Sunday, November 26, 2006
Manifesto of Creativity
Hugh Macleod (MacLeod?) at gapingvoid has put a call out for mini manifestos (mini-festos), 500 words or fewer expounding on the topic of your choosing (although, he'd like them to change the world, please). I came to gapingvoid through Seth Godin's Unforgivable post.
I had this rather skewed view of manifestos, thinking they were primarily written by disgruntled people, like the Uni-bomber. The dictionary definition is this: "a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer." That doesn't sound so bad and I like a challenge, so I decided to write a Manifesto of Creativity. I followed it up with a Manifesto of Fame, which I will post tomorrow. Both of my manifestos ended up being 311 words. Strange.
Incidentally, Hugh posted a manifesto on creativity on gapingvoid, which I did not see until after mine was written. Quite a bit of overlap.
Here goes, my Manifesto of Creativity:
I had this rather skewed view of manifestos, thinking they were primarily written by disgruntled people, like the Uni-bomber. The dictionary definition is this: "a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer." That doesn't sound so bad and I like a challenge, so I decided to write a Manifesto of Creativity. I followed it up with a Manifesto of Fame, which I will post tomorrow. Both of my manifestos ended up being 311 words. Strange.
Incidentally, Hugh posted a manifesto on creativity on gapingvoid, which I did not see until after mine was written. Quite a bit of overlap.
Here goes, my Manifesto of Creativity:
- By virtue of being human, you are innately creative.
- Creativity is not solely the domain of the fine arts. Any activity, be it truck driving, child care, assembly line work, or floor sweeping, can be imbued with creativity, depending upon your approach to it.
- Practice creativity often and with regularity. The process gets easier.
- Fuel your creativity by studying subjects that have nothing to do with your normal creative practice.
- Creativity tests your mettle at some point in the process, whether at the beginning, middle or end. Sweating through the hard part is how you earn your creative chops.
- Fear is an integral part of creativity. Use it, work through it, but don’t allow it to sideline your creativity.
- When you think the muse has abandoned you, moodle. Moodling is a term coined by writer Brenda Ueland. It means to wander about aimlessly with no thought expended on your creative project. Your muse doesn’t like to be overworked. If you force her, she’ll run away as fast as she can. Give her regular coffee breaks and time to recharge.
- Don’t confuse originality with creativity. There are very few truly original ideas. Most creativity comes from filtering outside influences and splicing them together in new ways.
- If you think your creative work is perfection incarnate, it probably isn’t. If you think it is pure schlock, it’s probably pretty good. Put your work away for a while – a long while. When you rediscover it and say, “When did elves sneak in and deposit this jewel?” you can bask in the glow of your success.
- It’s guaranteed. Someone will reject your creative output. Grow rhino hide and keep at it. Your brilliance will eventually be recognized, even if you have to die first. If you want acceptance before that happens, learn to market yourself.
Labels: creativity, fear, gapingvoid, hugh macleod, manifesto, moodle, seth godin, writing
Monday, November 27, 2006
Manifesto of Fame
As promised, my Manifesto of Fame:
(Because fame is overrated)
(Because fame is overrated)
- Humans love a pecking order. Someone’s got to be at the top. Why not you?
- Some people don’t want to be famous. They’re perfectly happy to run the puppet show from behind the scenes.
- There are many levels of fame. Your level of fame is directly proportional to the number of people who talk about you behind your back.
- There’s fame and there’s infamy. Would you rather be beloved or reviled? Your choice.
- Fame is nothing. Anyone can become famous. Becoming a legend or a myth, now that’s where it’s at. If you’re striving for legend status, or the even more lofty mythdom, be prepared to do something spectacular, like walking on water, but not the frozen kind. That’s not spectacular. That’s just ice fishing.
- Famous people are not exempt from their humanity. They still shit behind their shoes, unless their feet have been amputated.
- The famous can (and do) go from being beloved to being reviled as a result of their humanity.
- If you achieve fame, you will be scrutinized, so don’t whine when people use you as a lightning rod.
- Fame is a social phenomenon gained when others grant it to you. Don’t disrespect those who gave you your fame.
- Being famous doesn’t mean abdicating your soul to your fans. Set boundaries.
- If you allow your fame to increase your hat size, you’ll never find a hat that fits.
- Don’t come to expect the perks of fame. Too much ass kissing will only lead to a chapped backside.
- It’s not all about you, no matter how famous you get.
- Use your fame to do some good in the world, but remain humble while on the bully pulpit.
- Enjoy it while you’ve got it. Humans love a pecking order, with the operative word being “pecking.”
Friday, December 15, 2006
Manifesto of Fame - Part II
I was checking out my blog feeds on Bloglines and found a nice little post about celebrity narcissism on the blog "It is a numeric life." Quoting the site:
" . . . . on average, celebrities are about 17% higher [in narcissism] than the general public — with females ranking significantly higher than males. Interestingly, celebrities with the most skill (musicians) were the least narcissistic; those with no skill (reality-show stars) were off the narcissism charts. "
A few items from my Manifesto of Fame come to mind about now.
" . . . . on average, celebrities are about 17% higher [in narcissism] than the general public — with females ranking significantly higher than males. Interestingly, celebrities with the most skill (musicians) were the least narcissistic; those with no skill (reality-show stars) were off the narcissism charts. "
A few items from my Manifesto of Fame come to mind about now.
Labels: blog, bloglines, fame, manifesto, narcissism
Friday, March 30, 2007
Fame Junkies
I finished reading a book by Jake Halpern called Fame Junkies. The book discusses the psychological underpinnings of why we are so attracted to celebrities. Jake researched ideas about para-social relationships (relationships held from afar) as well as looking at how primates behave in hierarchies. Turns out that male monkeys (rhesus macaques) are more interested in watching dominant males and the back sides of female monkeys than in looking at non-dominant males and the front sides of females. What does THAT say about the men in our species and their tendency to focus on the physical attributes of women? Should we bother worrying about what our butts look like? As for watching the dominant male monkeys, those who could keep track of the Big Cahuna could get in his good graces, thus ensuring survival - or they could avoid his bad moods, thus ensuring survival. Here we are, all a bunch of monkeys, acting out some biological imperative with celebrity worship. Only Jake indicates that our fascination with celebrities has gotten much worse, more out of hand. I was especially saddened by the chapter devoted to young people who attend talent schools in hopes of becoming famous. What a treadmill.
I'm interested in fame, as is evidenced by my Manifesto of Fame and my Squidoo lens on the topic, yet it feels like more of an academic interest. (I think that there will be more people taking an academic interest in fame as celebrity worship is on the rise.) Jake is quite forthcoming about the fact that when one studies fame, one is in danger of succumbing to the attention and glory of it all. What I'm wondering, that the book didn't discuss, is how does one get enough renown (fame is too strong here) to be able to survive on one's creative work? We don't all want to be Vincent VanGogh and die penniless and mad. How does one get a solid respect for her work, yet still maintain a sense of privacy and a solid personal life? How does one remain connected to those who support the work, are fans of the work, but avoid the overboard fan behavior?
I'm interested in fame, as is evidenced by my Manifesto of Fame and my Squidoo lens on the topic, yet it feels like more of an academic interest. (I think that there will be more people taking an academic interest in fame as celebrity worship is on the rise.) Jake is quite forthcoming about the fact that when one studies fame, one is in danger of succumbing to the attention and glory of it all. What I'm wondering, that the book didn't discuss, is how does one get enough renown (fame is too strong here) to be able to survive on one's creative work? We don't all want to be Vincent VanGogh and die penniless and mad. How does one get a solid respect for her work, yet still maintain a sense of privacy and a solid personal life? How does one remain connected to those who support the work, are fans of the work, but avoid the overboard fan behavior?
Labels: books, creative, fame, fame junkies, jake halpern, manifesto, monkeys, reading, squidoo
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Noble Africa
Bono was on Oprah yesterday. He was touting a new initiative that will raise funds to fight AIDS in Africa. The initiative is called (RED) and it plays on America's unending materialism. By purchasing (RED) products (T-shirts, jeans, tennies, jackets, cellphones, iPods), Americans can feel good about themselves by knowing that approximately half the proceeds from each purchase go toward supplying AIDS medications to people in Africa.
If I sound a tinge cynical, it's not because I don't think the cause is worthy. Absolutely, it is. But, I'm not sure encouraging Americans to consume more is the best way to go about it. The T-shirts are cute and one of the pairs of Chuck Taylor tennis shoes available from Converse (one of the sponsors of the cause) is made of African mud cloth. Bono said that much of the stuff is made in Africa, so people there are working toward their cure.
Here's my frustration: Why is it that practically the only images we ever see of Africa are of bone-crushing poverty, starvation, female genital mutilation, AIDS, or civil war? Why do we not see the people who are doing well? Where are this continent's leaders? Why are they not helping their own people? Where are Africa's success stories? Surely, these exist.
There's an imbalance here and it does not bode well for Africa. As the situation sits, Africa is pitied by the world because we rarely hear the positives about the continent. Most of the good stories come when some foreigner rushes in and gives a particular African country or cause monetary assistance, or adopts a child. The continent has been presented as lowly and incapable of helping itself. We sling around the term "third-world country" with impunity in reference to Africa. The continent is the world's charity case, and it's very easy for well-off people to see charity cases as not being equal. And, that's the problem with the (RED) campaign. It reinforces our belief that Africa is not equal to America. As we buy, we think, "Oh, those poor people!" In (RED)'s defense, the manifesto says this is not about charity, but that message can't easily be over-ridden by years of bad press.
The world needs to start paying as much attention to Africa's success stories as it does to its frailties. Who hasn't heard of Nelson Mandela and the overthrow of Apartheid by native South Africans? More positive stories such as these will help to alleviate the perceived inequalities between Africa and the rest of the world. When we start thinking of Africa as noble and dignified, we can purchase our (RED) goods without a simpering pity, but with a sense of fair exchange among the world's compatriots.
As I wrote this piece, it crossed my mind that perhaps I've been ill-informed, that I've missed the good news about Africa, so I googled "africa good news" and was rewarded with an article from the Christian Science Monitor dated May26, 2005. It's called, "Africans ask: 'Why isn't anyone telling the good news?'" I could not have asked for a more relevant article. As the article is over a year old, there's still work to be done in boosting Africa's image.
If I sound a tinge cynical, it's not because I don't think the cause is worthy. Absolutely, it is. But, I'm not sure encouraging Americans to consume more is the best way to go about it. The T-shirts are cute and one of the pairs of Chuck Taylor tennis shoes available from Converse (one of the sponsors of the cause) is made of African mud cloth. Bono said that much of the stuff is made in Africa, so people there are working toward their cure.
Here's my frustration: Why is it that practically the only images we ever see of Africa are of bone-crushing poverty, starvation, female genital mutilation, AIDS, or civil war? Why do we not see the people who are doing well? Where are this continent's leaders? Why are they not helping their own people? Where are Africa's success stories? Surely, these exist.
There's an imbalance here and it does not bode well for Africa. As the situation sits, Africa is pitied by the world because we rarely hear the positives about the continent. Most of the good stories come when some foreigner rushes in and gives a particular African country or cause monetary assistance, or adopts a child. The continent has been presented as lowly and incapable of helping itself. We sling around the term "third-world country" with impunity in reference to Africa. The continent is the world's charity case, and it's very easy for well-off people to see charity cases as not being equal. And, that's the problem with the (RED) campaign. It reinforces our belief that Africa is not equal to America. As we buy, we think, "Oh, those poor people!" In (RED)'s defense, the manifesto says this is not about charity, but that message can't easily be over-ridden by years of bad press.
The world needs to start paying as much attention to Africa's success stories as it does to its frailties. Who hasn't heard of Nelson Mandela and the overthrow of Apartheid by native South Africans? More positive stories such as these will help to alleviate the perceived inequalities between Africa and the rest of the world. When we start thinking of Africa as noble and dignified, we can purchase our (RED) goods without a simpering pity, but with a sense of fair exchange among the world's compatriots.
As I wrote this piece, it crossed my mind that perhaps I've been ill-informed, that I've missed the good news about Africa, so I googled "africa good news" and was rewarded with an article from the Christian Science Monitor dated May26, 2005. It's called, "Africans ask: 'Why isn't anyone telling the good news?'" I could not have asked for a more relevant article. As the article is over a year old, there's still work to be done in boosting Africa's image.
Labels: africa, aids, bono, clothing, oprah, poor, red
