Passion projects

Passion projects are vital for creatives.

So often it's a passion project that catapults one’s career forward.

Other times they can expand our creative horizon, helping us to find a new passion or calling.

When I think about the countless inspiring talks I've heard from creatives, whether it’s a TED Talk, or a presentation at a design conference—many share a common theme revolving around some random passion project the person felt compelled to undertake.

Explore your curiosities.

How to learn anything

1. Decide specifically what you want to be able to do after learning.

2. Break down the skill into smaller pieces.

3. Get 3-5 sources to learn from.

4. Remove distractions (TV, phone, etc.).

5. Practice the most important things—don’t get caught up in minutia.

6. Learn just enough so you can practice and self-correct.

7. Practice at least 20 hours total.

8. Emotions, not intellectual abilities, are often the main obstacle—so push through those feelings of inadequacy that would prevent you from practicing.

These are my notes on the Tedx Talk, The first 20 hours – how to learn anything, by Josh Kaufman.

More on ideas

Put as many of them out into the world as you dare.

Yes, some of them may fall short of your standards.

But the more you create, the more you will relate to those around you.

Don't you know?

There are those with hearts microscopic, who create just to profit.

They don't hesitate. They copulate without protection.

Without affection, or concern.

Yours can be the counterweight, and then some.

It's your turn.

Go forth and populate.

On ideas

Don't prejudge your ideas.

Foster them as you would your children.

Mold and discipline them in private, and when they are ready, present them confidently to the world with their heads held high.

Once they've been released, do not ridicule and belittle them.

Remember: they're not even really yours—they simply passed through you as a vessel.

Space to think

There’s a reason why some of our best ideas come in the shower.

We’re tuning into our vast creativity instead of regularly scheduled programming.

We’re inquiring within, instead of being overly reliant on good ol’ Uncle Google.

Allow yourself time free from YouTube, podcasts, music, social media, TV, audiobooks, texting, and phone calls.

Drive with the stereo turned off every once in a while.

Put the phone down.

Use the time to think about whatever it is that is most pressing to you. When your mind wanders, return it to the topic at hand.

Or, simply allow your mind to go where it may.

I am often amazed by the creative sparks that are ignited and the solutions that spring forth even in short spurts of silent inquiry.

Be still. Sit in silence. Go within.

Impending dread

For many of us, as time off from work dwindles, that old familiar feeling starts to creep back in.

Dread.

Not because we hate our jobs.

But perhaps because all of the sweat we pour into each workday goes toward fueling someone else’s dream.

So, what to do?

Either find a way to integrate more of your passion into your job, or find a way to make a living out of your passion.

Eau de desperation

I can smell it from across the room, can't you?

You arrive at the website and the clock is ticking.

23 minutes, 57 seconds remaining for the big sale…oh snap!

But wait.

Didn't it say that last night when you checked the site too?

Yeah, yeah—urgency motivates buyers.

But don't be that guy.

Create real urgency.

Again, good Kickstarter campaigns are the blueprint for this.

A deadline to hit X amount of presales, otherwise it doesn't make sense to do it.

A deadline to get your name featured in the credits if you invest early.

The simple fact that we're looking to ship the first edition by March 1st, so we need to raise X funds by February 1st to make that happen.

But the desperation of but-wait-there’s-more, limited-time, end-of-webinar false-urgency sales stinks and, friend, you're better than that.

Get that stench off you.

Can I kick it?

Maybe I'm just a faithful millennial, but I'm a sucker for a good Kickstarter campaign.

You know, one that offers the holy quaternity:

1. An intriguing product

2. A likable entrepreneur

3. A low enough entry price

4. Enticing rewards

Such a campaign stands in stark juxtaposition to the blackout scenario I mentioned yesterday.

The incentive to act is clear: if you don't contribute, this surely life-altering product may never exist—the clock is ticking! And, if it does come to exist but you don't get in now, you'll pay extra later, like a big dummy.

The options are laid out clearly:

Tier 1: Send us a little money and receive a hearty pat on the back.

Tier 2: Send a bit more cash, get the thing. *Zelda treasure chest opening SFX plays*

Tier 3: Send more money, get two of the thing / some cool extras.

Tier 4: Send your firstborn child in exchange for a limited-edition, autographed version of the thing, plus an exclusive real-time experience with the protagonist of the campaign.

There's some fudge room there, but you get the idea of the framework.

More importantly, if you're anything like me you can easily locate the exact choice where your budget and desire coincide.

Did I mention the clock is ticking?!

Sorry not sorry, Wikipedia

The other day there was a blackout in our apartment complex.

We knew it wasn’t just our unit because we heard from neighbors in other buildings.

I assumed that whoever needed to be notified had been notified and soon our power would be back up, just like always.

I was right. But it got me thinking.

My assumption that somebody else would do it is a dangerous game to play.

What if no one reported the blackout?

I think I am generally the type of person to respond when life calls for it.

So what made this situation hard to respond to?

I think it boiled down to three things:

1. The strong sense that someone else would take care of it as they always had.

2. The paradox of choice.

3. What's in it for me? / Why bother?

That first reason is also primarily why I’ve never contributed—financially nor editorially—to Wikipedia, despite the consistent and immeasurable utility it's brought me for many years. Selfish as it may sound, they apparently get by just fine without me.

The paradox of choice is the theory that basically says when presented with too many options we'll often choose none. That's exactly what I did with the choices I considered fleetingly—call the landlord? Maintenance? The power company? Or simply opt-out of this adulting pop quiz?

Besides, why worry my head about something that'll reward me equally whether I act or not?

When faced with abstract problems with no clear solution and no clear payoff, we often won’t act.

Keep it dead simple.

Agree to disagree

If everyone agrees.

If nobody has any questions.

If nobody sees any problems.

That’s a problem.

A problem likely due to a culture that doesn’t actively create the space to disagree.

Or a team sorely lacking diversity.

Another one

Is DJ Khaled a talented music producer?

Seriously, I have no clue.

I don't know if he plays a mean bass or keyboard, or—more likely—if he's skilled at sampling and remixing.

What I do know is everything he touches tends to have big positive vibes.

I also know he's associated with massively successful performers that span genres and generations.

So if I were an unknown artist looking to make a feel-good hit, and by some miraculous stroke of luck DJ Khaled called me up to collab, I wouldn't hesitate.

His reputation precedes him.

Even though—besides his famous ad-libs—I don't know his actual contribution to any of the countless chart-topping songs he's credited on.

Craft your voice.

Work with winners.

Shout your name on every project you touch.

Can we talk for a minute?

TikTok irritates me.

It takes something great—like Tevin Campbell's 1993 classic—and reduces it to rapid-fire snippets of everybody and their grandma attempting the death-defying vocal acrobatics executed on the original track.

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a knock on the talent that’s present on the platform—there is an abundance. And frankly, many of the endless supply of versions of Can We Talk I unwittingly heard from Shiba's phone were excellent. Others not so much. But that's not the point!

What kills me every time with TikTok is the instant gratification of it all. Personally, it gives me no gratification at all.

It transforms something wonderful in its full form, into something maddening in short form—and then infinitely loops it like some cruel and unusual, hellish purgatory.

To my sensibilities, it seems like the exact opposite of hearing Lauryn Hill’s wonderfully produced songs stripped down on MTV Unplugged—just her voice, her guitar, and her stories. Or take your pick of just about any Tiny Desk concert or orchestral performance of 8-bit classics—performances that take the original and pay homage by transforming it into something novel.

These types of focused, slow-cooked expressions of creativity leave me inspired and full.

While TikTok’s schizophrenic stream feels like the fast food of the internet, leaving me irritable and regretful, longing for sustenance.

Fear as a compass

What's kept you from your achieving your career goals?

If you look within, you'll probably find that fear has played a major role.

Strive to be courageous, not fearless—as if fearlessness existed anyway. Being fearless, much like never feeling pain, might sound nice to some, but fear and pain exist for important reasons.

Without pain, we would literally lack the sense to remove our hand from the hot stovetop.

Much in the same way, fear exists as a compass of sorts. The key to knowing which way to go is based on the type of fear. There's real fear that tells us to run from a bear and imagined fear or false evidence appearing real.

In our society, nobody's running from bears.

I've found that the more imagined fear I have about something, the greater the value on the other side of that fear.

But, reading a compass requires a certain level of awareness. Self-awareness in the case of fear.

Fear can be so insidious, acting as a huge magnet throwing off our true north, repressing our dreams, leaving us complacent. Clueless as to where our desired destination even is.

Loss of true north requires recalibration. Get back in touch with what truly matters to you.

It's the human equivalent of turning your phone in figure-eights.

Action (not a bag a mouth)

The wise Melinda Livsey once said, you can’t steer an anchored ship.

You’ve gotta be in motion first.

Then you can adjust the sails, steer the ship, or even throw the anchor back down if you’d like.

But the key is movement. Action.

Without action you have no options. You get what you’ve got. Stagnancy creates staleness.

It’s simple: your options increase in direct relation to your action.

More action = more options.

We’re not the same. Good.

Work is no place to discuss religion and politics.

But why?

Because we have widely varying views on such polarizing topics?

Shouldn’t we be mature enough to hold differing opinions and remain civil?

Especially in a time when the benefits of diversity have been made so clear, it seems like there should be room made for disagreements and varying opinions.

Perhaps this culture of avoiding conflict rather than having meaningful conversations is responsible for—amongst other things—meetings where no one engages or asks any questions at the end.

One thing that makes America beautiful and unique is the diversity of cultures coming together. The cultural melting pot.

The goal should never be culture or color blindness. Let’s express, acknowledge, and celebrate each other’s differences instead of pretending we’re all the same.

Note to self:

Don’t worry what the others will think of you.

Push it to the brink.

Be 100% of you.

Explore every last creative yearning.

Don’t let fear prevent you from learning, or growing, exploring nor expressing everything you have within.

Don’t make it perfect, make it begin. Start before your ready.

Do it like Malcolm and Betty, by any, means necessary.

Bury your doubts, bear your soul. Silencio Bruno!

This much I do know: this may seem scary—but is it though?

Isn’t it scarier to inhale your last breath as you imagine a life much merrier, and free, all the things that you now cannot be, but could have been if only you’d been less concerned with impressing others and more concerned with expressing yourself?

Remember to quiet your mind. Put down your phone.

Get comfortable being outside your comfort zone.

Starve your critic.

Feed your soul.

Why bother?

Why bother write and share these posts?

I can think of a few hundred reasons off the top.

A year from now—assuming I can keep up my current pace—I’ll have almost 400 blog posts with my name on them.

That’s hundreds of ideas that came from my mind, plastered on the walls of the internet for current and future collaborators, clients, and employers to find.

Hundreds of reminders to my immediate network about who I am, what I do, how I think, and hopefully some positive impressions about my writing ability, my unmatched intelligence and wit, and my humble demeanor.

Hundreds of reps, building my skills and my confidence to be able to claim the title of writer or author, without hesitation.

Hundreds of shots to offer a bit of insight or inspiration that could make a difference for somebody.

Hundreds of simple reminders that I exist, granting me part-time residence inside your head, rent-free.

In less time than it would take to doomscroll Instagram or Twitter, I’ve brought a new thing into the world that may just make this place a little bit brighter.

So, why not?

Creativity: apply in generous amounts

Creativity branches out and manifests beauty all around me.

Creativity connects. Long lost friends and peers reach out to share their love and connection after seeing my creative offerings. My creativity increases the love I receive. Not just double-tap hearts, but actual love and connection. People—myself included—literally love me more, the more I create.

Creativity is love. A strong embrace of self, manifesting and reflecting back a love from others. Kindred spirits smile, catching a glimpse of a quality within them, now on display by the performer.

Creativity is authenticity. When I create I am sharing my most vital self. My most me self. My truest expression of who I am.

Creativity lowers our guard, freeing our inner artist. It breaks down walls, expanding our world and playfully connecting us with our people.

Bombastic

I wish bombastic had an additional, distinct definition.

Because in my head, when I hear this saucy b-word it belongs in sentences like:

Did you see that play!? Obi just threw down a bombastic dunk all over that man!

—or—

Forgive me for being so forward Miss, but your hair…and that dress…you look absolutely bombastic tonight and somebody had to let you know.

The obvious love child of bomb and fantastic. Bombastic!

One day I’ll understand

Some folks treat their cynicism like acquired wisdom. An absolute truth that they’ve been enlightened to which I—simpleminded, naive, little old me—just haven’t arrived at, yet.

To all those, like me, who’ve had their blessings or bright outlooks casually pissed on by the oh-so wise and helpful passers-by: keep shining.