Inspiration for Creative Minds

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"In the past you were what you owned... now you are what you share..."

I was what I owned? I am what I share? :-\
Well, I am not what I think! ;-)
I just am.

Posted by: Starbuck on 06 Mar 2008 | 12:10 pm

@Starbuck: The video claims that it's about sharing knowledge these days. Showing off your skills, your experience, the projects that you've been working on.... It's about showing what you can do. What you can create. And every creation starts with a thought, with thinking.

You say you just 'are', does that mean you don't create?

Posted by: Fresh Creation on 06 Mar 2008 | 08:24 pm

@fresh: creating doesn't necessarily mean sharing, or at least sharing freely.

I prefer "I am what i achieve". And certainly one sign of recognition is monetary recompensation?

Posted by: thijs on 07 Mar 2008 | 04:44 pm

@thijs: I agree with you. My previous comment was just to make clear what the video was saying. Not my personal opinion. I think you are what you say and do. Your words and your actions.

You say you are what you achieve. I think it's a thin line between creating and achieving. What do you mean with achieving? Your successes? Does that mean that you don't count your failures as achievements?

Is monetary compensation a sign of recognition of your achievements?
People like Vincent van Gogh earned very little money in their lifetime, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't successful. It's not about money, it's about how the things that you do make you feel. I could earn big money with a job I don't like, but I'd rather do something that I like for less money. Does that mean that I achieved less?

Posted by: Fresh Creation on 07 Mar 2008 | 05:04 pm

I like the ideas presented in this video.

I'm a very creative person, and in the past my conflict always arose when trying to reconcile the desire to be creative with the need to make a living. And whenever I tried to merge the two, I felt an immense dissatisfaction. I believe this is because my creativity was expressed out of choice, not necessity (like a job), so why should someone else necessarily pay for something that I did freely of my own volition? ...like charging someone for giving them a lift, or helping them move house?

Personally, I've found that the ultimate satisfaction for me is in sharing what's inside me, with the people outside me, and then letting them run with it, or expanding on it together.

If someone *chooses* to reward me monetarily for sharing that creativity, just I *chose* to indulge in that creativity, then that's great too.

For me, creativity is intrinsically linked to sharing. 'We think, there for we are". A spin on Descartes famous Cogito ergo sum. In my case, it's 'I create, therefore I am'. And my creations 'aren't' until they've been perceived by someone other than myself.

Posted by: not2human on 15 Mar 2008 | 09:45 pm

@not2human: Thanks for adding your comment.

I'm very curious: Can you live from the money that people offer you voluntarily? It sounds like a great way of working but is it realistic?

Personally I am able to make a living by now and then doing projects mainly for the money. The rest of my time I spend on creating things and reading about things that matter to me.

I once attended a lecture where a model was presented. It consisted of 3 parts: a) your roots, b) the market, c) ideas. If your ideas stayed close to your roots, to who you are, what you are about, then you feel great. If that idea gets to a commercial stage it tends to move towards the market. Money comes in but often it will drive you away from your roots and your ideas. That's where you start to feel dissatisfied. Then you turn back to your roots and your ideas.

"I create, therefore I am" is interesting. But creations come from thoughts. So, if you take one step back you're at the same point as the statement in the video.

Posted by: Fresh Creation on 15 Mar 2008 | 10:49 pm

I suppose what I am trying to get at in the video is that if you seek to achieve by producing ideas, then you can only do so by getting recognition from other people and that means you have to share. Of course money can be one measure of that and money can buy recognition but the form of recognition that most matters to us is from our peers and friends, which is not influenced by money.

Posted by: Charles Leadbeater on 24 Mar 2008 | 02:13 pm

@Charles: Good to see the author of the book drop by here at FC... ;-)

But there are people out there who are trying to make a living from producing ideas. Is that a sustainable activity in this era of sharing ideas or should such a person try to look at his 'business' in a different way?

Posted by: Fresh Creation on 24 Mar 2008 | 05:54 pm

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