NEWS & DEALS!

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Despair Or Fear

In turbulent times it’s easy to feel a sense of despair or fear. We are living through a period of creative destruction where exponential technologies and global pandemics are changing how we live, work, and create. It can be a bit discombobulating! So what should we do as individual creatives and as a community to adapt to these changes? It starts with our mindset and learning how to develop creative resilience.

The Nobel Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison gave us some great advice on adopting a creative mindset. She said:  

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

Toni Morrison went on to say:

“I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art.”

I was reminded of this idea of chaos leading to creativity after watching a movie recently. The first half of the film was confusing, the viewer was introduced to new characters whose intentions you were unsure of, the story was being told from different perspectives and across different timelines. In the second half of the film, all the threads got pulled together and we ended up with this tapestry of meaning. So the first half is all tension and chaos and then the second half is release and clarity.

Ability To Create And Share Stories

As a keynote speaker, I’m fascinated by storytelling. One of our defining characteristics as Home Sapiens is our ability to create and share stories. It is how we learn, adapt, survives, and thrive. In politics, business, and branding those with the best stories usually win elections, market share, and attention. So why not use this time to write the next chapter of our lives. To be an active participant rather than having things done to us.

As Toni Morrison said this is the time when we go to work. Don’t dwell in self-pity. Instead, ask yourself what can I create today that brings me joy or adds value to the world? What is the ONE thing that I can create before the day is out? It can be as simple as a paragraph or as complex as a product prototype.

Go create

We are humans. We speak. We write. We share stories. We build things. We create.

The stock market is crashing? Go create. The news is all doom and gloom? Go create. People stop buying your work? Go create. People start buying your work? Go create. 

We develop creative resilience by creating, learning, and adapting every day. The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fires.

Now is not the time to be silent. Now is the time when creators like you go to work.