frequency of words

// “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.”//

Ok, so I love the idea of TED. TED stories have the ability to ignite the creative spirit in a pretty radical way. But the 2013 conference and theme have me wondering a little… If TED is trying to recruit “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.” don’t they think that the $7,500 price tag might be a wee bit of a hindrance?

TED has found a way to leverage the creativity and entrepreneurship that this generation longs for and as the Millennial generation begins to step up into new roles of leadership, we are going to need more avenues for creative collaboration and incubation. According to a recent MTV Survey about Millennials: Career 2.0 is about first inventing a job, then doing it….

· 66% of Millennials agree they want to invent their own position at their jobs.

· 60% of Millennials agree “if I can’t find a job I like, I will try and figure out a way to create my own job.”

· 83% of Millennials are “looking for a job where my creativity is valued”

As the Millennial generation leaves college we are facing an increasingly volatile employment situation.. Tell me we haven’t all heard the grim numbers and the whispers about whether people will actually be able to utilize their degrees or shocking! pay off their college loans? But what if we saw these challenges as opportunity? This is the perfect time to network and together come up with creative innovations.

“In a sense, a Millennial entrepreneur is like an uber-Millennial. Millennial entrepreneurs exhibit an amped-up version of many of the traits intrinsic to their generation as a whole — they are even more tech savvy, more empowered and more wound up for success. They have an intense desire to change the world by remixing and reshaping industries to give power to the people instead of to an elite few at the top. As Susan Gregg from online retailer Modcloth notes on her website, “We want to fundamentally change the fashion industry! For so long, creating fashion has been this top-down process.” Modcloth gives fans a voice through its “Be The Buyer” feature, allowing them to vote on potential inventory to be sold on the site.” – Huffington Post

One of the big keys for us is to integrate/mesh the wisdom of the generation that has gone before us with the creative solutions we are feeling called to bring to the table? Social Business/L3C anyone? There is a way. Currently, I am working at Entercom Seattle and it’s pretty crazy because my boss is also an Economics professor.. I can’t even begin to tell you how much this is rocking my world.

“I’m encouraging young people to become social business entrepreneurs and contribute to the world, rather than just making money. Making money is no fun. Contributing to and changing the world is a lot more fun.” - Muhammad Yunus

21 / 03

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It’s Monday! Are you ready to take on the week? I must admit that I am pretty excited about it! Over this past weekend I made some creative choices which I think have positioned me for something exciting, though I am not exactly sure what it is. They are small things, but that is where creativity starts right? Creativity can be just a seed – Muhammad Yunus.

I decided on Friday evening to put my Facebook account on temporary hold. I have several reasons for doing this but one is so I won’t have such an easy outlet for downloading/spewing out what I am thinking. I feel compelled to spend more time honing my thoughts and words.

“It is important to step outside of the box, so you can see what is waiting around the corner, and have the ability to paint a picture for all of those who can’t yet see.”

On Saturday morning, I spent a couple of hours at OddFellows mulling things over, and when I walked away I felt so peaceful. Those kinds of moments are vital, the ones where the world around you just seems to stop. While at OddFellows I read a story about the woman that Madeleine L Engle bequeathed the rights to adapt several of her books. At the time, the woman had been in seminary but immediately quit to attend film school. Are we prepared for such opportunities? Would we be willing to take the risk if an opportunity presented itself?

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin

Outfit:

AllSaints Jacket (finally!)

H&M Scarf

H&M Khaki’s

AllSaints Damisi Boots

photo cred: Elisa Swaty

ps – another one of my small choices was to finally get my hair done the way I had been have been dreaming of.. just when I find the most amazing hair stylist, Pablo at Raven, I find out that he is moving to LA. But who am I to keep him from pursuing his dreams.. I told him that I am very excited because he is seriously talented.

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19 / 03

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I asked myself whether there was not in his soul some deep-rooted instinct of creation, which the circumstances of his life had obscured, but which grew relentlessly, as a cancer may grow in the living tissues, till at last it took possession of his whole being and forced him irresistibly to action.

W Somerset Maugham

17 / 03

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the life of a creative: johanna burke

something about her is reminiscent of Gertrude Stein…. talk about an inspiring living space, and her job…window design for Bergdorf Goodman.

“Every year, just as the holiday season begins, the windows of the big department stores turn into imaginative wonder worlds and Johanna Burke is one of the masterminds behind the spectacle. She welcomed us with open arms and when scheduling a time for the interview she already was in the final production stages of her holiday display at Bergdorf Goodman. With foresight she summoned us to her place just a couple hours before the sun was about to set and invited us to a stunning nature show – certainly also keeping in mind how the lighting will affect the photography.

She was a fantastic host and we literally hung out most of the interview on her couch, enjoyed some sparkling wine and in the end witnessed a stunning sunset from her panoramic window overlooking the East River and Downtown Manhattan. She not only showed us to her wonderful apartment but also walked us through long, spooky concrete corridors of the building – mainly inhabited by artists – to her studio where she was working on the final touches to her holiday windows devoted to the theme „Carnival of the animals“.”

source: freunde von freunden

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16 / 03

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Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. - T.S. Eliot

I can’t figure out if the Economist got a jump start on this idea by creating the Human Potential Summit, which reminds me a lot of TED Talks… Regardless I really enjoyed this!

source: daily good

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04 / 03

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love this! what are you working on these days?

28 / 02

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Commonwealth: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Saints for the Public Welfare and General Good of the City – The Justice Conference

The session presented by Steve Carter was about seeing the people who sit in your pews and chairs, as a blessing for the general welfare and public good of the city. He mentioned how Home Depot has a slogan that the church should adopt “You can do it and we can help” versus what the church usually is known for which is “We can do it and you are going to help”. He shared how people usually talk about the kingdom of God only in ways that relate to Sunday, but the church should be empowering people to go out and have an effect. The church should see itself as a resource to help people see where there calling will have the most effect and connect them to the people who can help them.

How many people in our communities are sitting with a dream? They feel they can only be a part of something if they go to Mexico or lead a life group.”

“People are sitting in the pews and don’t feel like what they have to offer is being encouraged or drawn out in the communities they are in. How are you giving them a picture of what they can do? They need a space to process and talk about these ideas. Example: Redeemer in New York hosted a business plan competition.”

“Pastors should see themselves as recruiters. Tell me about your story.. Let me connect you with… When you are sharing testimonies talk about the Gospel in holistic ways i.e. ‘This is what God is calling me into and this is how I have been encouraged in the community’.”

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. - Michelangelo

“The statue is in there you just have to cut away the dead pieces. The image of God is in everyone, believer of not. See with God’s eyes. Ask God to let you discern and help you draw it out. We were created in the image of God, to be a follower is to create. Many followers of Christ are blocked creatives.”

Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas. – Stephen Pressfield

“The job of leaders and pastors is to give courage and draw out the gift for the benefit and blessing of the city. People will begin to take notice.”

“We want the credit for empowering people. Send them out whether the church get’s the blessing or not. What you truly care about is the city being blessed.”

Strategies:

· Partner/ network with like minded people who have ideas, begin to talk and dream. What are the specific needs of your city and how do the gifts in your church play a role in meeting these needs? Churches should know how to shepherd business owners and creative entrepreneurs.

· Set money aside to bless the city. They give away 10 cents of every dollar they receive. This enables them to breathe life into ideas through capital and mentoring.

· Start young. Example: They started a microfinance program with their high school students. Giving out $1,500, people were so inspired they ended up bringing back in $19,000.

· Founded a community non-profit so that all of the churches could work together, to help eliminate competitiveness by working towards the common good of the community.

· Look for ways to utilize your artists to help tell the story. Stop printing the bulletin. The medium is the message. With our church buildings/etc. what are we saying about how we value: money, creativity, etc.

· Engage in your city’s art walk.

Speaker: Steve Carter the lead pastor of rockharbor fullerton. One of the organizations he talked about was SolidT.

Image source: http://claralieu.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/michelangelos-unfinished-slaves/

27 / 02

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one of my absolute favorite children’s book illustrators and storytellers :) who

hasn’t tried to fix a problem by throwing something at it? if the story doesn’t

pique your interest..you can also get a glimpse of his house here.. and what do ya

know, he lives in Brooklyn. seriously does Brooklyn have a secret hidden magnet

for amazing artists?

ps- also check out: heart in a bottle read by helena bonham carter, lost &

found and the incredible book eating boy.

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23 / 02

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he was born today…

edward gorey + letters = a must have.

“You know far more about me than anyone else in the world.” —Edward Gorey to Peter Neumeyer, 1968

Edward Gorey and Peter Neumeyer met in the summer of 1968. Gorey had been contracted by Addison-Wesley to illustrate Donald and the … , a children’s story written by Neumeyer. On their first encounter, Neumeyer managed to dislocate Gorey’s shoulder when he grabbed his arm to keep him from falling into the ocean. In a hospital waiting room, they pored over Gorey’s drawings for the first time together, and Gorey infused the situation with much hilarity. This was the beginning of an invigorating friendship, fueled by a wealth of letters and postcards that sped between the two men through the fall of 1969.

Those letters, published here for the first time, are remarkable for their quantity and their content. While the creative collaborations of Gorey and Neumeyer centered on children’s books, they held wide-ranging interests; both were erudite, voracious readers, and they sent each other many volumes. Through their discussions of these books, one marvels at the beauty of thoughtful (and merry) discourse driven by intellectual curiosity.

The letters also paint an intimate portrait of Edward Gorey, a man often mischaracterized as macabre or even ghoulish. His gentleness, humility, and brilliance—interwoven with his distinctive humor—shine in each letter; his deft artistic hand is evident on the decorated envelopes addressed to Neumeyer, thirty-eight of which are reproduced here.

During the time of their correspondence, Peter Neumeyer was an assistant professor at Harvard University and then a professor at Stony Brook University in New York. His acumen and compassion, expressed in his discerning, often provocative missives, reveal him to be an ideal creative and intellectual ally for Gorey.

More than anything else, Floating Worlds is the moving memoir of an extraordinary friendship. Gorey wrote that he felt that they were “part of the same family, and I don’t mean just metaphorically. I guess that even more than I think of you as a friend, I think of you as my brother.” Neumeyer stated, “Your letters … your existence has made something of this world that [it] hadn’t the possibility of before.”

Purchase: Amazon

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22 / 02

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image source: honey pie living

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21 / 02

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