Digital Marketing, Media, PR Analysis And Insight – The Future Buzz

image credit: victor nuno

Today is the final day of the year 2008. Our society’s numbering of years always bothered me and makes little sense from a logic perspective – it is a system based on culture, not science. This isn’t the 2008th year the planet has been around. Alas, this is what society has decided to use, so we’ll go with it for now.

Also, yesterday was the final day of my 25th year on this by-chance, life-supporting planet we call Earth. Always a retrospective time of year for me, and probably for you as well.

Most bloggers make lists of their most popular posts of the year, but instead of doing that (you can browse the archives here if you’d like) I thought I’d do something different and piece together a few smart/inspirational quotes from several bloggers I’ve been reading this year.

image credit: today is a good day

Is being creative something that can be taught? That’s a question without a simple yes or no answer. The more I experience in life and grow as an artist and writer the more I try and put into concrete terms what conditions are necessary for the best moments of clarity and inspiration. Creativity may not be able to be taught directly, but what I am getting better at is frequently aligning the circumstances of life which foster the greatest chances for true creative expression.

Image Credit: DarkFrame

Inspiration comes in many forms and can strike randomly. Some days we have an abundance of creative energy which comes naturally, other days it’s not so easy. Writing, music, art and design all help me foster internal creativity, and I know you probably feel the same way.

There are a ton of blogs dedicated to inspiration, and while that is not the main theme I write on here, I do enjoy sharing some of my philosophies on life with you from time to time.

I find it extremely useful when other bloggers write quick lists highlighting articles they enjoyed writing because it is pretty easy to miss a post if you follow a lot of blogs.

Here’s my 10 favorite articles on inspiration I’ve written here at The Future Buzz – I hope they help you:

image credit: shoothead

There were alot of great comments on my post awhile ago: your resume is meaningless (and building career security, not job security). Please take a moment to read it if you haven’t, as I want to build upon what I wrote there.

I think this issue is relevant again because of the state of the economy. I get the sense that some people are fearing for their jobs. Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture you should never live a single day of your life with any fear – there is no reason for it. It’s simply not a productive use of life. Not if you want to be remarkable and reach your full potential.

You’ll notice at the bottom of this blog (and many others) a little icon that looks something like this:

This signifies that the work is published under a creative commons license. Click the button and you’ll be taken to the license page – which explains:

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, educators and all content producers easily mark their creative works with the freedoms they want it to carry. Everyone can use Creative Commons to change their copyright terms from “All Rights Reserved” to “Some Rights Reserved.”

image credit: victor nuno

I have a theory. I believe that the ability to make art, whether music, drawing, painting, sculpting – it doesn’t matter what kind – is an inherently human trait.

Anyone who makes the statement “I am not creative” is wrong. Translated, it really means “I never tried”.

I’ve been told I am lucky to have the ability to make music. It’s really not luck at all, I am no more skilled in writing it than you can be. The difference is, I have put forth arduous hours, days, weeks, months and years of my life into it.

We are hard-wired for creativity. It is just a matter of honing it to a specific craft. And, it is perhaps one of the most rewarding feelings you can have — giving life to something original from within yourself to share with the world purely for intrinsic value.

Not convinced you should be an artist yet? Here’s 21 more reasons to consider it:

Simplicity

image credit: gmacorig

Complexity

image credit: victor nuno

Simplicity (or minimalism) is one of the largest movements of the last decade, across industries. It is especially big in the areas of design, music and architecture.

Complexity was a bigger trend during the 80′s and 90′s, especially in art. Electronic and rock music from the 80′s and 90′s had that ‘over the top’ feel to it, where artists were throwing everything and the kitchen sink at their mixes.

image credit: fort photo (via flickr)

Not everyone has passion. Not everyone is moved emotionally by what they do. And, that’s extremely unfortunate. But fortunately, you are not like everyone else.

The winning organizations in every industry are filled with passionate, vocal, active people (also, we have more fun doing what we do). To us, it isn’t even really ‘work’ in the sense that it flows naturally and feels more like creative freedom.

Resumes and some observations

Do you want an average job with average pay? Do you like following the rules? Are you content to settle for mediocre at best? If yes, stop reading here – this article is not for you.

For everyone else, read on.

Take a step back

Taking stock of life, situations and slowing down to look at things carefully from a different perspective is the perfect way to refresh our minds and “clear out our mental ram” so to speak (yes, I love computer analogies).

If you’re reading this, I’ll take a guess that you’re someone who already has goals and direction with life, and already are accomplishing great things. I highly doubt you’re someone who is wasting their life away in front of a TV screen.

But even when we’re experiencing great successes from our hard work, it is vital to analyze where we are spending our precious time and energy, and ensure it is supporting what we want to accomplish as beings with finite lifespans.