Category: Creativity

It is not enough to want to do something. You have to do it.
It is not enough to have a great idea. Whoever does it should get full credit.
It is not enough to be talented or smart and anything easy.
You get no points for any of those things.
NObody gives a rip what you have the potential of doing.
Only what you actually do counts.

Being easy on the eyes means nothing, being rich means nothing. Being an extrovert means nothing. Having all the chips fall into place means nothing. The only thing that counts is what you do for everyone else. That is the goal, do something everyone can benefit from and you will automatically be wealthy. Then you will be like compost. As soon as you are rich compost and use everything you have for the benefit others, life will have meaning beyond you. That is what you want in the end.  It’s not how great you appear but how much you gave.

photo from this guy

I am a bit of a nomad. I get restless if I live in a place more than a year or so. I start looking for somewhere else to go. I am lucky my husband bought three houses so we could live in each for awhile. Now I live in a big house and am yearning for a small house again.

I thought I would like all this space but I don’t. I functioned better when we were in a small space. Now the big house is full of stuff. I think a house should be filled with people not stuff. Big houses are like garages now.

In the old days big houses meant lots of children lived in them.  But now big houses are just full of stuff. I always read about tiny houses. I love to see how little space you can live in. I think I would like to live in an RV too. Or a boat. Someplace small. Now I heat the this whole big house and nobody is in the rooms. Warm air for nobody. 

Anyone out there reading this live in a small space? Tell me about it.

When I was young and lived in San Francisco, there was another thing that happened to me. There was another thing that I did. I sold art door to door. This might sound impossible but that is what I did. I thought if I got several artists to paint my picture I could go around to all the houses and they could have their picture painted by the artist that they liked. I thought, well photographers do that why not artists. Goofy as it sounded it worked. I found several artists and they all did a portrait of me and I walked around and sold art.

A woman answered the door at the first house I went to and said “Oh what a great idea. Oh sure let them come and do our family portrait.” It was a hundred dollars a person in the painting. The client was happy to have the artist come to their house and do that.  Sometimes clients wanted something different. One house had three guys living there and they wanted a picture of them all drawn like start trek characters. That cost more but they were delighted with the picture.

Looking back I cannot believe I did this funny job that I made up. But the clients were happy because I came to them and they did not have to find me. I found them. That started me on the art brokering idea. I went to businesses too after that and then I really found clients on a larger scale. I called my business “Art in my Heart” That is the most unsophisticated name in the universe but then I did not care. I was into being honest and true and that was exactly how I felt.

We are creatures of habit. We feel confident in our habits. The trap of a habit is you close your eyes to doing things better.

I hate swimming. So I never do it. I have a habit to hate swimming. What if swimming will take my work to a new level by learning to love swimming. Is it worth the bother.

Yes, Variety is so important to growth that yo should push yourself to do even what you dislike. I had a few bad experiences with swimming and now I look at a pool and think ug. there it is the pool. I should go swimming for a week and see if it gets better. This is just one small thing. There are dozens of things every day that I avoid. It is all worth it to make your mind stronger and increase your ability to SEE.

Everyone enjoys brainstorming. All these ideas being tried on for size. Very fun but is that the best way to come up with a great solution? I have an example of how brainstorming can be a trap.

When you brainstorm with a group of people, three things happen. One is that you will be energized and excited and it is actually intoxicating, that is good and really fun. Two is that you will feel powerful and you will think things through only minimally so we are in pretty shallow water here. Third is you will develop group think and that is the bad thing about brainstorming. Group think takes good ideas, and dilutes them to fit the group. Everybody wants approval from the group. This is the trap.

A great idea may not be the most popular one. In fact I would contend that the most popular idea is rarely the best one. The best thing is to do the brainstorm, and then go home and mull it over. Then come back and rethink and evaluate  anew. Remaining objective and away from the emotion of the group will give a clearer thought.

photo buy this caffeine slinger