mid-week reading :


on the nature of creative culture ... 

"people are secretive with ideas. 'Don't tell them that, they'll take credit for it.' The problems with hoarding is you end up living off your reserves. Eventually you'll become stale.  If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish. Somehow the more you give away the more comes back to you. Ideas are open knowledge. Don't claim ownership. They're not your ideas anyway, they're someone else's."
- Paul Arden, It's Not How Good You Are (on Lifehacker via Anna Allen)

"An artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there’s a difference: hoarders collect indiscriminately, the artist collects selectively. They only collect things that they really love. There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income. I think the same thing is true of our idea incomes. You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with."
One of the best pieces of advice my dad ever gave me is :
 lose your 'mine' mentality

He was talking about greed and consumerism, but I've adopted it as my creative motto.

[ (photo) on film with Nikon n2000 at Portland's Little Bird]

6 comments:

  1. Paul Arden quotes get me every time. I just got that book at Powell's last weekend.

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  2. SO many good points here, Sam. And your dad is smart, I like that advice a lot.

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  3. I love all these little bits you've put together, they fit the issue so well! I really admire the companies that have stood up against SOPA.

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  4. High-five for the GeekSugar shoutout! :)

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    Replies
    1. the fact that you work there has made the Sugar Network my most trusted news source. BBC who?

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  5. your post inspired me and I sent you some link love.
    http://theparachutediaries.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-person.html

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