Curiosity Cures Boredom

Apr 27

The Creative Equilibrium by James Shelley, January 27, 2011

Creative Equilibrium: when the intentional consumption and curation of ideas provokes and inspires new personal creation.1 When there is a lack of equilibrium, we tend to overproduce content that is lacking in quality or we are so swamped by external stimuli that we drown the spark of our own creativity. For me, the primary symptom of overindulgence in my media intake is a sharp decline in personal creative output.2 The more content I am consuming the less margin I have for creating. Consumption and creation obviously need each other, and there obviously needs to be some dynamic oscillation between the two poles. Ebb needs flow, here. But to nurture consistency and longevity in a creative life, the pendulum needs to keep swinging past centre on a regular basis. (At least it does for those of us who were not born geniuses.) In a world where creative content is almost endemic, the art of creation necessitates the will-power to first regulate consuming. And yes, the cyclical effect is perhaps as bewildering as it is paradoxical: the more creative we become, the more distractions we create to thwart our creativity. Therefore, the most creative people of the future will be the ones who are the most dogmatically protective of their own streams of intake and input.

The 50 Things Every Graphic Design Student Should Know - Jamie Wieck - Design, Illustration & Creative Thinking

37. New ideas are always ‘stupid’. New ideas are conceived with no context and no measures of success – this falsely makes them feel silly, awkward or even impossible. #the50

The 50 Things Every Graphic Design Student Should Know - Jamie Wieck - Design, Illustration & Creative Thinking

Limitations are invaluable for creating successful work: they give you something to push against. From this tension comes brilliance. #the50

Apr 18

“

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own.

if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live, or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside

when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,

and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

” The Invitation by Oriah - A woman’s insight on how a man should be.

Jan 3

“The creative mind loves where there is no reason to love, is happy where there us no reason for happiness, creates where there is no possibility for creativity, and in this way ‘builds a heaven in hell’s despair.’” Sangharakshita. From “Mind - Reactive and Creative”

Dec 28

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a LIFE by what we GIVE.” Sir Winston Churchill

Dec 26

i feel like everyone’s getting tumblr’s now just to say they have one. but they don’t realize what it’s really all about. this isn’t facebook, twitter, or myspace to see how many people you can get to follow you - it’s about having a place to express yourself when no one else is listening.

This is so true! so much of social media is geared towards getting other people to listen/look at us… to me Tumblr is the place that this is the opposite of what I want… instead it is a place where i can be me pure and simply - not to get other’s attention on me… a place where I can express myself purely FOR myself, but if you happen to glance this way to see what I’m up to - that’s awesome too… Welcome to my tumblr :)

(via vaike)

Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

Wow.. a place dedicated to the study of wellbeing and a meaningful life…so awesome.

“

The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.

“

“Think of those doing the research on altruism and compassion as a radical scholarly movement, one that could undermine the philosophical and political assumptions behind our current economic system, which is also our political system. These individuals and organizations are putting together the proof that not only is another world possible, but it’s been here all along, as visible, should we care to look, as Nabokov’s butterflies. Do not underestimate the power of this force. The world could be much better if more of us were more active on behalf of what we believe in and love; it would be much worse if countless activists weren’t already at work from Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma and the climate activists in Tuvalu to the homeless activists around the corner from me. When I studied disasters past, what amazed me was not just that people behaved so beautifully, but that, in doing so, they found such joy. It seems that something in their natures, starved in ordinary times, was fed by the opportunity, under the worst of conditions, to be generous, brave, idealistic, and connected; and when this appetite was fulfilled, the joy shone out, even amid the ruins. Don’t think of this as simply a description of my hopes for 2011, but of what was going on right under our noses in 2010; it’s a force we would do well to name, recognize, celebrate, and enlarge upon now. It is who we are, if only we knew it.”

Rebecca Solnit: Iceberg Economies and Shadow Selves: Further Adventures in the Territories of Hope

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I found this amazing article on the Huffington Post and I thought that you would really enjoy it. I know that I often dispair over the ills wrought by capitalism and the associated greed and self interest of those in power, however this article talks about that other force out there that often goes unaccounted for, perhaps even knowingly denied by the mainstream… to sound lame the force of good - kindness and compassion that only now due to our unprecedented powers of sharing and communications is coming to light.

You know that question of “what if everyone on this planet just picked up one piece of rubbish, undertook one act of kindness…”

this is what this article talks about and this is what excites and inspires me so much about my job and what I do… that I’m tapping into this groundswell of human potential for good as we are on the brink of disaster wrought by our own species. Enjoy and let your hearts and mind brim once more with hope.

Dec 18

“

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. If you stay in the center and embrace death with your whole heart, you will endure forever.

” Dailytao.org Saturday, 11 December, 2010 :: 33

Dec 4

Listen to the Tao

As I stress and worry and become annoyed I read the dailytao.org

Today’s chapter is particularly apt

Chapter 24

He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm. He who rushes ahead doesn’t go far. He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can’t know who he really is. He who has power over others can’t empower himself. He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures.

If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.

Dec 1

Becoming your real self to help the world

vaike:

‘…the world is in so much trouble that it needs every sort of talent and passion in order to help it.

In other words, if you care about world problems, you don’t have to fit yourself into a mold that is someone else’s idea of how to do good. You can figure out how to direct your own particular talents and passions in service of the problems that concern you most…’

“If you want to become whole let yourself become partial. If you want to become straight let yourself become crooked. If you want to become full let yourself be empty. If you want to become reborn let yourself die. If you want to be given everything then give everything up. The Master by residing in the Tao sets an example for all beings because he doesn’t display himself, people can see his light. Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words. Because he doesn’t know who he is, people recognize themselves in him. Because has has no goal mind, everything he does succeeds. When the Ancient Masters said, “If you want to be given everything, give everything up.” They weren’t using empty phrases. Only in being lived by the Tao, can you truly be yourself.” Chapter 22 : Tao Te Ching

Nov 16

“The Kingdom of Thought is truly yours; you can select values, reject vanities, eliminate dross, live as the crowned and uncrowned emperors have lived in the utmost independence, ordering for yourself Happiness, distributing the flowing surpluses thereof to all around you.”

Nov 13

Curiosity Cures Boredom

Curiosity, Joie de Vivre & Imagination - Anything is possible

The Creative Equilibrium by James Shelley, January 27, 2011

The 50 Things Every Graphic Design Student Should Know - Jamie Wieck - Design, Illustration & Creative Thinking

The 50 Things Every Graphic Design Student Should Know - Jamie Wieck - Design, Illustration & Creative Thinking

Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

The Greater Good Science Center studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.

Listen to the Tao

Becoming your real self to help the world