Category: Write, create, innovate!

Mark Strand and his take on creative action

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Write, create, innovate!

MarkStrand

Mark Strand was one of the most celebrated American poets. He had a very dynamic career, where besides writing poetry, he was accomplished editor, translator, and prose writer.

With very distinctive style in most of his work he dwells on the position of human consciousness, exploring the ideas of the self and life purpose in general.

In 1990 he was named the U.S. Poet Laureate, and along his career he won numerous prizes like  In 1999 he was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection Blizzard of One.

During his 5 decades long career he worked as a Professor at many Universities, encouraging young generations to take the leap and find their career in creative writing and poetry. (source: poetryfoundation.org)

But what’s mostly interesting about Strand are his responses in an interview he had with with psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who during the 1990s interviewed 91 people dedicated to intellectual pursuits about their take on the creative process. Strand believed that creativity is an expression of consciousness itself; that speaks and communicates through human spirit and search for the most exquisite ways to be delivered and brought to daily light. In each and every act of creation Universe is mirroring and proving its own existence:

We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. In some ways, this is getting far afield. I mean, we are — as far as we know —the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. We could even be the universe’s form of consciousness. We might have come along so that the universe could look at itself. I don’t know that, but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of, or that floats around in space. But we’re combined in such a way that we can describe what it’s like to be alive, to be witnesses. Most of our experience is that of being a witness. We see and hear and smell other things. I think being alive is responding.

[When] you’re right in the work, you lose your sense of time, you’re completely enraptured, you’re completely caught up in what you’re doing, and you’re sort of swayed by the possibilities you see in this work. The idea is to be so… so saturated with it that there’s no future or past, it’s just an extended present in which you’re, uh, making meaning. And dismantling meaning, and remaking it. (source: brainpickings.org)

Here Strand’s offers us a different view on the act of creation and that  aligning ourselves with who we truly are, is the only way to find our place in the world – where we can express our full potential. There is no wrong or right, good or bad – we only need to be fully aware of who we are and that moment creation speaks and lives through us.

Keeping Things Whole

by Mark Strand

In a field

I am the absence

of field.

This is

always the case.

Wherever I am

I am what is missing.

When I walk

I part the air

and always

the air moves in   

to fill the spaces

where my body’s been.

We all have reasons

for moving.

I move

to keep things whole.

3 simple truths about your online presence

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites

frank capra

In one of my previous posts I talked about the importance of building your community of supporters, people who share your view of the world and values –your tribe as some refer to it.

And when I think of community, I think in every aspect of it: people in physical community are organized and engaged in certain activities and mostly are oriented towards shared goals, values and trust.

Well, much of that we can apply to our online community as well:

  1. Engagement. For fostering mutual trust we need interaction, honest exchange of information and responsiveness to inflow of new ideas, opinions and views. In every community, communication is a two-direction street, a beating heart of your online presence. No matter how large community you might think you have, empty number without discussion and healthy exchange of ideas is like living in an empty, cold, dark cave when from time to time you stumble upon some living creature, and the only sound returning to you is your echo … I always encourage even having smaller group, but the one that is your real audience, ready to complement your every victory and comfort you in your small omissions…that is warm and feisty; that in the same time can understand you and guide you. One simple way to improve engagement is a call for action. Invite your audience to share their experiences, their views, problems… by honoring them in this way your empty and cold cave is transforming into a warm home, filled with real emotions.
  1. Sharing is caring. In old times, before the internet era, companies were in charge of disseminating information, which means they had better control of what kind of information went into the ether. Now we have a different problem: we are facing the challenge of getting the right information. People are turning to internet and social media to dig up what they need to know. In order for your content to be noticed, It has to be relevant to your audience, that is helpful and contributes to improving their lives in some way; entertaining or provides different experience. That’s why sharing is important. It’s your ritual of giving pieces of your time, knowledge and energy and this type of investment that adds value, is building even stronger connections of trust – among you and your target audience.
  1. Make your message clear and focused as much as possible. In other words, find your writing niche. I like to read poetry, for example. But even in poetry I have preferences: I like long, prose poems, with lot of mythology even Gothic atmosphere entwined. So the writings of Margaret Atwood, W. B. Yeats and Kelly Boyker appeal to me very much. Or surrealist approach to poetry.

So, even in your writing, when you try to be narrow as much as possible, you attract right people. If you write to be liked by everyone-chances are you hardly get noticed. People like to feel special, like you are writing specifically for them or referring to their specific experience. When people identify with the message you are sharing, they like to talk about it, share it further: in simple words – your community is growing.

And of me say the fools:
With my poetry
I violated the sky’s commands.
Said who
Love is
The honor-ravager of the sky?
The sky is my intimate.
It cries if I cry,
Laughs if I laugh
And its stars
Greatens their brilliance
If
One day I fall in love.
What so
If in the name of my beloved I chant,
And like a chestnut tree
In every capital I, her, plant.

Fondness will remain my calling,
Like all prophets.
And infancy, innocence
And purity.
I will write of my beloved’s matters
Till I melt her golden hair
In the sky’s gold.
I am,
And I hope I change not,
A child
Scribbling on the stars’ walls
The way he pleases,
Till the worth of love
In my homeland
Matches that of the air,
And to love dreamers I become
A diction-ary,
And over their lips I become
An A
And a B.

Nizar Qabbani
If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free bimonthly newsletter.

Poetry as an act of prayer, ritual and belief: the case of Slavic Mythology

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, My personal rhyme - from time to time, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

Nordic, Greek and Roman mythologies are very well known and explored in literature – through science fiction and poetry writing, from anthropological, religious and ethnological point of view. Old Slavic mythology is lesser known and popular, yet very rich in folktales, rituals, mythological creatures. It was a part of the belief system that Old Slavs treasured and celebrated: a multi-theist system of Gods, spirits and “lower beings” that influenced each part of their lives. To old Slavs their Gods are the founts of life, power and happiness. Gods, worshiped for millennia gave the meaning to existence, and protective notion to old Slavs. They were celebrated through rituals and songs – similar to many indigenous traditions.

In some remote Balkan regions, these rituals and songs are still present. Probably due to the reason that when old Slavs adopted Christianity, many of the old, Pagan customs found their place in the new belief system, just disguised under another name and purpose. My father, for example used to tell me about the songs and customs that were performed in his village during spring and summer – because peasants believed that it will influence the yield of the harvest and that it will help them to ‘cheer up’ the will of the Gods (like God Perun, that governed thunders and fire). In order to invoke the rain villagers would perform ritual: a girl, called do-do-la wearing a skirt made of fresh green knitted vines and small branches, sings and dances through the streets of the village, stopping at every house, where the hosts sprinkle water on her.

Following and celebrating religious holidays actually still impacts agricultural activities in many Balkan regions.

This poem I wrote below “Raingirl” was inspired by the ‘dodola’ ritual:

The face of the Earth is crunched,

wrinkled in furrows

burrows, like mouths are widely open

towards the sky with prayer for dull clouds.

Bodies of trees are broken and bowed.

Meadows bald,

leafs curled in sears, in the color of hell.

Some of animals can be seen

soulless, crouching on their celebrity red carpets

dreaming of rain.

It’s time for a Raingirl.

You will recognize her as a young maid,

dressed in rugs, with wreath around her head

adorned with wheat, flowers and grass.

Barefoot she would walk across the village,

her long hair trotting after her. She dances

and sings dow-down-la, dow-down-la while

milking her heavenly cows.

An orphan, as such adored among hearths.

Sometimes she would fly over woods and fields,

to awaken blossoms and green parchments,

as messaged by the God of Thunder.

As first drops appear, tree hands, grass blades, uprooted sinews

unroll their palms, tongues,

tired of summer soberness

in hope to imbibe a little bit of milk.

Raingirl smiles and as she suddenly appeared

in same fashion she evanesces in the mist

with her downy flock.

When we will see a raingirl again?

Once the Sun becomes this angry, heavy. In pain.

Our ancestors, not only in Slavic traditions believed that songs and poems do have a tremendous power to help us sustain even the most difficult times – that type of strength we still can nourish inside ourselves.

If you liked this post and you are interested in getting more inspiration for your creativity, sign up for our free bimonthly newsletter.

 

Being multi-creative: a curse or a blessing in disguise?

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

01f/03/arve/g2036/040

This story you are reading  turned out to be longer than I wanted/expected, but it was never intended for bragging about my achievements: on the contrary…

When I was 5 years old I wanted to be a rock star.

That apparently didn’t happen. Then, at age of six I had to be satisfied with short ballet lessons. Soon, already at a school a fling towards poetry was quickly forgotten and “heavy” stuff like math, physics and chemistry took place. I grew up in an environment and belief system that only by being a good pupil/student, hard working in some technical field would only pay off. In high school somehow I got fascinated with magnetic fields,  earthquakes and volcanoes (although in my home country there isn’t almost any). Yet it was interesting scientific field, unexplored enough to satisfy my hunger for knowledge…Strangely enough, due to some circumstances I got a chance to work in the medical field and apply my engineering knowledge in a completely different way! A gratifying experience that introduced me to a whole new world. Nevertheless, I worked in research for several years, when I fell in love with sustainability. Again, my curiosity was awaken and I branched into a PhD research, connecting geophysics, management and sustainability.  And that’s how I led my life until my early thirties. In the meantime I took language courses (English, Italian, Dutch..), dance lessons, ext. I traveled across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Africa..Taught at the University and worked as a consultant for big corporations…As a great fan of mythology I drifted into learning astrology as well, which is still my active hobby…

Then first health issues began to appear (with some I’m still dealing with) and obviously something was wrong. We sometimes pay high prices for our high ambitions, yet something inside  is driving us to move forward. Being multi-creative, curios about the world and having many interests turned out to be both curse and a blessing in disguise, for me. You simply don’t know how to stop, but insights and revelations thrill you all the time; you always feel like you are playing; that you have insatiable need for new and that you have inexhaustible source of energy.

In very interesting post How to Deal with Multipotentialite Burnout,” Wapnick articulates how we may go “too far” in pushing the boundaries of our capacities to keep achieving.

It’s a collapse. Complete mental exhaustion. While most people experience burnout from time to time, creative people who have multiple interests are prone to hitting this point more frequently and more intensely. It makes sense, considering how passionately curious we are, and how easy it is for us to lose ourselves in our projects.”

As much as I am the proponent of creativity, it really can have a dark side – which I have also experienced. And today I would say that the key is balance – as much is for every multi-creative person of great importance to honor each part of their creative soul.

It’s what keeps them alive and empowers them. But not at the expense of health or that something else you need to sacrifice. The timing is also crucial. In my case, if I could do something differently, I would do things at much easier pace.

Often people ask me: “But, don’t you want to specialize in just one field, to become a great expert”? And I say “No. I strive for experience, for taste of something new; there is always a drive to learn something new.”

A common denominator for most of my creative outlets is research and writing. And that’s what I mostly do now, but at much slower pace..and I read a lot of poetry! 🙂

About year and a half ago, poetry silently again entered my life and many things changed for better – even my health since poetry has a healing properties for me. After some time thinking I decided to share my positive experience about poetry in this blog and explore further how it can be beneficial in our stressing work life.

So, if you recognize yourself as a multi-creative person, never neglect your needs. But, instead of ‘everything now and here’, enjoy in your creativity with ease and be compassionate towards yourself; strive for contribution, adding value in what you do, and never shy from learning. It’s a prerequisite for any type of growth.

When  you do things from your soul, you feel a river

moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section, the feeling

disappears.  Don’t let

others lead you.  They may be blind or, worse, vultures.

Reach for the rope

of God.  And what is that?  Putting aside self-will.

Because of willfulness

people sit in jail, the trapped bird’s wings are tied,

fish sizzle in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness.  You’ve seen a magistrate

inflict visible punishment.  Now 

see the invisible.  If you could leave your selfishness, you

would see how you’ve

been torturing your soul.  We are born and live inside black water in a well.

How could we know what an open field of sunlight is? Don’t

insist on going where

you think you want to go.  Ask the way to the spring.  Your

living pieces will form

a harmony.  There is a moving palace that floats in the air

with balconies and clear

water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained

under a single tent.

Rumi

From a struggling creative to a thriving entrepreneur: 3 surprising aspects you need to consider

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!

henrymoore

The truth is: you can be very good at arts or writing – creative, interesting, refreshing, innovative, but if you lack certain business skills, hardly will your art ever get real market attention it deserves. There is a snobbery feeling that surrounds the idea of commercializing arts, hence – if you want to make a living from something that you are passionate about; something that comes from creative action – you have to start from somewhere.

When you think more clearly there are certain traits that accompany both artists and entrepreneurs. Like entrepreneurs, artists usually have a vision and a necessary drive to make that vision reality. On the other hand, having your own business requires certain degree of creativity: how to make your business unique or how to attract and impress customers?

But there are three important areas that I would like to emphasize, which every creative should explore and develop in order to become a successful business owner.

1.Know your limitations

Are you a good strategist? Are you firm in your decisions? How much are you prepared of your valuable time to spend on administrating tedious bureaucratic work and how eager are you to invest in the promotion of your work? Do you like to network or you rather spend hours and hours in your secluded creative space, contemplating your next piece and not having interest in anything else? Because, how at the beginning of your entrepreneurship you answer these questions can determine the course of your business. Many talented artists that succeeded, didn’t succeed by chance – they implemented strategically developed plan and had very clear idea what they needed to do. As an aspiring creative at the beginning you are mostly on your own – how much you invest, determines how much it will pay off later.

2.Be curious and do your research

To turn their work into sellable products, creatives first must know market demands. Do you know your audience? You have to be clear if there is an interest in what you have to offer. Then, do you know the monetary value of your work? Many artists struggle with estimating price range of their products because overvaluing is as much bad as underpricing your work.

3.Build your web of collaborators.

Now, the third aspect allows you to work on the first two simultaneously. You are not the only creative/entrepreneur starting his own business. Mingle, meet & greet similar people who have skills or services that you might lack! You can exchange services and help each other move forward with building the business. You will certainly broaden your network and is also an opportunity for you to promote your products/services.

The key is to find a balance and be persistent. There will be good days, but also bad days. Ideally, as proposed by  The Design Trust creative entrepreneurs should spend around 40% of their time creating, 40% on marketing, 10% on administration and 10% on professional development. Some of these things can be quite overwhelming, but being determined in setting your goals and working on them will help you derive your priorities, day by day, project by project.

3 tips to nail your book presentation

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites

Nicholas-Boothman

When you write a book actually it’s not even the half work done. The most difficult part is yet to come and that is marketing ans selling your book. In this chain of activities, beside writing an amazing book and author bio – there are still significant things you can do to increase the selling prospects of your book: writing a captivating book presentation (synopsis) and giving a splendid pitch!

It can be a very difficult and daunting task since there’s so many things you want to include and you think that everything is equally important.

Now, there are probably some technical rules that you would need to follow, like number of words and paragraphs, (editors and agents will probably have their own requirements when it comes to how long they expect synopses to be) but my writing books so far, taught me that the essence of  book presentation should incorporate three approaches that I’m going to share with you now. It can be applied both to oral presentation and the written synopsis of the book.

It doesn’t matter if you are a fiction or non-fiction writer: many inexperienced authors make a beginners mistake and that is:

  1. Not everything is about them as writers – on the contrary!

Instead of forcing an attitude “me, me, me” and how good your book is, your focus should be on your audience – your potential readers, publisher, book sellers. In your presentation you need people who are listening and reading your stuff to put in the center of the action and make them feel that the presentation and the book in question is addressing them personally.

2. Become a mentor

Put yourself in your reader’s chair: what kind of experience does your book transcends? What your readers can learn? If your goal is to entertain them, what are the attractive points of the book you can emphasize?

Your book presentation shouldn’t be just a short version of already written story/text: make your audience a hero, take them on journey, give them new insights – make them WANT that book. And here, you are only their guide and mentor that navigates them through these new exciting adventures. As a writer, and mentor you’ve already traveled this journey and think of your presentation as a way to pass on the skills and knowledge you acquired.

3. Chose humility as your biggest asset

When you don’t try to steal all the spotlight, your point of view change. You’ll become more humble in understanding and communicating with your audience. While carefully crafting your book presentation, think of the benefits that your audience will get by reading your book; share your knowledge and wisdom in such way that is inviting, attractive and hard to say no to: your story needs to instill confidence, empathy, training, advice, tools or just fun – what ever is the value your book is providing.

I know this is a quite different approach to writing a book presentation/synopsis, yet in my experience it turned out to be very beneficial.

Once you try to think as your potential reader and in your presentation you accentuate what your reader should ‘take from a book’ – everything becomes much easier and clearer.

The Poet’s Manifesto

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, My personal rhyme - from time to time, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites

To set the tone for a year ahead, as an experiment, I’ve decided to post a poem I wrote recently, inspired by some of the poems I’ve read here on WordPress. My poetry is heavy and melancholic, in the form of prose poems and this is quite different and out of my comfort zone 🙂 –  I hope it will motivate you and inspire you in your writing poetry.

The Poet’s Manifesto by Maja S. Todorovic

I am the poet.

You are the poet.

Poetry is everywhere:

in your squinting eyes due to  the bright Sun beams;

in the smell of your first morning coffee;

in the smile of your friend when he sees you;

in the angry voice of your boss, when he teases you;

in the playful butterfly resting on your fingertips;

in the warm, passionate breath on your lover’s lips;

in the barking of your neighbor’s dog;

in the dense fog, heavy autumn rain;

in your unbearable pain.

That’s why you write:

you don’t need to explain,

to confess,

to impress,

anyone, just in vain.

You write because you feel,

you experience,

unsaid, unknown, unseen,

unheard, words unthrown.

You don’t write for adoration

or appreciation.

You don’t write for praise,

someone else to be amazed.

Your poem is your breathing.

Your poem is your existence.

Your poem is your persistence

to continue dreaming.

Words and letters, surprised

gathered here to take off their masks

to let you know:

whenever in doubt –just write!

Your creativity is well disguised.

Sometimes is shy,

encourage it to shine:

– just write!

 

4 simple tips on how to use procrastination productively

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Write, create, innovate!

procrastination

There is always some period of the year, like the holiday season or when we plan/go on a vacation and at that moment simply too much is happening in our lives: work, family, home chores… and we do feel overwhelmed, tired, lack of inspiration and ideas. Yet projects need to be finished, house cleaned, meals cooked…

I have found that in times when too much is going on in my life, my creativity is not on the top of its strengths: I have actually notice that I begin to put off things, postpone for later when ‘I have more time’ and ext. It’s something I call saturation point and procrastination just seems an easy way out. This can also happen when you lack clarity about your project or you might have too many ideas and have problem decision making. So, instead of forcing yourself to do anything, take your time to procrastinate productively – by distancing yourself from the task at hand and finding a perspective you need.

My first tip is to meditate and relax.

When you start to feel anxious about too much things to do or lost in your creative project take 15-20 minutes to relax, deep breathe and meditate, find inner peace; center yourself around your initial idea. What do you want to accomplish? What’s the purpose of the things you are doing? What’s the priority and what can wait?

This will help you regain the confidence you need in your work and you might come up with new ideas how to accomplish your tasks – it’s a great way to get your focus back.

Journaling.

Journaling is also something I like to do – it’s like having a conversation with myself. Putting all of your thoughts, ideas, doubts, frustrations on paper can have not only creative but healing power as well. There are numerous ways how you can use journaling and free writing techniques at your advantage, but really any type of writing can help you unstuck and move forward.

Talk to a friend.

If you have a good friend or a family member that can understand and support you – it’s a good idea to have a chat – open up and look at the situation from someone else’s point of view. Maybe you are missing out on something – listening to different opinions can actually be a creativity booster.

Go outside.

Take a walk. Be present and watch how life effortlessly unfolds: nature is one of the best creativity teachers, inexhaustible source of inspiration and it’s one of the most productive ways to use your procrastination time.

 

3 little secrets of Shakespeare’s huge success

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

shakespeare

William Shakespeare is one of the most famous British  poets and writers. He had quite turbulent and dynamic professional life and all those conditions did influence the quality and trajectory of his work. He was probably already  working as an actor and writer in London when in 1593 theaters become closed due to severe outbreak of the plague.

We can note that as a turning point in his work when he diverts from the business of scriptwriting to the pursuit of art and patronage. Aware that at the moment he can’t pursue his career in theatrical marketplace, he devotes his writings to the eighteen-year-old Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton. Venus and Adonis, and later published Lucrece opens the door for him to position himself as a professional author and to reap wider attention of aristocracy.

These facts reveal Shakespeare’s ability to seize the opportunity and employ his talents and skills in such way that he didn’t let his current conditions limit him in his work – so that’s the first secret of his success: we should always seek and explore different ways to express ourselves – which can ultimately take us to something even greater.

Documents also witness that William Shakespear was in partnership in an acting company in London, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which after the crowning of King James I, in 1603, changes its name to the King’s Men. Shakespear was aware that ‘two heads are smarter than one’ and joint force can lead to much bigger success. From all accounts, the King’s Men company was very popular and the second secret to Shakespear success was his appreciation and awareness of the power of co-creation: that we shouldn’t try always to do everything on our own but rather strive to make meaningful connections and partnerships – which is beneficial for each side involved.

William Shakespeare’s early plays were written in the traditional style for that time – nevertheless he is also very well known for the innovative moments in his writings. Sometimes he would adapt the traditional style to his own needs, using metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn’t always naturally follow the story plot. He didn’t fear using new words in front of the audience like ‘captious’, ‘intenible’, ‘multitudinous’ and ‘incarnadine’ which quickly found their place in the English vocabulary. This explains his third little secret: he didn’t stride from experimentation and innovation. In order to survive in the business world we need to be brave, try new things and take risks.

Surely, even nowadays we can learn a lot from Shakespeare’s entrepreneurial approach to doing business – being that art, management or writing.

(Biography resources: Poetry Foundation and biography.com)

I’ve just stolen your best idea!

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

Elizabeth Gilbert

“How come?” You might ask. “Is it even possible, simultaneously, but independently come to a pretty much same idea?”

It’s a tough question. Yet through history there are many evidences of multiple discoveries, especially in science, where researchers independently came to same conclusions and results. For example, the case of electromagnetism: Joseph Henry, lesser known American scientist and engineer, discovered the electromagnetic phenomenon of self-inductance. He also discovered mutual inductance, independently of Michael Faraday, but Faraday was the first to publish his results. In later years, two scientists did meet and collaborated but in the scientific world Faraday reaped all credits and praise.

Oxygen, chemical element was discovered independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in Uppsala, in 1773 or earlier, and Joseph Priestley in Wiltshire – yet the Priestley took the credits since he managed to publish his work first. Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist, also discovered oxygen in 1775, was the first to recognize it as an element, and coined its name “oxygen” – which comes from a Greek word – meaning “acid-former”.

But this kind of phenomena is not limited to scientific work only. In her newly published book, Elizabeth Gilbert shares her own experience – when two people come to pretty much same idea – even when it comes to writing a novel. She had an amazing story for a novel and she wanted to write it for years. During that time a lot of personal and family changes happened in her life and it simply kept her from completely devoting to writing. And all the time she struggled. One day she accidentally finds out that a friend of hers and a fellow writer, Ann Patchett, came to pretty much same idea about the novel (the plot and geographical location just resembled too much). Her friend manages to publish the story with noticeable success and at that particular moment she new that somehow it wasn’t ‘her novel’ and that idea simply found other and better conditions to flourish. She further notes:

The worst and most destructive conclusion I could’ve drawn was that Ann Patchett had stolen my idea. That would have been absurd, because Ann had never even heard of my idea…People convince themselves that they have been robbed, when they have not, in fact been robbed. Such thinking comes from scarcity  – from a belief that the world is a place of dearth and that there will never be enough of anything to go around.

And I completely agree with this point of view. We do live in the ocean of ideas. Especially in the Internet era we have almost limitless access to acquired knowledge and information resources. And every one of us is a fishermen. Each day, each minute we try to catch new ideas and make them work for us. But like with every fishing process:

  • are we patient enough to wait for the right catch?
  • is our ‘fishing rod’ strong enough to sustain even the biggest catch?
  • and do we have a developed plan what shall we do with our catch – if we are not fast enough it might just jump over the deck back to the sea!

In other words – even coming to a good idea is usually the easy part. But the conditions, our skills, our determination and devotion to a process will ultimately determine if our idea is going to fruition into something valuable or maybe somewhere, in the other part of the world, someone else has invested more energy, time and other resources to implement similar idea. Each idea has to be welcomed, nourished in such conditions that it has all that it needs to grow.

What I truly believe is that the idea cannot be stolen.  Actually that exact fear that we might not be the first is keeping us from our ‘best creative self’. What we can do is to try strategically to position ourselves and our idea and prepare in advance for the work ahead: along the way reexamine our objectives  – it will help us stay on the course with our creative project and make important decisions.