Happy F-Day, friends!

 

I’ve noticed this crazy thing happens when I barf my gratitude out into the world – I feel amazing. I get engulfed in a serious case of the warm fuzzies. I’ve got a little card from James Baraz’s Awakening Joy course that says:

“Whatever you think and ponder upon, that will become the inclination of the mind.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d love to turn my mind into a big fuzzy ball of gratitude. At the very least, it sounds adorable. Kind of like a tribble, but better. /nerd alert!

Back when I was writing my Everyone Is Vegan blog more regularly, I did some “Awesome As F**k Fridays,” all about celebrating delicious noms and general awesomeness. And sometimes, I like to compose my own weekly awesome shit gratitude lists. Especially when I’m feeling a bit off. It gets me back on track.

I think it’s time Wordtastic officially got in on the love. Let’s call it Eff Yeah F-days! and, um, barf some EFF YEAH gratitude out into the world. On F-days.

My super-awesome friend Abby wrote a wicked post a while ago about gratitude, and there was one thing that really stuck out for me. She pointed out how shitty it would be if every time we got a gift from someone, instead of saying “thanks,” we just demanded “WHAT ELSE?!”

Yeah, you’d probably get cut-off from gifts, you big nincompoop. So, why do we think it’s ok to do that to life in general? Gimme gimme gimme, what comes next, what’s for dinner, what’s for breakfast tomorrow, what am I doing next weekend, where’s the next interesting blog post, I can’t wait to finish writing this so I can go play outside. Etc. We miss the process for the end product.

Just, stop it. What’s awesome right now? What was awesome this week? Let’s wrap this week up by wrapping ourselves up in a big ol’ snuggie of gratitude and awesome.

I’ll go first:

F-words

Sometimes I like to have a word or a theme that I’m working with. Right now? It’s a few different f-words. And no, not THAT f-word, kittentoes. Well, maybe a little bit.

Focus. Freedom. FUN.

…how about, FAVOURITE?

FRIDAY? YEAH.

ALL THE F WORDS.

FILDI.

 

FILDI? Fuck it, let’s do it.

It’s one of the many Ze Frank-isms I just can’t stop loving lately. You may have noticed my kind of epic love of vlogging and online video. Ze Frank is one of my favourite favourites. At least once a week he drops some bit of wisdom that sticks in my brain like a burr until his next wisdom bomb. Wisbomb? Let’s make that a thing.

I went back to his first new video from a month ago, “An Invocation For Beginnings.” Watch it if you haven’t:

 

The part that really resonates right now, is “there is no need to sharpen my pencils anymore. My pencils are sharp enough. Even the dull ones will make a mark.”

That’s my mantra this week, and probably for a few weeks to come. Getting out of that sticky beginning place, every time we start something new. Moving into that even stickier, I just fucking STARTED, WHAT NOW? place. Oh shit. What if I don’t feel ready?

Fuck it, let’s do it. Thanks, Ze.

What else is on my eff yeah! list this week?

Bike rides, old friends showing up out of the blue just because, early mornings and sunny days, getting grounded in the grass like a damn hippy. Coffee and chewy Montreal-style bagels.

Doing scary stuff even though it’s scary. Doing it BECAUSE it’s scary.

The Avengers. I’m still not over it. Reminding me that I can love films. That sometimes the actual thing can be as good as the hype and the anticipation, that our heroes are our heroes for a reason – because they deliver. I’m looking at you, Joss Whedon.

750words.com – Still inspiring me to write at least 750 words every day, because it’s a game. I’m addicted to that little row of X’s and the way it tells me how many days-long my streak is. Oh yeah, and my adorable little animal badges commemorating certain milestones. I’m a cheetah. You can’t stop my words.

Getting back on track with my video blogging challenges after a week of little lazy doubter voices wreaking havoc on my sanity and productivity.

Finding little bits of inspiration everywhere.

Inside jokes with BFFs. You’ll always be awesome…in our hearts!

And a super spesh shout out to Sally Hope and her TGIF post that inspired me to start this, right now. <3

So, what are you grateful for or madly in love with this week, friends? Tell me. Then go have an amazingtown weekend! And in the words of John Green…best wishes!

 

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“I don’t know how many years on this earth I got left, I’m gonna get real weird with it.” – Frank Reynolds, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

It may not speak to the pinnacle of mental health, but at one time or another I have declared almost every character on the genius comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to be my spirit animal. Frank’s comment, above, results in exclusively dysfunctional behaviour on the show (which is why we love it, no?!) but it’s the sentiment that I admire.

Forget the judgers and the haters, life is short – do what you want.

Uh, oh. I feel a meme-attack coming on…

I DO WHAT I WANT, THOR!

 

Ahem.

Where were we? Right. Getting’ real weird with it. Doing what we want. Being the most authentic version of ourselves that we can be.

Generally, excellent life advice.

Specifically? Fucking amazing marketing advice.

Sometimes I get all ugh-yuck-grody about topics like this.

Like, I’m not selling myself. I’m not a brand. I’m not a commodity. It calls up images of Adbusters or Dark Angel (nerd alert), all barcodes on necks and creepy brainwashing.

There is something we can do, though!

Using This Power For Good, Not Evil!

 

If you’re a solopreneur or a small biz that you are the face of, here’s an unavoidable pro-tip: you ARE the brand.

And that’s a good thing, if you work it to your advantage. Because mostly? You’re not selling a product or a service, you’re selling a lifestyle. You’re selling an experience that someone wants to have or a way they want to be. And how they want to be, if you’re doing it right? Is like you.

Position yourself as the example. As the ideal, as the super-cool-gotta-have-it that your clients/customers/audience are craving.

Let’s grab a brand example to explore this idea – something I use every day, and a brand we’re probably all kiiiiiiiinda familiar with. Apple computers. And iPods. And iPhones. And iPads.

Remember those “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” ads? You wanna be the cute, cool, funny Mac, right, not the kinda bumbling, stuffy PC guy? They have literally personified their brand. And it’s cute, it works. Every other brand out there does this to some degree, whether it’s a celebrity spokesperson, or just an image they portray.

We gravitate towards this marketing technique like fangirls to Michael Fassbender.

I’ll personally be the other part of the example. I’ve had a few different iPods over the years. I have an iPhone. I’ve had an iBook, a MacBook, and I’m currently attached at the finger tips to a new MacBook Pro. My family has had Apple desktop computers exclusively since the early ’90s. Both of my parents still have MacBooks and iPods too.

That’s some serious brand loyalty. If all we cared about were the fastest, newest, cheapest, biggest, whatever-est computers, there would have been some PCs in there somewhere. But no. We’re creative types. We (think, at least) that we’re clever, but we’re not overly tech-saavy. We’re as impressed by how our computing devices look as we are by what they do.

Apple crafts their image and their product to go with this mindset. Even when I can see clear through it, I still gobble it up. They’ve positioned and sold themselves so perfectly as their old “Think Different” ads, that even walking into an indie coffeeshop brimming with 20 other hipsters squinting into silver MBPs I don’t think “lord save me from the sheeple.” Instead, I sigh and think fondly “MY PEOPLE, I HAVE FOUND YOU.”

The fact is, we like that feeling. We like the feeling of fitting in, even if it’s fitting into something that’s supposed to be non-conformist. Or kinda weird.

Brand selection, loyalty, and identification can serve as a shorthand for “this is what I am like,” and “this is what I believe.”

We like community, we like fitting in, and we like being able to identify “our people” in a crowd…whether this is a literal crowd, a bar, a class, or the online community. We gravitate to people who like the same things we do, share our sense of humour, have the same hobbies, dress similarly, or any number of other identifiers.

You might be protesting, you might say “I’m not that shallow,” “I don’t make judgements like that,” orrrrrrrr you may have taken the sensible route and realized I am speaking the truth and you should just go with it. So, put that in your bonnet and go to town. …what?

I’m not saying you do or should view the whole world as high school-style cliques.

What I’m saying is, when you recognize something familiar in someone else, in a brand, in a group, in whatever, you’re naturally going to be attracted to that because you think “they will understand me and I will understand them” and that can make life a whole helluva lot easier.

Ever tried to work with a client or colleague who doesn’t share your sense of humour? Or, even worse, god forbid, doesn’t HAVE a sense of humour?

Painful, right? Probably a lot of misunderstandings. And uncomfortable moments. Disagreements. Awkwardness. Maybe someone ran away screaming, or locked themselves in a supply closet. Ended up with a ball-point lodged somewhere uncomfortable. But I digress.

Now, you’re not always going to be 100% super perfect blissfully happy in everything that you do. Duh. But we can still do our damn-near-best to make things as awesome as they can be.

 

Be as much like YOU as you possibly can BE

 

You’ll attract the clients / audience / people to you who GET YOU the most. And you’ll all be monkeybananas happy about that.

 

Make your personality BIG.

 

Share you quirks and amp up your humour (or lack thereof, to which I must wonder…what are you doing hanging around here? have my shenanigans not bundled you off to the nutfarm yet?). Take the stuff that makes YOU, um, YOU, and emphasize the poop out of it. Just not in obnoxious ways. What we’re not trying to do is convert anyone to our way of thinking. We’re trying to attract the ones who will naturally get us. And hey, if our super-contagious enthusiasm convinces them to try out something they didn’t already share with you? HUZZAH.

 

Use yourself as an example of what you’re selling / talking about.

 

Remember “I am a Mac”? You ARE the lifestyle or experience customers / clients will walk away with after doing biz with you. So, make it look super funtimes awesometown. In a totally authentic way, obviously. But you knew that, right?

Get real weird with it.

 

Emphasize your quirks. My friend Becca, a coach and champion of freedom-seekers everywhere, just wrote a post about how she pees standing up. Yup, you read the right. SHE can pee STANDING UP. That’s how much she values freedom, and living life on her own terms. She’s willing to have the whole internets talk about her amazing stand-up pee-skillz (you did want us to pull that out as the example from your whole site, right Becca?), because it’s a totally memorable and kinda cray example that she’s living the life she’s encouraging others to go for.

I promise, you’ll connect with YOUR. PEOPLE.

 

If they can’t find you, they can’t get excited about all the shit you’ll have in common, or how jokes it’ll be to work with YOU YOU YOU, and not that other boring life coach who hates LOLcats and prefers Pinterest to Tumblr. Or, like, whatever YOUR THING is.

Hell, give potential clients a questionnaire to fill out re: their favourite films / records / books / social media habits, before you even agree to work together.

Actually. Hold up. I think it’s time for me to draft up one of those. …you’ll fill it out, won’t you?

Speaking of getting to know each other better…have you signed up for my ‘list yet? I’m about to revamp how I do things there, so you should probably get in on the behind the scenes goodies. It’ll be even weirder, I promise!

 

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So, I tossed about five blog posts in the last week. Time to make a video instead!

Wordtastic is all about communicating your message in a clever, personality-driven way. So, what the eff does that mean?! Let my face and my mouth words explain it all! It’s the new secret of the internet. Well, I say secret…

 

What do you think? Is vlogging the new blogging? Do you love seeing people’s faces and hearing their mouthwords on the internet?

 

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I watch a lot of YouTube videos. No, I don’t mean cat videos or, like, babies doing funny stuff. I like a good cat video as much as the next guy, but I’m talking about a different kind of YouTube content. The kind most people aren’t even away of (for shame!) What I mean is daily vlogs, comedy sketches, music, and a variety of webseries – all created for YouTube, for the internet.

It all started when a friend introduced me to videos by the vlogbrothers, charlieissocoollike, and nerimon last winter. If you don’t know the vlogbrothers – otherwise known as Hank and John Green – honestly, you’re doing the internet wrong. I could argue the same for My Drunk Kitchen and Ze Frank.

I watch more YouTube content that I do actual TV shows, lately. And that’s a big deal, if you know how much I love quality TV. YouTube is just one of the super rad ways the internet has dismantled the role of any kind of gatekeeper standing in the way of releasing our creative content into the world. A super creative, fun, and inspirational community of epically talented people have taken fierce advantage of this situation.

I want to try this new thing, but…

I’ve been dying to try vlogging out for myself, ever since I became away of the option. I’ve always been a writer, and an occasional visual artist, but it took me a really long time to get over the awkward fear of being in front of a camera. Also the fear of having nothing to say or vlog about.

I’m still working on both of those things, but about three weeks ago I got so tired of not vlogging that I just did it. In fact, I decided to make a short vlog every day for 30 days. I love a good challenge, and figured that was likely a good way to force myself into shedding some camera fear – a serious DIY crash course.

It’s been an amazing experience so far (today is day 18 of 30). I still feel awkward and pit-in-the-stomach-y every day before, during, and after turning the camera on, but it’s not as bad as the first few days. I look forward to it – to the challenge of doing something a bit scary, to pushing myself to get better. It’s an awesome creative project, to push myself to create some little bit of content in this totally new medium every day.

I had a bit of an existential crisis half way through. What am I doing? Why am I doing this?

Watch yesterday’s vlog in which I explain what I came up with:

 

The Best Way To Learn Is To Do

I’m a chronic over-researcher. Otherwise known as the “perfectionist,” we like to learnlearnlearn a knowknowknow before doing something. As if all that book learnin’ and other research can prevent us from screwing up, from failing, and will make sure we get it right the first time.

Thing is, that’s like the worst belief ever. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with being well informed on a subject or activity before you take it on yourself. I would recommend it, in fact (duh). Exceeeeeeept. It can only take you so far.

And then you just have to learn by doing. And probably sucking, failing, screwing up, looking like a bit of a fool for a while until you work out the kinks. But you will.

And then you’ll be doing something awesome.

This lesson is applicable to, like, everything.

It’s been the best tactic I’ve employed in starting up Wordtastic, too.

All the pre-biz-launch prep I did has nothing on actually taking on clients, learning from the process of working with people, writing for them, getting feedback on the process, on my writing, feedback on what they actually need help with.

So.

Is there something you need to just start doing? Somewhere you need to quit the research of a project and start learnin’ by doing?

As for me, I’m going to keep vlogging + video-making way beyond my 30 days. It’s reignited my interest in filmmaking in a big way, and I’ve got some serious ideas taking over here.

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One of the funniest jokes on one of the funniest TV shows ever, Arrested Development, comes in the form of an extended “bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.” It’s left up to your imagination what the colourful stream of hysteria spewing out of Buster’s mouth is. I’ve seen some theories about what is actually said, and it might be damn creative, but it could never be as gut-clenchingly hilarious as that extended bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep was. The second best part, of course, is the repetition of this joke twice in the same episode. But that’s a theory for another day.

The BLEEP is surprising, it’s intriguing – it’s the comedic equivalent of a buttoned-up sexy librarian, showing off some calf in that below-the-knee skirt while leaving everything else to the imagination. But I digress. Ahem.

What the hell does this have to do with creating content for my website, you may be asking?

 

Stop taunting and teasing me with Arrested Development references and sexy librarians. Just get to it already.

Well. It’s this idea of showing off just a little, but not giving it allllllll away.

I’ve seen a few posts around lately in marketing circles suggesting that you should stop finishing your blog posts.

Share part of your idea, and then leave it. Leave it up to the reader’s imagination. Start them down the path… and then leave them to find the rest of the way themselves. Get them thinking. And then ask them to share what they’re thinking.

There’s something interesting going on, in all of these examples.

You’re forced to engage, when something is left out. Forced to use your imagination. We’re so used to just being handed all the information – and don’t forget to memorize it, the quiz will be tomorrow.

 But what do you do when you’re given half a puzzle? A question with no answer? Or better still, an answer with no question? You know, like the answer to life, the universe, and everything – but what the squeedillyspooch was the effing question already?!

Is it frustrating? Is it engaging?

Both?!?

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the brain-tease phenomenon. 

Does it inspire you to creativity, to solving the puzzle, or does it make you want to hurl frustrated abuse?

You are welcome to either or both in the comments, my friends.

 

P.S. Do you like my mad Paintbrush skills? Should I illustrate all my posts thusly? Or just quit this gig and publish my ground-breaking, genre-defying graphic novel already?

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Get out your lab coats – it’s time to talk experimenting.

With your biz. FOR SCIENCE!

I’m a bit of an amateur science nerd. I mean, I’m a full-on nerdface in general, but I totally geek out on stuff like how the 4^th dimension works, and why the universe has, like, no edge, dude.

Since most of my own activities fall into the ‘arts’ side of the creative realm – writing, video-making, occasional forays into visual art and music making – I don’t generally have much opportunity for scientific processes. For experiments. Until… I started thinking about everything as an experiment. Started thinking about business as an experiment. Writing as an experiment. Blogging, Twitter and Facebook as experiments.

It’s helped me get over some of my perfectionist tendencies in a big way. Plus it ups merd-cred like 10 points or more per exercise. Sorry, experiment. 

Some of my experiments have gone like this…

 

I’m going to change the header and tagline of my blog… FOR SCIENCE! I’m going to write this manifesto like poetry instead of prose… FOR SCIENCE! I’m going to use formulaic headlines, I’m not going to use formulaic headlines. I’m going to play with social media “strategy” for the next week. I’m going to make a vlog instead of writing a blog post. FOR SCIENCE. I’m going to put peanut butter on my vegan grilled cheese sandwich… FOR SCIENCE! Wait, what?!

It makes me feel like a mad scientist tinkering in a secret laboratory. And it serves an excellent purpose.

 

Why Should You Experiment With Your Business?

 

Internet users are fickle. Beyond fickle, even. We’re skeptical, we’re always scanning, looking for the next most entertaining thing – and we don’t want to put much effort into it. This means grabbing attention quick and fast is totally key. 

It means headlines are important, it means what your “subscribe” or “buy now” button says is important. It means where you put your subscribe and buy now buttons is really fucking important.

There are tried and tested formulas for these things, like – top right hand corner is a great place for your newsletter opt-in box. So is the bottom of a blog post, as a call-to-action. Buy now or buy here type buttons and banners should be pretty fucking clear. You don’t want anyone to have to figure out how or where to buy something from you.

But. And here’s the but. I know you like buts. Internet users tend to be pretty savvy, too. If it becomes obvious you’re using a formula, if it looks too much like you’re just doing things like everyone else because you should? That’s gonna turn ‘em off like a bucket of ice water in the pants. Well, unless they like that sort of thing.  They might like it as much as you like buts. You never know, I guess. BUT I DIGRESS.

This means, it’s good to switch things up. Just because it worked once, just because it worked for someone else – doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you every time. 

You can go along doing the same thing every time, hoping for the same results, or you can experiment with different ways.

 

Five Guidelines For Mad Scientist Biz Experiments

 

1. Try something. 
2. Remember not be too tied to the results. Experiment out of curiosity, being open to success or failure.
3. Adjust if necessary. Try it again.
4. Keep track of your results.
5. Repeat.

Think of it as science with a side of dharma – an experiment, with no expectations for the outcome.

 

Experimental Examples

 

Try out an emphatic BOOM or BAM for your newsletter opt-in. Ditch the “Seven Reasons You Should Blah Blah Blah”-style headlines, and try something funny, something with cursin’ or cussin’, a pun or a joke. Something that sounds more like how you talk. Or if that’s your norm, try out a numbered list-style post.

Try making a banner to advertise your product or service, instead of just a block of text. Try re-writing your sales copy, even, or renaming a dud-product to see if it sells better.

Experiment. See if you get any more traffic, more readers, more comments, more subscribers, or buyers. If you don’t? Try something else.

Talk to me! Do you experiment with your business or your blog? Or do you just slap something up once and call it done? Have you discovered any better ways to get ‘er done by experimenting? Does it make you crazy too if you think about the universe having no edge?

 

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Imagine you’re at some snazzy fancy party with your BFF. There are some Important People you’d like to meet, do a little shmoozin’ with, and hopefully impress. Maybe you’ll get bonked with the Awesome Opportunity Stick if they take a shine to you.

So, you’re shmoozin’ up a storm, introducing yourselves to Someone Really Awesome + Important, and this happens:

Someone Really Awesome + Important: So, what do you do?

Yourself: Oh, well…I do some stuff. And sometimes I do some things. A little bit of this and that.

SRA+I: Oh. That’s…neat. Who’s your friend?

Yourself: ZOMG THIS IS MY TOTALLY AMAZING FRIEND THE BEST WRITER EVER YOU SHOULD GO TO HER WEBSITE AND SUBSCRIBE TO HER EVERYTHING SHE’S GOING TO BE REALLY FAMOUS AND AWESOME EVERYONE GIVE HER YOUR SUPPORT AND ALSO ALL THE CASH MONIES.

SRA+I: OK HERE YOU GO I JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE THESE SPARE MILLIONS YOUR FRIEND SHOULD HAVE THEM BUT NOT YOU BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT…STUFF…AND THINGS…ARE.

Your Friend: OMG THANKS MY LIFE IS THE BEST NOW.

Yourself: *awkward sad face*

I know, I know. How could I possibly have known exactly what happened to you at that party last night? You know, the one where you talked up your friend and told everyone how amazing they are, while just shrugging nonchalantly when asked about your own job and talents.

Stuff. And things. Because, it’s not nice to brag, is it? So we just kind of mumble some stuff that maybe doesn’t sound so great, and that’s the end of that. But if we get asked to introduce a friend who does something amazing, we will never hesitate to sing an epic in their honour.

And then that Someone Really Awesome + Important We’d Like To Impress, gives all the praise and money to your friend because you, like, basically told them to. While mumbling about your stuff and things.

Well, guess what?

It’s time to be your own horn tootin’ BFF and own your party bio. And your website bio. And your Twitter bio. And your mom’s bio. Oh, ok, fine, we’ll leave your mom out of it. But just remember – so’s your face!

…what?

Tootin’ Your Own Horn

 

You don’t have to do it in a creepy, douchey way. Just be willing to talk about yourself, in a way that sounds exciting.

Actually, just be excited. Be excited about what you do and tell everyone how excited you are and how awesome it is. Just like you would do for your BFF.

Be your own BFF.

 

Guess what will happen when you’re excited about your stuff? People will get excited with you. And then they’ll want to work with you, because you’re exciting. Or, they’ll remember your excitement and the next person they meet who could use your services, they’ll remember your exciting story and tell them about you. BOOM. New business.

It might feel kind of (or completely) awkward to toot your own horn at first, but just remember to be totally genuine and you should manage to stay douche-free.

My rule of thumb here is, if you can’t imagine yourself saying it out loud to someone’s face, don’t write it in your bio. And also, don’t say it to someone’s face.

Imagine yourself at this fancy party. Imagine yourself talking yourself up to new acquaintances. Tell them about the creative and unique way you solve a problem for your clients / customers / audience / cult. Tell them how you do it in that special way only you can…

Then, write that down. Boom. Bio material.

 

Put it in your Twitter profile, on your annoying new Facebook Timeline page (I know how you really feel about Timeline, don’t try to kid me). Expand on it for your website’s bio. Step out of yourself for a few minutes, and get really excited about what you do just like your BFF or your mom might (I know, I know, I didn’t mean it like that).

If you’re feeling super extra awkward and stumped, call up your BFF or a supportive family member and ask them to describe what you do and why they think it’s awesome. Trust me, you’ll feel a bazillion times more pumped up about writing a bio after a little ego boost.

Most of all, remember this:

 

Writing your own bio shouldn’t be hard. It’s important that we love what we do, that we get excited talking about it, that we want to tell our stories. How can we expect anyone else to give a shit if we don’t? I know. Time to start giving a shit, like, yesterday.

Practice: Give it to me in the comments. Pitch yourself like you’re your own BFF.

If you’re feelin’ like you need some bio-writing help ASAP, we should probably talk. I can be your personal horn tootin’ BFF for the day, or the week. If that sounds cool, pop on over here and hit me up.

Coming Soon: How to embrace your inner split personality to construct a better bio; quick questionnaires for easy douchecanoe-free bios. 

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We tend to have pretty abysmally narrow views on what counts as “creative,” and I think for most it tends to fall somewhere in the realm of “the arts.” If you do “art,” you’re creative. If you don’t…eh, you probably do other stuff and you’re not so creative.

I’d like to pick this belief up, smash it in half across my knee, and toss it out a 12-story window. Into a tank of erroneous-belief-eating sharks.

And then start over.

Wikipedia defines creativity in a way I find surprisingly helpful. And, like, obvious?

“Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art, a novel, a joke, etc.) that has some kind of value. What counts as “new” may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as “valuable” is similarly defined in a variety of ways.”

Whoa. Get a load of all that subjectivity.

A product.
A solution.
A joke.
Etc.?

Does this mean…any product? Like, your coaching services? Or any solution? Like…a new mirror frame out of the scrap boards you had lying about?

Yup. Pretty much anything we do that isn’t consuming, or regurgitating what we’ve consumed (ugh, gross, sorry), counts as creative.

Building a business. The whole act, not just some of the little parts, like say the writing – the whole act, is intensely creative. Your whole life, even, if you’re doing it consciously, with purpose – I would consider that creative, a kind of art.

Some of the most creative thinking and innovation happens in the world of science, which on the surface can get dismissed as the antithesis to creativity.

I think we could all do with a little shift in our definition, for the sake of ourselves, our work, and the world around us.

Put on your creativity goggles, and look at the world. Sure, there’s literature, music, film making, painting, dance, “the arts.” But there’s also science, business, gardening + farming, baking, cooking, carpentry, various healing modalities, computer + software design – and the list goes on. Endless inherently creative practices we often don’t consider as such.

If you haven’t guessed it yet, where I’m going with this is:

I want you to see yourself as creative, regardless of what you do. I want you to see the rest of the world as creative, regardless of what it is.

Try it on for size. Trust me, it’ll fit better than the awkward top you bought at H&M for $7 last week. You know the one.

It’s all about perception, which I’ve talked more about over here.

If we shift our perception of something, it tends to shift behaviours. There are probably a few things we all do every day that are actually creative as fuckbuckles, an yet we don’t even realize it. If we can shift our perception, see that we are using some creative energy on a regular basis, we’ll open up the possibility for moremoremore.

This is just a drop in the bucket for the possibilities of creativity-(re)defining. I’m ready to go meta all up in this bitch, and I’d love some input.

Do you have an ingrained definition of creativity? What is it, and do you think it affects whether or not you view yourself as creative?

Think about the last creative thing you did, using the definition above to include everything you do. Does that change your perception of yourself as creative / uncreative in even a small way?

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I find blinding inspiration in the weirdest fucking places.

I tried to resist, for a while. Tried to censor myself, to look for “proper” inspiration. You know the kind. In literature, in everyone’s favourite self-improvement figures, in the Dalai Lama, in artists who worked decades before I was born. The kind of inspirational quotes and lessons you’d sigh and nod sagely about at a poncy dinner party.

Except, well. I don’t go to poncy dinner parties. I might get fired up about some early 20^th century art, but it’s likely to be Duchamp’s urinal…so, that’s not quite the example I was looking for.

I’ve needed to draw long and deep (believe me, that could have been much much worse) from my personal inspiration bucket recently, getting ready to launch this biz. I made a list of Shit That Inspires Me a few weeks ago, and joked on my top secret tumblr about how absurd it was, how it exposes the depths of my mind palace that are often not fit for polite company.

Since this is anything but polite company, I thought I might share. It went a little something like this:

•  I don’t know how many years on this Earth I got left, I’m going to get real weird with it – spirit animal Frank Reynolds
• Fuck You Misha Collins / GISHWHES / rollerskating in tigersuits
• Fucking Cumberbatch is Sherlock and can draw shit too
• That time The Doctor said “did you know, in 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before.”
• THE. BOSS.
• Keep Calm and DFTBA

Even just transcribing this again, it motivates me to DFTBA – “don’t forget to be awesome,” the secret handshake of Hank + John Green, and the nerdfighter community. Oh, and, like, a record label and stuff.

Let yourself be inspired by whatever speaks to you.

So, my question is – what really inspires you? Is it surrealist urinal art, is it painfully talented actors who make you wanna break dishes every time you find out one more reason they’re so goddamn wonderful, is it your favourite song, a line from the dirtiest / funniest sitcom on TV that is technically referring to creepy incest, is it some badass nerdy YouTubers, or is it another blogger?

When I let myself give ‘er and make the list I wanted to make, it worked. It was freeing, it was a little bit ridiculous. I cackle with glee when I glance at it throughout the day, and I want to make my own work better, weirder, funnier, more creative, because of it. It’s personal, and that’s the key. Compiled from the depths of my wonky soul, it’s a Top Five (+1) only I could create (and possibly understand).

I’m pretty sure you need to try it.

Tell me about your unconventional inspiration in the comments. Do you think certain things are “proper” inspiration and others are not? Should it matter, if it fires you up to do your work? Do you think I’m just using this as an excuse to watch episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia under the guise of “getting inspired”?

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