSS feed, and instead pour that energy back into their labor. They do not work in vain – they see the fruit and they know it’s coming, just not right now. – John the Tentblogger

Totally true.  Every minute you waste on something else is one more minute taken away from your success.  Success happens when you do the hard work each day no matter what.

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