Goethe

Loving this post HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST by @austinkleon

So much excellent thinking crammed into 10 precisely crafted points, each of which hits a creative nail squarely on the head. Thanks to Seth Godin for highlighting it in his recent post: The opportunity is here.

A few of my favourite excerpts:

Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of previous ideas.

You have a mother and you have a father. You possess features from both of them, but the sum of you is bigger than their parts. You’re a remix of your mom and dad and all of your ancestors.

Your job is to collect ideas. The best way to collect ideas is to read. Read, read, read, read, read. Read the newspaper. Read the weather. Read the signs on the road. Read the faces of strangers. The more you read, the more you can choose to be influenced by.

So my advice is to find a way to bring your body into your work. Draw on the walls. Stand up when you’re working. Spread things around the table. Use your hands.

Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2: Invite others to wonder with you.

Kurt Vonnegut said it best: “There’s only one rule I know of: goddamn it, you’ve got to be kind.”

As Flaubert said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

In this age of information overload and abundance, those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s important to them.

This should be worth a listen too:

How to steal like an artist, a conversation with Austin Kleon

Keep on keeping on…