January 2011
75 posts
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“Every creative person is insecure…. I’ve never met someone who is...”
– Dominic Cooke: a life in theatre | Culture | The Guardian
http://joshw1ll1ams.tumblr.com/post/3007706943 →
joshw1ll1ams:
Creative play is the gateway not to time-wasting but to times that let you contact deeper realms. When you paint a canvas or play the piano, you’re in a creative improvisation that calls on inner fortitude and commitment and that reflect your values through self-expression. Creativity satisfies…
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Psychologists believe that no one is born with any particular talent and that all skill is gained through practice. Studies have shown that masters are simply people who’ve practised a skill intensely for 10,000 hours or more. That requires loving — not liking, loving — what you do. If you really want to excel, go where you’re passionate enough to practice.
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“We do this sort of miscalculation all the time at work….. We avoid the...”
– Seth’s Blog: Misjudging risk (and bad decisions)
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Look busy
In many organisations there’s a political dimension to the productivity ethos — people are anxious to ‘look busy’ in front of their boss and colleagues. Anything else looks lazy and unprofessional. Creativity is seen as something silly and a little childish, to be confined to creative thinking sessions, preferably held off-site. All of which can put you as a creative professional in a difficult...
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WatchThe Japanese Popstars - Let Go
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the best goal is no goal →
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Arts funding cuts - Lee Hall
Lee Hall has written a great piece of the absence of any deep thinking by the ConDem government’s ideological obsession with cutting spending come what may.
“Not one commercial show is made without talent fostered in the subsidised sector. The dominance of British talent in musicals around the world, from Mamma Mia! to the Lloyd Webbers, have all been dependent on people who learned...
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Johann Hari: We are wrong about being wrong
If we want to face up to our mistakes more regularly, then we need to change the way we think about them. If we see them as proof of our own incompetence, we will continue to puff out our chests and pretend they aren’t there. Is there a different way?
Error is an essential step in the process of finding the right answer. Every scientist leaves behind a trail of disproven hypotheses...
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“You must become indispensable to thrive in the new economy. The best ways to do...”
– Seth Godin
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“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something,...”
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A hierarchy of failure worth following
FAIL OFTEN: Ideas that challenge the status quo. Proposals. Brainstorms. Concepts that open doors.
FAIL FREQUENTLY: Prototypes. Spreadsheets. Sample ads and copy.
FAIL OCCASIONALLY: Working mockups. Playtesting sessions. Board meetings.
FAIL RARELY: Interactions with small groups of actual users and customers.
FAIL NEVER: Keeping promises to your constituents.
The thing is, in their rush to...
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Bill Murray on Acting
“I hate trying to re-create a tone or a pitch. Saying, ‘I want to make it sound like I made it sound the last time’? That’s insane, because the last time doesn’t exist. It’s only this time. And everything is going to be different this time. There’s only now. And I don’t think a director, as often as not, knows what is going to play funny anyway....
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WatchWho do you read and associate with online?
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Mediocrity
Fuck y’all.
You know who you are.
Your endless droning on about nothing, the endless tedium that is your career…
Well, it makes the CEO of your employer rich, but does little else.
Surrounding yourself with the overpriced, plastic baubles you learned about from TV, like anyone actually cares.
And you’re raising your kids the same way, raising them to be the same fine specimen of...
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“Every monster has a big shadow.
That’s what makes it a monster.
In...”
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Ideas
“I once read an interview with musician John Mayer where he said something like “Even if your songs are bad or you don’t like them, write them down. You’re not a song writer if you don’t write songs.” I think writing down your thoughts and ideas is very similar. It doesn’t matter what you’re idea is; if you don’t do anything with it, then you might as well stop thinking. This is the first...
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“recognize that any creative act worth doing benefits from an ongoing process of...”
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“You probably only have to interrupt someone a couple times a day before they’re...”
– Paul Graham from an essay in 2005.
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Creativity is akin to insanity
“Creativity is akin to insanity, say scientists who have been studying how the mind works. Brain scans reveal striking similarities in the thought pathways of highly creative people and those with schizophrenia. Both groups lack important receptors used to filter and direct thought. It could be this uninhibited processing that allows creative people to “think outside the box”, say experts from...
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Avoid blame and excuses
We make a difference to other people when we give gifts to them, when we bring emotional labour to the table and do work that matters. It’s hard for me to imagine that this is only available to a few. Yes, the cards are unfairly stacked against too many people. Yes, there’s too many barriers and not enough support. But no, your ability to create and contribute isn’t determined...
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“I made a significant decision when I was young that I have never regretted....”
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Transitions
I had been reading Don Miller’s new book …… Among other things, Don says that meaningful lives do not just happen by accident. They require conflict, risk, striving, and overcoming. A good character in a story has to struggle, and so it is with all of us.
That’s why I think it’s good to embrace the transition points. Don’t go to sleep to dream. You can dream all day long without...
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stephen fry on art
In an increasingly infantilised world where so much seems to be split into good or bad, correct or incorrect, acceptable or unacceptable, where complex ideas are chopped up for public consumption like food chopped up for a child, where so much is hygienic, attainable, safe, sugared, assimilable, digestible, pasteurised, homogenised and sanitised, in such a world our appetite has never been...
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“I’m sure you have all heard that email is dead, but I beg to differ. For me,...”
– email
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“The number of people you need to ask for permission keeps going down:
1. Go,...”
– Simple five step plan for just about everyone and everything
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“Working to let go of the pace around you and creating your own speed takes time...”
