#I like to believe that artists don’t see anyone as truly ugly at face value

[manicpixxiedreambitch]

“Yeah I’d let her smash.”

Okay but would you let her draw you? Would you sit down in front of her and let her study you? Would you let her examine your face, your body, every piece of you as she tries to recreate it? Would you allow her to stare into your face longer than anyone else ever has and would you let her start to notice the very parts of you that you are self conscious of, the parts that you’ve always found comfort in knowing no one is paying close enough attention to you to see these things other than you? Would you let her draw you and watch as she worships every crease, every freckle, every single part of you that makes you look human? Would you let her stare straight into your soul? Would you let her get lost in the image of you? Would you allow her to erase and re draw the same part of you over and over and over again until she can get it right? Would you let her draw you long enough and let her focus on each part of you for so long that she almost forgets what she is drawing? Would you let her fall in love with everything that makes you look like yourself? Would you sit and face the mortifying ordeal of being known so that she might have the lovely experience of seeing you? Would you let her?

#I like to believe that artists don’t see anyone as truly ugly at face value #artists #deep thoughts #poetry? #poetry

[sicklyscribe]

y’all thought I forgot about this one

a good (3) of you really wanted this meta and well. It’s been like. Four years? Anyways. 

‘Stolen Dance’ was on the radio today and it makes me think of Klaus and Care, because I get it mixed up with ‘Dangerous’ and that’s my song for them. Also, Stolen Dance has a line that I THOUGHT was ‘Stolen Paradise’ and it’s ACTUALLY ‘stoned in paradise’ so I USED to get K/C vibes from that. Anyways. Whenever I think of that ship I think of @hairzier, and I remembered that I had given her a teaser of this meta a while back. Before I got home, I had FINALLY constructed a thesis (wow amy what a nerd) for this analysis that I’d tried to write FOREVER ago, but it didn’t have a central focus and it was way too bogged down with me trying to find one as I went along. 

Don’t know what the hell I’m talking about?

The meta is this: Klaus as an artist + Klaus’ relationships with three featured women in his life circa 2010′s. If you came to the fandom late or haven’t ever seen my username, hi, I used to write a ton of TO meta, I Don’t Do Ships Really At All For It. At least, not the ‘big’ ones. I digress. Just -- don’t expect me to bash or gush over any ship, I’m gonna compliment and critique them all. Please avoid or read on accordingly <3

Caroline: The Art

I tried to find my write-up for Sahar from ages ago, because it was clear and concise and exactly what I intended. Oh well. Once more. 

Shippers and Antis pretty much love it and hate it for the same reason: Klaus is so different around her. Well, that and it’s either empowering for Caroline or abusive. Depends on perspective. I am firmly in the camp that every relationship in Klaus’ life during this time period is abusive in some way. What he does to Caroline is particularly messed up, but also particularly kind, in turns. The lightness and puppy-love-ness of Klaus around her was so jarring, is so jarring, because he doesn’t display that behavior for anyone else. He allows himself to be foolishly partial to her, but he also seems to only have selective guilt for the horrors he subjects her to. As a viewer who will bend over backwards to create complexity rather than label something ‘bad writing’, I found that Klaus’ relationships, especially with women, especially with Caroline, are steeped in his relationship with art. 

To Klaus, Caroline is an exquisite work of living art. Pleasing to the eye, challenging to his thoughts, but benign -- safe, and static. More than wanting to ‘own’ her, though, I believe he wants to join her. Make himself into something that compliments her colors and her lines, because the experience of interacting with art is one of the purest joys Klaus knows. In this way, he intimately analyzes her life and feelings, he inserts himself into her narrative, he plays a part that he enjoys -- maybe one, at times, he truly wishes was not a performance. In this way, he adores her, he respects her, but not really as a person, and certainly not as an equal. He values every moment with her, treasures it; lets himself get drunk on it. She’s the Mona Lisa, living, breathing, and bold enough to insult him to his face. When she breaks the frame he makes for her -- when she really challenges him in ways only a person can -- he can only retreat, and lash out. 

And ask for forgiveness with acts of kindness, or material value (he even, incredibly, uses his art to soften her to him, on more than one occasion) -- trying to shift her attention as if she can forget his abuses.  In all: he wants her to enrich his life, not change it. 

Hayley: The Clay

(Or the canvas, or materials, or what have you.)

One of Hayley’s first scenes with Klaus sets her up as a direct foil to Caroline: 

Klaus: Painting is a metaphor for control. Every choice is mine-- the canvas, the color. As a child, I had neither a sense of the world nor my place in it, but art taught me that one's vision can be achieved with sheer force of will. The same is true of life, provided one refuses to let anything stand in one's way.

Hayley: So this is your thing-- show a girl a few mediocre paintings, whine about your childhood, and I swoon and spill all my dirty secrets?

Hayley doesn’t want to see him as a person. Klaus doesn’t really want to see her as a person, either. Eventually, he learns that he has to respect her as a mother, at least, or he will not deserve his daughter. Eventually, he learns to see her as family. But at the core, and I don’t think he ever loses this -- he sees Hayley as his work-in-progress. Potential. Not only to be a strong ally, but to be -- just maybe -- an equal.

Which is annoying for him, because she also happens to be the only person he cannot reliably control, or predict. His only choice is to try to shape her into someone that he can work with. That someone is himself, mostly, but with some key improvements. His tone with her is so often instructive, mentor-ly, a thin veneer above his need for her to be someone he doesn’t have to worry about, damn it! He can understand her so why can’t he control her! 

This kicks into gear, mostly, after Hayley’s transformation. She estranges herself from Elijah, somewhat, and Klaus does not interfere with her spiral into blood and rage because it’s part of the process. He sees himself in her, but not like he saw himself in Marcel. His perspective on Marcel was so tied to fatherhood that he was trying to raise a young Klaus, while in Hayley’s case, he is trying to sculpt her in his image. 

His advice on how to deal with rage, vengeance, and wildness is sincere and from personal experience. His advice on what to do about love? Well, certainly stay with Elijah while it’s convenient for me, but don’t let love blind you to what you need. What we need. What I need. Don’t tell Jackson you slept with my brother -- honesty won’t keep this vital political alliance strong. Don’t forget you’re one of us now. It’s what I would do. 

I guess you could even say that Hayley, while pregnant, was a very different kind of work-in-progress for Klaus that made it near-impossible for him to see her as anything but a thing meant to be changed or cause change. Art, unfinished, and his. 

Camille: The Critic

All of these relationships are unique and powerful in their own ways. I admit I’m partial to the poetry of this one, the radicalness of this one, but again, I don’t really ship it as a romance? Maybe I do, now that I’ve had time away from it, but I don’t ‘stan’ it as ‘otp’. 

This one is obvious. Their ‘art’ scene is straightforward, and kind of cliche. A woman watches a street artist fill a huge canvas. Another passerby notices, and stops to ask her what she thinks. She floors him with her response -- so insightful, so bold, and so compassionate. The clever bartender that Marcel has a crush on just so happens to be a psychologist -- and, he learns later, with a particular, personal empathy for violent and cruel offenders. 

He feels a unique desire to be seen by her, and to be considered by her, in his entirety. Not that he does not want to control what she knows -- obviously -- but that he does not want to put on a single, convenient mask with her to accomplish his ends. He wants to be known, and he wants to know what she thinks of him. 

Again, he does not want any of this to touch him, or change him, really. He begins his Gallery Of Self not by making a therapy appointment but by ‘hiring’ (forcing) her to transcribe his biography (and making her forget everything she knows the moment she leaves his sight). This is safe, and it lets him bring out the masks and the goals and the good and the ugly of him and air them for her reaction. Will he, too, be worthy of empathy? 

Yes. But he’s also worthy of critique. Eventually, he takes baby steps to allowing her to impact his life (to varying degrees throughout all seasons that, in my opinion, make for a shamefully circular set of arcs on the writers’ parts. The point is I saw where they were trying to go with it, and letting Drama of the Week get in the way). Eventually, he makes real appointments. Tells himself he needs to change, somewhat, for Hope’s sake. 

And Camille is the kind of strong, confident woman he can imagine Hope to someday resemble. He wants his daughter to be free from the cycles of Mikaelson abuse, and he wants her to know goodness and have no reason to be evil. And if he is to do that, and if he is to know that Hope, then someone like Camille should be able to look at him and deem him capable. Worthy. Warts and all. He’ll spend time with her because he likes her, because he’s attracted to the beauty in her heart (like Caroline!) -- but he opens himself to her scrutiny because for once in his life he knows he has to change for the better. He knows he has to get help, and, well, the clever bartender seemed to fall into his life at exactly the right time to take in all of his decades and all of his deeds -- piece by piece, movement by movement, style by style, and understand them. Critique them. Maybe with that in mind he can make himself into a work that he can one day show to Hope. 

With that in mind, I can’t help but have a soft spot for those cheesy lines from the very first episode.

Klaus: Do you paint?

Cami: No, but I admire. Every artist has a story, you know.

Klaus: And what do you suppose his story is?

Cami: He's...angry. Dark. Doesn't feel safe and doesn't know what to do about it. He wishes he could control his demons instead of having his demons control him. He's lost. Alone.

Cami: Or maybe he just drank too much tonight. Sorry. Overzealous Psych major.

Klaus: No. I think you were probably right the first time.

@florafaunaandeldritchhorrors @ptonkin @furrydolphin @jungshoook (DID YOU ABANDON THE KLEBEKAH URL REDIRECT????? MOM??????!?!!?!??!?!??!?!!?!!?!??! I JUST CHECKED AND IT’S NOT THERE ANYMORE???? I NEED TO *MOURN* AND YOU JUST DIDN’T *TELL* US??!)

#art in the originals is the ship I stan #anamysis #WOW GUYS LOOK I ACTUALLY DID IT #i could probably add in Aurora to this but hey give me like 2 years okay #no tags this is Special Edition Members Only Content #i wrote this in 1 hour and i've been sitting on this concept for...............longtime #granted the original version would have had a TON more line-by-line analysis but HEY you GET WHAT YOU GET #i seriously didn't realize the Cami section is longer I promise it's not some sort of Sign #it's just I was trying to write this fast and 1. couldn't remember specific Hayley scenes to reference #and 2. I pretty much copy/pasted a lot of my Cami & Hope meta discussions wholesale into this one soooooo more to work with more to write #and 3. I already wrote the caroline one like two other times before this and I kind of felt like I hit the stuff I Really Cared About #in not a lot of words

[shermandelux-blog]

HOW TO NEVER EVER OFFEND ANYONE ONLINE...EVER!!!

***spoiler alert....it's not possible!! so HERE's what to do when the internet  TURNS ON YOU!

So I'm walking out the front door of the brewery the other day and there at the bar was great friend and fellow brewery owner from down the block Damon Moreau of Common Crown Brewery. "How's it going buddy?" I blurt out, happy as always to see fellow brewers in our taproom. The somewhat fatigued look on his face said everything but yet he replied "Well our new beer just launched and social media is EXPLODING right now!!" Well, that's GREAT news I begin to attempt to congratulate him but he stops me in my tracks with a "yeah but NOT in a good way!" The reaction to the name "Cherry Karen Sour” hit fast and hit hard.  Some people were clearly offended by the use of the Karen meme on their cans and accusations of ignorance and racism began to fly. 

From my viewpoint, I thought it was a clever play on a sour beer being named after a sour personality. I've seen enough of the Karen meme vids and GIF's online to get the connection and was truly surprised to see such anger and attacking comments towards them. Of course, I'd witnessed the Karen meme developing over the years since seeing #FuckYouKaren on Reddit YEARS ago. I'd heard the many tales of  "the Karen in the dental chair" when my wife comes home from work. I'd just simply never EVER associated this meme with anything racist. My thoughts on the worst part of the Karen meme was the unfortunate effect on the poor ladies who, despite being incredibly nice, respectful, lovely ladies who DO NOT need to speak to the manager and simply happen to be named "KAREN"!

Growing up a redhead I've certainly dealt with my share of being the TARGET of the internet's "less than flattering" meme's that range from my obvious lack of any semblance of a soul, all the way to people celebrating "kick a ginger day" (thanks south park) essentially mobilizing the world towards an entire day of the year promoting actual ASSAULT on myself and my fellow soul-less Gingers. 

To be clear, I do not think my personal experiences as the target of the latest internet meme excuses ignorance towards other internet meme's. I do wonder, however, how much responsibility we are to shoulder for keeping up to speed with the latest EVOLUTION of a meme? From my ignorant line of sight "Karen" had not yet manifested herself into a racially charged concept causing fear and possible harm to people of colour. 

"Karen" had been making us laugh since 2017 on Reddit but a quick search of Karen on "Know Your Meme" cites that a pretty significant change happened in 2020! May 25th, 2020 to be precise! That day saw the global pandemic collide violently with the killing of George Floyd AS WELL AS the Amy Cooper Central Park incident. Dr. André Brock, associate professor of Black digital culture at Georgia Tech stated "..the viral widespread resonance of “Karen” footage now is the result of an interest convergence where the coronavirus pandemic intersected with collective outrage over police brutality. The weekend that the video of Amy Cooper in Central Park went viral was the same weekend that George Floyd was killed after now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck, suffocating him. The Central Park video only highlighted the extreme violence — and potentially fatal consequences — of a white woman selfishly calling the cops out of spite and professed fear."

That happened May 25th, 2020. 50 days ago at the time of writing this. My point about the timeline of the evolution of the meme is that, as a fellow brewery owner, I can say with certainty that ‘50 days ago’ our friends at Common Crown Brewery would have still thought Karen was funny! They also would have already ordered beer cans labeled with Karen based artwork and they would have been so head down, consumed with keeping their business alive during the pandemic that they would have most likely missed the significance of Karen’s shift over the past weeks. I know i missed it. There's simply no way anyone could convince me that any of the fine folks at Common Crown would ever intentionally offend anyone with their branding and I'm positive that every single person who has ever met them feels the same way. So WHY such a violent and angry outcry towards them? I think Ricky Gervais from his time eating vegan wings on "hot ones" has some relevant insight! 

 The video above is obviously an overgeneralization of this new world we live in but it's also hilariously accurate. When did we become a generation of people swiping endlessly through other people's lives, waiting eagerly for OUR turn to be offended and stoke the internets mob justice flames? In today's day and age, I wouldn't feel safe announcing ANY kind of beliefs online be it political, religious, medical, sexual, etc. The internet is now a terrifying place, ready to attacknat a moments' notice and bully you for announcing that you wanted the Olympics in Calgary, or that you voted for Nenshi, or that you drive a Tesla, or, or, or,....

So NOW what!!?? Imagine you're a small business owner and despite your best efforts to make your customers happy, to make a living doing what you love, and to create a great environment for your staff to call home, you find yourself on the receiving end of the angry internet? Recently my good friend and fellow business owner James Boettcher of Righteous Gelato (the artist formerly known as Fiasco Gelato) found himself in this similar situation. After releasing a Black Lives Matter Gelato the internet backlash was swift. I watched terrified from the sidelines as my good friend and true Canadian LEGEND of an entrepreneur battled his way through a minefield. What started as criticism quickly turned into a pretty savage attack with people assaulting him as a person and as a business owner. It was brutal. And knowing the incredibly high level of intentions that both Righteous Gelato AND Common Crown Brewery uphold in every decision they make, I'm sure more and more people are thinking "when is it going to be ME who makes a mistake? When will I be the target of the internet's wrath? And what will I do when it happens to me?" 

Having caused a few controversial nationally viral stories myself, I'm no stranger to picking a fight and I'm no stranger to spending 24 hours a day for up to a week at a time responding to every single engagement, every single opinion, every single review, and every single media request during these times and I have a few suggestions for you if your turn ever DOES come around!!

1. Take a Deep Breath - Right or Wrong, Good, Bad or Ugly when you find yourself staring down the loaded barrel of an angry internet, the first step is to recognize that these situations are INCREDIBLE opportunities to let the world see who you really are! What you do next will be a defining moment in the history of your business, so take a deep breath and think "how do I let the TRUE spirit of my company's DNA shine through." 

2. Decide COLLECTIVELY on your position - We often react quickly with anger or defensiveness towards a seemingly unjustified criticism aimed at ourselves or our business. And why WOULDN'T we? NO ONE knows how hard we've worked as business owners to get to where we are right?? But that type of thinking is like a biased parent who's kid can do NO WRONG!! Anyone with kids on a sports team knows those parents! They are the WORST and usually have the worst kids! haha. But by involving your entire team to address the situation cooler heads can often prevail and can help a business see the situation from another position. Compassion, sympathy, and understanding of how others see our actions differently than we do is a hard skill to master. It's also perhaps the most important first step in admitting that we may, have truly made a mistake and need to genuinely make things right. Collectively Involving your team members with a less emotional connection to business is a great way to show them your level of respect for their insight as well as arrive at a position that the entire business believes and OWNS!

3. OWN your position...GENUINELY! - The internet can spot a fake a MILE away. Bullshit meters these days are finely tuned to sniff out shallow apologies, or disingenuous attempts to make the situation "go away". As Ricky Gervais stated above, it's OK if people don't agree with your decisions, even if they're MAD at your decisions. But don't waffle. If you were wrong...OWN IT! Apologize and mean it! Here's a sniff test example of whether you own an apology or not: If you apologize online for your actions and then someone posts in support of you that they thought your actions were justified....and you don't CORRECT them? then guess what? YOU'RE NOT SORRY so don't say that you are.

4. Don't delete the thread! - I love reading other business' reviews online! But I never waste my time with the 5-star reviews. I always feel they're either fake or the business owners' parents! either way, there's no value to me reading them. It's the ONE-star reviews that show me how a business responds to the challenges of business and most of THOSE are BS as well. When a bar gets a one-star review because some jackass felt vindictive towards the bartender who "cut him off" for the night. I laugh at the drunk idiot who thinks that bad review of this nature makes ANY negative impact on the business. On the contrary, a witty, clever response to a one-star review of this nature can do wonders for letting the world see your business's personality. And when a REAL one-star review comes in. It's a TRUE opportunity to show how your business is managed and you "right the wrongs". But somehow as business owners, we FEAR the one-star review!! Don't! Trust that the public will read between the lines and make their decision based on all the information. Again, we all have highly tuned bullshit meters, and deleting threads of this nature not only stop the public from gaining the full context of the situation you may find yourself in. It also, more often than not, creates a perception of guilt. If I hear about a company experiencing something similar and I look them and can read the threads I can make my OWN decision on where I stand on the matter. But if the threads have been deleted, I instinctively assume "boy they must have really screwed up!"

5. Don't be intimidated by the volume of the angry - People who "oppose" are ALWAYS louder that those who "support". Just because you've never had this much attention on your social channels and it ALL appears to be negative. You have to know that in general people who support you are much less likely to dive into shark-infested waters with you. However other SHARKS smell blood and are MUCH more likely to join in on the feeding frenzy. I guess it's just not as fun to stick your neck out there when you can safely watch the attack from the shore. Have faith, however, that despite the feeling of helplessness and the isolation of feeling totally alone in these times, there are TONNES of people who will read the posts, perhaps see both sides and potentially send you some support on a private DM, email, or phone call in support of what you're going through REGARDLESS of whether you're right or wrong. OTHER business owners are the friends you need to lean on, or shoulders to cry on during these times. The “swim in the deep end with me” quote from the video above is awesome to me as I’ve sent up the bat signal in my business before and called upon my pal Jim button of Village Brewery to wade into deep waters with me on issues in the past. It meant EVERYTHING to me that he dove in, headfirst with me!  It’s incredibly important to have people around you who, when they believe in your cause, are willing to stand with you on the front lines taking fire while  helping keep the flag in the air! Have those people around but also BE that person when YOU’RE called upon.

6. LEARN, LEARN, and LEARN SOME MORE- Regardless of the situation you've experienced, if you come away without learning and actively attempting to be better moving forward than you're an idiot. The entire WORLD is receiving a crash course on what acceptable behaviour looks like from all corners of humanity. The last few years have exposed a lot of mistakes humanity has made. The #MeToo movement, #BlackLivesMatter, and LGBTQ issues (to name a few) have allowed the world to learn how our past behaviours, past stereotypes, and even past ways of thinking are just not enough anymore. Being truly open to learning about what matters in the lives of those around us is truly eye-opening and incredibly important for loving forward progress of humanity. And without willing hearts, open to the opportunity to LEARN we'll all just be s bunch of angry internet trolls looking for people to attack who don't think the exact same way WE do or vote the same way WE do, etc!!

Finally, My hope for this blog is a call for PASSIONATE understanding and forgiveness. It's OK to be offended and it's OK to let a person or a business know how they've offended. The piece of the puzzle I've seen missing for some time now, however, is understanding and forgiveness. UNDERSTANDING that the initial outward appearance of a can of beer named after "KAREN" does not reflect the INTENTIONS of the great people trying to do great things for our community. But also the FORGIVENESS towards them once the issue has been raised. Most businesses today would stand stunned, eyes wide open, paralyzed in fear, and totally unaware of what to do next when faced with the attacks I've witnessed over the past year. Forgiveness is LIBERATING. It feels GOOD! But it takes empathy and compassion.

Imagine a thread someday where the offender realizes their mistake after reading criticisms they receive online. They regret it. They genuinely apologize. They learn a tonne, become more culturally aware, and the offended parties empathize with them, show them compassion, and openly forgive them for their mistake? Jack Handy probably said it best..."I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world because they'd never expect it"

[gaijinko]

LET’S DO A WEIRD HEADCANON THING.

REPOST DON’T REBLOG !

TAGGED BY: @deathbanchou​ TAGGING: if you wanna do it, go ahead!

1. WHAT THEY SMELL LIKE  /   high-quality perfume, scented soaps and creams -- the smell of these depend on what is in season. fruity? flowery? she is never behind the new products and trends to have the most lovely smell in school. she does not overdo it but a mere whiff can denote a faint scent of whatever new perfume came out. her favourite choices would be orange and peach, though. nothing too extreme, even when she adores being flashy. sometimes it’s fine to be subtle and it works wonders since everyone considers it to be just a natural part of her. 

if not wearing anything specific, she has a faint scent of hand cream.

lisa mentions vaguely how aromatherapy is good for constipation ( she isn’t constipated, though! ) so it denotes she actually focuses on its effects and benefits. so one can assume this is one of her resources. in a general basis she does not like strong smells like of cologne and overly strong perfumes, instead going for the most subtle scents. since she can be quite sensitive to those, she can gag and that is quite the unsightly show. 

2. HOW THEY SLEEP (SLEEPING POSITION, SCHEDULE, ETC) /  lisa does not have a decent sleep schedule at all. discipline and responsibility are expected from her so it’s a given she would run in the opposite end. she no longer does this but she used to arrive home at late hours of the night after returning from her activities. which came with the downside of sleeping almost nothing and having to be up for school in a few hours. she surprisingly did not skip class but arrived late at times. so in a sense, it showed she valued her 8hrs of sleep and understood the importance of sleeping properly. 

simply, she sometimes adjusted it to her own schedule which did not fit with her parents and teachers.

when it came to her sleeping comfort, it variated. she can sleep with her clothes on and not cover herself at all. others, she will actually wear pajamas and swim into her blankets. surrounded by pillows, plushies and her two cats. she has a regular bed though she owns a futon, which she refuses using. she considers them uncomfortable and ugly. she acquired her mattress after insisting how much she hated sleeping on the floor.

in position, she must be hugging something. a plushie, her pillow or even one of the cats. she will curl up to herself and hold onto anything within reach. it’s a little odd and nobody knows about this but it’s one of her little pleasures in life.

3. WHAT MUSIC THEY ENJOY  /   when it comes to lisa, it’s more about what she dislikes. she can admit disliking enka and pop music, so it shows she isn’t enjoying a lot of what is popular but will put with the latter for the sake of appearances.

she has no actual preference for music and she will agree on whatever is popular at the time. her knowledge is shallow at best but she does an effort to have an idea of whatever others are listening now. she will go to concerts, clubs, karaokes and sing along when others break into a song, etc. she simply has no real taste and formulated opinion on music. oh, that artist is so hot, isn’t he? or, have you heard of the scandal from X idol group?

she will enjoy cheesy love songs, regardless of the artist. but other than that? she cannot pinpoint her favourite artist, group or genre. she listens to what other people will approve of and does so successfully. in her personal time, though, she will listen to the soundtracks of her kung fu movies and obscure cantonese artists. 

4. HOW MUCH TIME THEY SPEND GETTING READY EVERY MORNING  /   she takes her sweet time. one hour to shower, one hour to get ready and eat breakfast. she is diligent in this process, since it depends on this how successful her day will be. which is why she would prefer arriving late to class than messing up her morning ritual. shower, drying hair, face mask and make up. she will do everything possible to show up refreshed, well-rested and ready for the day. nowadays she has more time to sleep and can follow this without going late to school, which has highly favoured her charming temper toward others. 

5. THEIR FAVORITE THING TO COLLECT  /  clothes! she loves fashion and while it can seem like one of her shallow interests, she does sincerely enjoy collecting pieces and bits of fashion lines. anything that her allowance can afford will go immediately into her closet, regardless of if she will use it or not since she loves having coordinated outfits for every season! her closet is a disaster but can dress out a whole classroom if she wanted to.

she is also not outside of having her very cherished haul of kung fu movies. still packaged and lovingly showcased on her shelf. as her cherished possessions, she won’t touch those and instead has one haul for watching and one for collection purpose alone. 

6. LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED / a hard one but i will go for right handed. fail attempt at ambidextrous. she leans on the fact that her hands are more for punching. she truly is a gallant lady...

7. RELIGION (IF ANY)  /  her parents were raised christian but converted to shinto-buddhism, so she was raised through those beliefs. they are very devoted as it is part of that wonderful japanese culture they love, so of course they must teach her daughter how important this is. in her rebellion, she has gone against every bit she was taught while growing up. she has no real religious affiliation to anything, but mostly as she has not really sat and thought about what she wants to believe in. she is a teenager, so prefers leaving that heavy stuff for those that actually care. 

8. FAVORITE TOURISTY THING TO DO WHEN TRAVELING  /   again, it all depends on what’s popular in the area she is visiting. though in this case, she can be picky for the sake of her sanity. tourist spots mean not only japanese tourists but also american tourists and she fervently avoids confronting english speakers. she will prefer restaurants and clubs, rather than monuments and museums. something more regular that will save her from seeing another americans, you know? she cannot avoid them forever but trying doesn’t hurt anyone.

9. FAVORITE KIND OF WEATHER  /   MILD WEATHER. spring has the perfect sort of weather. it reeks of romance with the cherry blossom trees and subtle breezes on morning, with that bright and comforting sun. of course, that is the ideal and you cannot have everything you ask for. but she really enjoys the calmness of a quiet spring breeze, be it at night or morning. 

10. A WEIRD / OBSCURE FEAR THEY HAVE  /  it is not obscure or weird, not in her opinion. lisa is afraid of everyone’s expectations toward her and not having an identity of her own. 

for example, she hates and wants to avoid american tourists through and through. she cannot speak english and is very self-conscious about it, since it’s an expectation of others to see the obviously american kid from stupidly american parents speak english. it should be a given and yet, she does not know a lick of it. maybe vague words at best. her grammar leaves plenty to desire and even more so her pronunciation. if anything, she struggles with the subject and is a very poor speaker as opposed to her great grades in japanese ( surprise ) and literature. the notion of how she should know and others firmly believe she must know is a constant struggle. everyone assumes without asking and of course, she does not deny it. 

and that is the cherry on the cake of her life problems. 

so here she is, the american kid being a complete mockery of her own stereotype but letting everyone think she is what they think. she can’t be japanese ( she doesn’t look like one but she was born here so she is japanese ) but she neither can be american ( despite her blood, roots and name ) so she stands in a strange middle ground as the daughter of naturalised parents. her identity is almost non-existent and everyone thinks of lisa whatever they want and whatever suits them best. in one side, her parents seek for her to be the perfect japanese daughter. in the other hand, she is the exotic and wild american in the eyes of her classmates. both are wrong so she fights plenty to find something of her own, something that can separate her entirely from whatever idealised image people have of who is lisa silverman. 

she has done everything in her might to break the expectations placed on her. from compensated dating, drugs to her current hobbies: kung-fu and cantonese. so that is a big step and little by little, she has managed to speak up about her struggles...

11. THE CARNIVAL / ARCADE GAME THEY ALWAYS WIN WITHOUT FAIL  /  as she is a big fan of dancing, one can picture her being a strong contender in DDR and games of a similar feature. she is surprisingly good at memorising steps and having great scores and she sincerely enjoys playing and boasting her success. though her friends are not that into it, she will gladly spare time of her day to play by herself.

#BEARING IN MY CHEST A STRONG HEART ♡ HEADCANON 】 #SEDUCE ♡ OOC 】 #this got so stupidly long lmao.

[chronikkally]

THE KH FANDOM IS TOXIC THAT'S WHY...

This is to an artist I wrote an article talking about. Basically a little something about me and pedophilia. She’s 19 or 20 and I don’t like her. I don’t like her or the girl that accused me of being a pedophile over art. But this was so confusing and I didn’t want to argue with someone that young. I’m 21. I should know better but this was another case of Not knowing all the facts. 

I will start it off. Like this,  this was last year mind you. I have an imvu account. I’m always off and on imvu. Creating an account. Deleting. I actually enjoy that site because of the avatars. 

And I started my first time on imvu,  when I was in elementry. I think,  maybe middle school. 

Imvu is a chat website with 3D avatars in a virtual reality. The site is between good and bad. It’s a 50/50 win or lose type of thing. But last year,  back when I had my laptop working. I had an account and got back on it. I was bored and I decided to play with this new upgrade to the chat. 

It worked like tinder! I wasn’t planning to date anyone because at the time I was in a so called relationship. Previously I was on a dating website,  badoo. Bad choice,  don’t do it. 

This artist on tumblr. Draws Xaldin from Kingdom Hearts with Lexaeus. She’s lesibian. Not important but to me it was and she had the stupidest reason behind this thing I shall explain. 

She accused me of fetishizing,  an Iranian. So,  I’m swiping on these avatars on imvu. And I come across this guy who doesn’t have an avatar, it’s his face and I’m like he’s kinda ugly but his nose is cute. The thing I notice about guys is their nose. Now,  I will admit this. Which is accurate. 

If there was anything I truly was fetishizing. It was white men! And I still feel bad and no longer like white guys,  in a sexual nature,  they have weird dicks. Another reminder I am black. POC. Brown. African american. Whatever. I’m a nigga. 

At the time when I swiped right on this boy who was 24 on his profile. He’s 25 now. Moments later he sent me a message and I didn’t think anyone would swipe on my card so this was surprising. 

I didn’t  get on imvu to date because I thought a boy named Tony Holt was my boyfriend. He said he cuffed me and I believed it. I was wrong. He said he liked black girls but in that way,  you know actually fetishizing. 

He messages me and says,  my interest are funny. And I like making people laugh it gives me good vibes. So I say, I try my best. Eventually he invited me into a private chat and I accepted. 

I was nervous as hell because like I said imvu is 50/50 you have some really messed up guys on there. And the last time, some really weird and ugly white dude started kissing all over my avatar like no tomorrow asking if I loved him. So this nice man and I’m saying man because he was one. The first thing he said,  would you date a Chinese man? 

I was so confused and I moved avatar as far from him to simulate this weird behavior. I wasn’t trying to date him. I ask,  are you Chinese? He goes,  I’m Iranian. Me: Then why did you ask? Him: I was trying to be funny And goddammit  if he wasn’t. 

I didn’t know he was Iranian. Nor did I care. It wouldn’t have made a difference if he was or not! 

What really made me swipe right. Was because in his card he said he wanted an intellectual conversation with someone. Me,  I like to talk,  that’s all I wanted. 

I ended up moving my avatar to the couch in the private chat but there was still space between our avatars. 

He introduces himself. I give him my name. He was confused to why I thought, the first thing he wanted to do was date. Because I was away from his avatar. I remembered being a bit mean. He asked,  why are you way over there and I snapped and said this is the not too fucking fast position because the last time somebody put me in a private chat THEY ASKED ME RIGHT OFF THE BACK DO I LOVE THEM AFTER KISSING MY AVATAR. 

I remember words like, I don’t bite. And not going to lie. I was smiling because it was cute and I was nervous like. 

But when I moved my avatar we talked and it was the best shit ever. Realizing I was having a conversation with somebody that knew shit and wasn’t a dumb ass. I was high. 

He asked me about the president and his policies and I said something like fuck him. And he’s surprised. He goes,  you don’t like your president? I said fuck no! 

The conversation is going. I find out he has an illness. I have an illness I asked how he felt in Canada and asked if he faced any decrimination and I really don’t understand why there is a hatred towards middle eastern people. And the last middle eastern that spoke to me was on tinder. I think he said he was Iraqi. And I feel bad for that. I dogde the shit out of Arab men. Out of respect! I would hate to have an Arab boyfriend and both our families are like why you bring an A-RAB home (my dad) and his family is like what the fuck did you bring home? 

Because not everyone is open minded to their children dating outside their race. I hold middle eastern men to a high regard. Like respect the shit out of them. By not talking to them in fear I sound like a racist uneducated ghetto mess! It’s like,  you’re a smart man please leave a poor black woman to her slave duties, sir. But the one on tinder was confusing like are you here for sex or a date? And I wasn’t into the whole sex thing. So I ducked and dodged. On imvu,  I love Capricorns! I don’t know why. He was a Capricorn. And I was all FUCK YEAH. And I had made him laugh talking about dick because dudes send me ugly dick pictures and I lie to them. I said something about black guy’s dicks changing color and he shared a story how a chick he was dating was real conceited. 

My favorite thing. We talked. Laughed and joked. Eventually this huge feeling comes over me. And I wanted to really know him. I was interested as fuck. And last time I spoke with him,  it was real short. I messaged him on imvu and he was willing but… Ugh I can’t get that back. Even if he changed his relationship status to in a relationship and I was confused as to why. Because I’m a grandma. If you don’t ask me. Nigga I guess you not interested and I don’t play games so… 

Tony Holt came back from working on a rig and all hell broke lose. I think I hurt him. He unfriended me and that hurt me. I still like him. But at the same time. I’m confused,  I don’t know if it’s pity or that rich Arab hospitality. One of those,  Imma be nice but I don’t like you…ANYMORE BECAUSE HE FUCKING CALLED ME DEAR THE SECOND TIME WE CHATTED. And I’m not going to force him to be with me. Never. But my actions hurt. And I don’t want to slip into another relationship now. 

If this is about wanting to date outside my race however. That is the stupidest thing. Rihanna is courting a Saudi! Brittany Spears is courted by an IRANI. AND A DAMN KARDASHIAN IS WITH A MIDDLE EASTERN. So two white heterosexual women and one black Caribbean can do it. But my black ass can’t? 

I tried to date outside my race multiple times. What I fetishized were white men!  And If I was really fetishizing, I would like a fucking middle eastern to message me and curse me the fuck out then some ass kissing self entiled brat. I don’t like her. She’s 19 and full of shit. Talking about,  I draw Arabs and write about them. 

NIGGA. 

I HAVE A SYRAIN MALE CHARACTER WHO HAS SEVERAL BROTHERS. AND A SISTER AND THEN THERE WAS THE TIME I HAD A CHARACTER FROM YEMEN. FICTIONAL CHARACTERS ARE NOT REAL. 

THEY DO NOT HOLD THE SAME VALUES AS A TANGIBLE MOTHERFUCKER. I said a Desi/Arabic woman was super fucking beautiful and thick and I don’t know if it was lesbianism or I was jealous as fuck. I had a stroke and she came into my room while I was in recovery and I just lost my damn voice. Plus. Why are you so concerned with what I reblog? I reblogged Arabic men one time. Some of them were shirtless. They looked good. Maybe the reason I did it was inappropriate but they were good looking men! And some were gay asf. 

Oh look at this happy gay Arabic couple. They look so comfortable. You see gay men just hug and suddenly get happy? I don’t know why but seeing guys have this. I’m envious. Because I want a dick and hate my vagina. I’m a transexual? I do not care for my lady parts. 

Like what ever the argument is… It’s stupid. Your art doesn’t carry the same shit as an actual middle eastern who comes to America or Canada. They out here getting called all sorts of shit. 

You draw a hajabi girl and she gets her hajabi ripped off in your fictional world. You don’t go to an actual breathing tangible hajabi girl and try to relate your fictional shit to her actual pain. 

A scenario: Hajabi: Some guy snatched my hajab off An artist: Well,  my character Shahira Mohammed got her hajab ripped off her head too. 

Scenerio two: Black people: I got called a nigger, I’m  biracial An artist: I have a character that’s a slave,  so I totally understand. 

Scenerio three: Jewish people: I was just breathing when somebody threw money at me and called me a Jew face An artist: I totally understand. Yousef was called a Jesus killer in Chapter eight. It hurt so much  to write that. 

I still like Ahmad. Him being Iranian doesn’t mean shit to me. But I’ll punch a nigga for him. Middle easterners and Jewish people get the dumbest hate. ‘Oh well,  middle easterners uh,  9/11’

One person. Not a whole nation. 

‘Jews love money’

First off. Don’t be mad at somebody Jewish for getting off their ass and going to work because you sat down and scratched your ass all day. But please tell me I’m fetishizing. 

How the fuck is it okay for some goddamn lesibian of 19 fucking years old. Find it remotely acceptable to draw gay fictional characters in yaoi scenerio if yaoi is also the art of hypersexualized homosexuality. 

Because if that doesn’t mean the same damn thing then I might have a second goddamn stroke and I don’t want to die. That’s hypocrisy. Lesibians get the fetishizing thing, too when two homosexual girls are caught in public and a heterosexual man comes and sees they wanna instantly have a three way. 

But clearly you don’t understand this. And instead you want to focus on POC, like middle easterners can’t speak the fuck up. If I was doing wrong,  why the hell didn’t somebody that was Arabic not come and tell me after all the shit I reblogged. Can you please not reblog my shit? Because if they did I would have gotten the fuck rid of it. 

But please explain to my black ass once more how I’m wrong. You fucking brat. You wanna act like an adult be prepared to get talk to like one. No one ever comes out when black women get fetishized. But I guess,  in the harshes reality. 

1) You once upon a time had a crush on some Arab who rejected you and now your gay. 

2) You’re low key fucking racist. You looked through my blog on my now deleted account and ignored that I was a POC who went through this bullshit. And everyone can come after me like. Dude chill she’s 19. Fuck off. She’s reaching a new age of 20 no one is holding your fucking hand through life because you can’t face these things. Grow up. You hurt yourself. Which led to this. I’m not going to let some 19 wannabe important child explain to me what fetishizing is! 

I told Ahmad about this. He laughed,  said it was amusing. Found out he’s short. He has two brothers. Is the middle child. Is a weed smoker. BECAUSE MEDICAL MARIJUANA. 

SHUT THE FUCK 

#kingdom hearts #accusing #‎thegaleandlance #hypocrisy #fetishism #bullshit

[melissahappyplace]

HAPPY PLACE:  Melissa Benefiel

You do not get many chances in life to start again… a fresh beginning!  In March of last year, we sold our home in less than 24 hours and soon our new adventure in Granger, Indian began.  We packed up our lives and our stuff and moved one- hour west.  We have a new home, a few new friends, a new school, new neighbors, new favorite stores and restaurants, and while this is incredibly exciting and positive… its also very overwhelming.  The need for a space of my own, my Happy Place, has never been more important.

When we moved into our current home, several rooms needed immediate attention including our upstairs bathroom that had bright blue and purple paint with a surfboard border … like we live near water when we indeed do not.  Eventually I painted my daughter’s bedroom, a powder room on the main floor and spent months trying to find a way to update our flooring and kitchen without spending more than we’ll ever see again when we sell our home.  I now understand the reason why so many homes never get updated and the appeal of a turn key home has never been more appreciated. Fortunately, our flooring/kitchen remodel is now almost complete.

This whole moving in and updating process has kept me distracted from the stress of everything outside our home being new and foreign.  A lifelong homebody, I take even more comfort in my new home where I feel safe from the new world around me.  As I venture out more and more into the unknown, my return home has taken on greater importance and makes me feel even more comforted.  There are many rooms in this home that I enjoy  and appreciate, but one room started bringing me more joy than the others early on and has become my Happy Place.

As time went by this summer, I found myself gravitating to the safety and coziness of my home office. I’ve never had an office that wasn’t a bedroom turned office space.   This luxury has become the place I turn to when I want to write, read, reflect and get in a good head space.  I turn on one soft desk light and begin turning my dreams into plans, into a strategy.

My home office is where this blog, Happy Place, became more than a dream.  Its where I get in communion with God as he guides my creative process. I cannot describe writing as anything less than holy.  I’m not a religious person, but I do believe we are never closer to God than when we are using our gifts to create, to make the world a little better, a little more beautiful.  A new friend recently shared that she enjoys my blog because it’s such a positive escape from the division and negativity we currently face in the U.S.  That’s what the Happy Place blog is for me, but I didn’t appreciate that it could serve my readers in a similar manner.  

I was born and raised in Indiana.  I met my husband while getting my master’s degree at Purdue.  I met Jeff at a party I didn’t want to attend.  He was a lowly undergraduate and I was way too sophisticated to go to an undergraduate party.  Fortunately, I ended up having nothing going on that Saturday evening and this party was my only option besides PJs and a movie.  I know its cliché to say this, but bare with me…. I knew the moment I saw him.  At Last, My Love Had Come Along as Etta James sang….  Less than 3 years later we were married and 3 years after that we had our daughter.

Who am I besides who I share my life with … that’s an important question for any woman.  I AM the mom of a 40-year-old in a 14-year-old body and I AM the wife of a quiet, introverted man who works harder than anyone I know. But beyond that?  I am a 42-year-old woman who enjoys writing, reading, and working every day to get closer and closer to living my best life.  

I am at that age where you realize half of your life has come and gone in a flash.  I am no longer under the delusion that this is some sort of dress rehearsal.  I realize that living with intention has never been more important because if I really want my dreams to come true… the clock is TICKING!  This is a curse and a blessing.  When I’m not in a good head space, it fells like panic to the end of the race we call life.  When I am in a good head space, it feels like the awareness I need to get super motivated and turn my dreams into a strategy.

When I’m in my office, I feel like anything is possible.  Any dream can indeed become a reality.  And whenever I begin negative self-talk, I am reminded of what’s possible by two quotes! Right in front of my laptop is a small canvas and written in a chalk like calligraphy is “Good Things Are Going to Happen.”  On a similarly small magnet that I’ve placed on a rose gold cell phone holder appears my favorite quote that is saving my middle-aged life right now:  “just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly . . .”  That is a mic drop moment for me every time I read it!  I am a weird combination of introvert/extrovert and pessimist/optimist. I am someone who must fight my natural inclination to climb into my crab shell and put myself out there anyway and I fight off my pessimist inclinations in order to stay in the belief that I am capable of and deserve BIG, good things.  As I’ve said several times on my social media, I do not like words on the walls from a design perspective, but…  I strongly believe we need reminders of the person we are and the life we are trying to live.

The lighting and quietness of my office makes me feel protected and safe.  Good lighting is probably better for a work space, but I enjoy mood lighting in general and in my office especially.  My L-shaped frosted glass desk is full of one of my favorite things in the whole world….  OFFICE SUPPLIES!  When I tell you that I have a minor addiction to office supplies much like the addiction I once had to school supplies…  I am not overstating this!  Anyone who knows me well knows Melissa likes a good pen, pretty journals, fancy notecards, colorful post-its, etc., etc., etc.  I don’t know how to explain to you the endorphin rush I get when I’m in the office supply section at Target or enter a Staples.  Whatever makes you happy, right?  Right???

To personalize this space further, I have pictures of our recent trip to California on one wall.  If my Happy Place were a state, it would be California!  Yosemite, Big Sur, San Francisco, Monterey, Oh My!  So, my Happy Place had to include my favorite vacation spot.  On another wall, I have a piece by a friend and artist who lives in Valparaiso, Indiana.  Melissa Washburn’s image of an Elephant and a fork with the words, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” reminds me that all good things take time.  You rarely realize your dreams overnight.  I need this reminder because patience has ALWAYS been a challenge for me.  

On a small wall near the entrance to my office are pictures of the English alternative band, Gomez. Jeff and I have seen them perform at the Vic Theatre in Chicago literally every time they’ve been on tour since our daughter was a toddler.  They’re ‘our band’ and having them in my Happy Place seems especially appropriate.

The book shelf!  All my most loved books are housed in a tall IKEA bookshelf.  I only keep books that I know I will read again.  I have never had a hard time passing on a book that I didn’t love to a local library or other charitable organization.  This means all that is left on my bookshelves are books that truly captured my heart and mind, books that I will read again and again in the years ahead.  Reading is my escape!  Reading is how I would spend most of my time if life allowed it.  Anywhere my books are is naturally my Happy Place.  And fortunately, I can bring them with me wherever I travel and create a temporary Happy Place in an airport, hotel, or anywhere else I bring my books.

Some people don’t care what the space around them looks like.  They work just as productively in an ugly cubicle as they would an expansive corner office in a high-rise building.  They live just as comfortably and fully in a dated apartment as they would a luxury flat.  I will never advocate the necessity of luxury to enjoy one’s life, but I fully appreciate the value of living and working in a beautiful space.  It often doesn’t cost a lot to make your office or other living spaces beautiful to you.  And I can personally attest to how uplifting and inspiring a beautiful space can be.  

Since we know life is short, why not agree that beauty does matter, and we indeed deserve a beautiful space in which to launch into each day ready to live our best lives?  It’s a simple truth that can make a huge difference. Start small. Pick the colors, fabrics, art work, photographs and décor that will make your space comfortable and beautiful to you.  Then, get to work at creating a space that will fill you up and inspire you to make your dreams a reality.  

I join you in the endeavor to make the next chapter of your life the best.  I began my new work as a full-time Grant Writer at the University of Notre Dame this week in their Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO).  Their mission is finding solutions that move people out of poverty permanently.  I continue to make exercise and healthy eating a priority for the first time in my life.  To stop complaining and do something instead, I’ve joined the local chapter of the League of Women Voters. Each day, I take my homebody out into my new community to discover restaurants, stores, parks, and more.  In all this newness that scares the introvert in me who often wants to climb into her crab shell, I find refuge in my Happy Place.  In its quiet, dark, cozy recesses, I take refuge and find the peace and energy to return to the world ready to be bold and live . . .  like there’s no tomorrow.

[therachelperspective]

BOOK ⎟ Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's ‘Learned’ by Lena Dunham

For many people, a simple mention of the name Lena Dunham is enough to strike up an insane amount of disdain and loathing. And if you’re one of those people, you have either stopped reading at this point or scrolled past this post entirely. You’re mind is incredibly made up about her already. I understand.

But for those of you willing to read further – thank you. And let’s chat.

I often question what drew me to read Lena Dunham’s book, considering I did not follow her or her work in the media, save for the passing glance in entertainment news. I wasn’t a fan in the least. So why did I ask for and receive her book as a Christmas gift? After much thought (and years later, might I add), I think I’ve narrowed it down to these two things:

1] When it was released, it fell into the category of my innate curiosity and wanting to read about other people’s lives. Meaning, in short, I’ve been obsessed with memoirs and biographies for the last couple of years. She was (and at times, still is) being hailed as an important feminist and a “voice of the people.” Consider my curiosity piqued. 

But also, 2] I strongly believe in forming my own opinions. I’m one of those seemingly-naive people that refuse to believe the worst things about others without having experienced it for myself. Lena Dunham’s status included. 

I may not have kept tabs on her, but that doesn’t mean I was entirely disinterested.

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” was published in September 2014. It was named one of the best books of the year by multiple media outlets, and the book placed #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Praise, advanced or otherwise, used the words “hilarious,” “wise,” “candid,” and “witty,” though my favorite comment from NPR said that “We leave more empowered than we came.” Based on these, my expectations and anticipations were pretty high going into this book; however, I was also very cautious due to the number of negative reviews in the years since. 

A recollection of stories from Lena’s life, spanning a slew of topics, NTKOG covers it all. Without even luring us in with any tales of her background, childhood, or family life, we jump right into the book with a section about “Sex.” Immediately I was fascinated. Not about the sex reports (which good lord there are so many in this entire book), but rather the choice of putting sexual encounters as the very first topic of a memoir. It’s obvious that Lena Dunham is no ordinary gal, and her candidness is clearly abundant in NTKOG. Followed by “Body,” “Friendship,” “Work,” and “Big Picture,” this non-chronological narrative covers just about everything a 20-something can discuss. And some things you wish she hadn’t. 

Very specifically, there are a handful of distinct scenarios in which Lena may have overstepped her bounds; you’ll find hoards of articles online discussing them and how they make Lena Dunham a seemingly horrible person. It is more likely they are scenarios that certain people blew entirely out of proportion with their own commentary. Simple Google searches for “Lena Dunham,” especially connected to NTKOG, will result in *MAJOR BOOK SPOILERS* articles discussing a rape accusation people believe Lena falsified, fierce allegations that she molested her sister when they were both children, criminalizing of a phrase she used to describe trying to win her sister’s affections (also at a young age), and the appalling way she also outed her sister to their parents. Of the incriminating things the populace condemns Lena Dunham for, I will say that I only truly agree with that last one.

What you learn about Lena Dunham in her book is that she is not a perfect human being, as well as the fact that she grew up in a very unique way. The Dunham household was a very open, non-conformist sort of place one would have with artistic parents that I don’t think many criticizers of her book completely understand. Lena’s childhood was a very curious and experimental one, in ways many others are not. But it seems those against her don’t accept “a child’s curiosity” as an explanation, nor do they take a phrase like “using tactics a sex offender would use” with a grain of salt [describing how she tried to get her sister to like her when they were children]. Not the best phrase for the subject matter, I agree, but are you going to deny the parallels? Also, the backlash regarding Lena’s college rape story is exactly the reason more people don’t speak out about such traumas. Because someone, somewhere will try to disprove it and thus say you are a liar, calling into question the matter of consent and turn it into a battle of “your word vs. theirs.” Rather than applaud her willingness to be so outspoken about incidents in her life, both in childhood and adulthood, Lena is instead incriminated for them. Even more so when quotes are taken out of context. 

Although the sociological issues within it bring up very important discussions, this is about Lena Dunham’s book. And despite what you think of her and the aforementioned topics above, Not That Kind of Girl gives insight into a very distinctive individual. When we see her today, we see a young woman importantly challenging the typical imagery of “Hollywood” both in life and in art (i.e. her body positivity while being larger than a size 2 and her comfort in nudity, plus her incredibly flawed character on Girls), while also being open about her own mental illnesses (anxiety and OCD). From reading her novel, we discover that she has been this sort of “different” her entire life so far. Her views of life have deviated from the norm since childhood, a divergence that surprisingly enough this reviewer can relate to. People say that she is not old enough to write a memoir; they say that she is narcissistic, entirely too self-involved, and self-indulgent. While I do think that the book is a hot mess and I question how much of it is truly real, the discussion about her life and her views is actually what makes it interesting. Anyone ripping NTKOG entirely to shreds for having no wisdom or insight were taking this book too much at face value. What memoir-writing celebrity is not self-involved? Once again, Lena Dunham is one of the few being condemned for it.

I’m not saying that I give this book 5 stars, because I don’t, nor am I entirely sure if I would recommend it. I'm not even going to agree that Lena Dunham is the “voice of the people” or the “voice of a generation.” But her book, and her perspective, is not entirely faulted. Maybe it’s just my ability to find insightful passages in literally every book I read. Or maybe, she really does just have her moments.

The reality is that, even if Lena is just a voice for herself and herself alone, her sentiments towards things like... 

Losing her virginity – “No floodgate had been opened. No vault of true womanhood unlooked. She remained and she was me.”

Her own attractiveness – “Not ugly enough to be repulsive and not beautiful enough to seal the deal.” 

Gaining weight as a child – “All of it was alien and alienating.”

Womanhood – “I consider being female such a unique gift, such a sacred joy[.]”

Being an Adult – “Soon you will find yourself in more and more situations you don’t want to run away from.”

... and other matters discussed in Not That Kind of Girl, well... they are not entirely out in left field. 

Despite the fact that her voice (and by default, her book) can be dripping with white feminism and privilege, equally so that a lot of her troubles spawn from her own creation, my notes for this book prove – at least to me – there is a smidgen of quality to her writing. Whether opposers like it or not, there are people out there that will still relate to her book, enjoy her book, and find value in her essays, no matter the flaws others may see in her. 

I ventured into Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl in order to devise my own opinions about a person so disliked by the masses. The truth is that I finish it almost as indifferent as when I started. I don’t love her, but nor do I hate her. I would say I simply understand her better, supported in part by identifying with the “weirdness” she encompasses. I personally know what it’s like to be different, and I think that is what contributed to my ability to, as some might say, even finish the book in the first place.  

Lena Dunham is the creator, executive producer, writer, director, and star of the critically-acclaimed HBO series Girls. She has been nominated for eight Emmy awards and has won two Golden Globes (including Best Actress) for her work on her show. She was the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America award for directorial achievement in comedy, and she has also written/directed two feature length films. Dunham is also a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. [from the book inside flap] Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham Random House | September 2014 | 265 pages MY RATING: ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩  I still don’t know entirely how I feel about this book, to be completely honest. It was worth reading once, to strangely find comfort in the fact that there are weird famous people out there, who are pushing the status quo in more ways than one. But I completely understand where people can find this “too weird” and “unrelatable.” By Goodreads’ rating system, this book’s 3 stars means it was “good.” Which it was. To a certain point.

I don’t think she’s entirely strange and unusual because I too am strange and unusual (haha, sorry for that reference), but I also don’t say she’s the feminist idol people portray her to be either.  I am intrigued enough by NTKOG to watch Girls in the future, to witness the critical-acclaim for myself. But Lena Dunham to me is just... Strange Little Lena.  I feel like I want to like her because my gut tells me that I relate to her on quite a few levels, but I'm also just not sure that I do.

#book review #books #not that kind of girl by lena dunham #not that kind of girl #lena dunham #girls tv show #girls #HBO #hannah horvath #review #reviews

[kmp78]

For Reality Check:

No, not everyone has a “type”. And no, not everyone is interested in a person’s looks or finds it really important, believe it or not. For some looks are the MOST important thing…and for some (like me) it’s the LEAST important thing in a person. I agree that attraction is something that just happens and there isn’t much you can do about it. Either you’re attracted to someone or you’re not. Either you have chemistry or you don’t. For me personally it was always something about a guy’s personality that attracted me to them. Looks alone do absolutely nothing to me. But maybe that’s just me. Sure there are guys who I think look hot, but that doesn’t automatically mean I’m attracted to them in any kind of way. I just think they look handsome. Sort of in a way a poster or a picture of someone can look great without it giving me any kind of feels. And there are guys who just look average, but have an amazing sense of humor and make me laugh or who are the sweetest guys you can find and are really smart and I find myself crushing on them head over heels.  What comes to artists of any kind, I couldn’t care LESS what they look like. It didn’t matter to me when I was a kid or a teen and it doesn’t matter to me now. That would be CRAZY! I know there are people who are only fans because they are crushing on the artist’s looks but I was never really able to understand that. Newsflash, I loved 30STM’s music before I knew what any of the band members looked like. So no, it wasn’t looks that got me interested. It was the music. And if it were only looks, I wouldn’ve been LONG gone, believe me. But I am still here because I truly love the music, with ALL my heart. And you will never hear me say that J isn’t a great artist or that the songs wouldn’t be “that great” because they are f'n AMAZING. And my opinion on that is NEVER going to change. No matter how much I’d be repulsed by certain things and wouldn’t agree on certain things, I would never start bashing J’s talent. Because I have no reason to.  What I care about is “Do I like their work or not?”  and also “Do they seem authentic? Are they selling me a scam or is it real and worthy of my time?”. What I’m trying to say is that, while there are people who have fantasies about being with the artists they are crushing on and who find looks extremely important…there are also those who couldn’t care less about any of that. So to throw everyone who ever dares to critcize the “Holy Almighty J” in any kind of way in the same category, is a bit ignorant and unfair. And I always find it interesting how people always assume that one MUST be fat, old, ugly and insecure, love-sick fan if one dares to say ANYTHING negative about J in any way. Why is that? Like, one POSSIBLY couldn’t be confident and pretty if one didn’t like everything J does? That’s hilarious.  Anyhow, of course J can be into WHATEVER type he wants. That’s not the point or the issue. He’s a goodlooking dude, it’s to be assumed he will be into thin, goodlooking women. Big deal. Not to say that all men are that superficial and shallow, because that would be unfair, but the majority of them are. Deal. But show me even one FRIEND (yes, just a friend) J has who doesn’t fit into the model category? How many female friends does he have that he hangs out with who are not the model type? Zero. There has not ONCE been a girl around him who was even just normal weight instead of model thin. Maybe H, but even that is REALLY pushing it and closing both eyes. And don’t give me any of the Hollywood BS as an excuse that it’s just because everyone in L.A. looks like that and that’s why all of his friends too fit in a certain “type”. Like he has NEVER EVER in his whole life met ANY females who maybe were normal weight or fat and who were really nice and funny and smart and worthy of hanging out with? There just isn’t any people like that in all of L.A.?  All of the U.S.A.? Or mind you, the whole PLANET? That’s why he couldn’t POSSIBLY have ALL kinds of types of girls as friends? Because everyone he meets where ever he goes just happen to be 20 year old models? Yeah, sure. I don’t know about you but if I look at my friends, guys and girls, I have everything from old to young, rich to poor and really fat to model type as friends. Same with all of my friends. I don’t know ONE friend, guy or a girl who would have ONLY one type of friends. And that includes a guy friend of mine who is a COMPLETE “playboy” too, but even he is capable of having FRIENDS of all types and shapes. So it’s like J is so repulsed by anyone who doesn’t look like a model that he couldn’t bear to hang out with them and have them as friends. That is the only expanation I can find. Because it does not make any sense other wise. Girlfriends and f*ckbuddies, I get it. You can’t choose who you’re attracted to. But just FRIENDS?! Is he THAT shallow? And in general, what you see is not what you get with him. He tries to hold up an image that is not who he is.  He says one thing and does the other. He’s fake. He can’t be bothered to wish fans happy holidays or happy new year or thank them for bday wishes but he has no problem with asking for a LOT of favors. He is taking the fans for granted more and more, especially lately. And I don’t like it. It’s arrogant and disrespectful. So yes, he’s cute, but personality wise, he’s lacking and “not my type” or something or someone I’d like or be attracted to as a person after what I’ve seen of him. I adore him as an artist, but as a person…no. Not after what I’ve seen (and that includes more than just his young, model obsession.) I don’t think he is a BAD person or a MEAN person or someone who’d go around intentionally hurting or insulting people. It’s not that. Not at all. It’s just a difference of opinion and lifestyle and different values and “morals” and manners. Nothing personal. So why is it “unfair and illogical and hypocritical” for me and possibly others to say it? Because you assume we are “fat, screaming, insecure girls who just ‘hate’ on J because we can’t have him” because no one else could possibly have any problem with his personality simply as a human being? Because a thin, confident, pretty person OF COURSE automatically would bow down to anything J says and does and would agree on everything with him and would worship him? And THEIR opinion OF COURSE would have way more value and validity. Yeah, that sounds “logical”… (FYI, I’m neither fat nor ugly. Nor insecure. Nor lusting after J. Nor do I “hate” him. I just don’t like certain personality traits and certain things he does.) Just like you said that not being attracted to someone doesn’t make them a bad person. Doesn’t it go both ways? If I think J is a great artist but lacking personality wise, don’t I have the right to say it without it making me a “hater” or “insecure, love-sick girl”? It’s not like I’d go scream at his face “I DON’T LIKE YOU!” or spam him sm with messages telling him what I don’t like about him. Just like he most likely wouldn’t go scream at anyone’s face either to tell them how unattracted he is to them. Why is it okay for J not to be attracted to some people but it’s not okay if we are not attracted to every personality trait of his and say so?  He’s a great artist and he can date and hang out with whoever he wants and do what ever he wants, but it doesn’t mean I have to like everything he does or says just because I’m a fan of his music. And if I don’t find something authentic, then I won’t support it. I have that right. J is not in any way obligated to us and doesn’t owe us anything and we are not obligated to anything nor do we owe him anything just because we happened to buy his albums. “That’s how the story goes." 

***

Thanks, anon :)

You made several good points there.

(Disclaimer and rules)

[dorothydelgadillo]

Instead of Unsubscribing, He Called Me a Terrorist.

My heart stopped as I read the preview text.  Not even the actual message, just the preview text -- and as I clicked open, I had no words. Every Monday around 8:45 a.m., I had grown accustomed to facing a bloated, “spammy” inbox full of responses to our Saturday issue of THE LATEST — auto-responders in Russian characters, inbox filters, even the occasional pickup line.

I certainly didn’t expect a personal attack.

“go blow yourself up like your cousins on 9/11 you monkey-faced f**ktard.”

A screenshot of the actual email

It was short and ignorant, but it sliced through me like a knife. I turned around and shook my head with a few of my teammates but my heart began to race, my mind clouded, and I could feel the tears of disgust well. This wasn’t anything new. I knew this ugliness was in the world.

I had experienced it before, but this was different for some reason. I didn’t know what to do.

Did I play it cool and let it roll off my back? Did I tell my manager? Did I run to the bathroom to let the angry tears flow?

The email was a response to one discussing HubSpot, Facebook, and Instagram. Nothing political, nothing socially-charged -- so why did this happen?

What provoked this? What called for these words that would leave me fighting tears at my desk during what’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year?

Why was I being attacked by a nameless coward, simply for showing my face?

I wasn’t looking for a confrontation.

I wasn’t pushing any sensitive buttons or egging anyone on by sending our newsletter -- I was doing the same thing I always do when I send out our newsletter.

Nevertheless, I was met with hate.

We Need to Recognize That Racism Is Everywhere; Even in Marketing

That day, I didn’t cry because this savage’s words hurt. I’m a big girl and no racism is personal.

I wanted to cry because no matter how many times we see these incidents cross our newsfeeds, in headlines, or they stop me in my tracks in everyday life, I’m still appalled.

Racism is not something isolated to politics or the justice system, people.

It is an insidious, ruthless virus that bubbles underneath the skin of many “average” people; many who, we as marketers, communicate with every day.

Even if not attached to hate, there is a great deal of unconscious bias and miscommunication in our society when it comes to race.

It’s considered taboo to discuss it or admit some of us have preconceived notions attached to it, but we do.

Just look at what happened to me.

This man saw a brown face and labeled me.

Obviously, the message was intended to be an attack on Muslims/Arabs (for the record, I’m Indian, raised Hindu), and when I share it with others -- or similar incidents in the past --  the common reaction is, “That’s awful. You’re not even Muslim or Arab!”

-- But even if I was, would that have somehow made this more acceptable?

Now, I know that is not what most people are suggesting when they say this to me.

They’re emphasizing just how ignorant the statement was, but we must remove these ambiguous, “well-meaning” reactions from our lexicon.

They suggest that if he had made a targeted statement that was accurate, it would’ve been less disgusting.

That if he was a little bit more “informed,” it would have been a fraction more “OK.”

And that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Reactions like these show just how misunderstood and mishandled racial situations are today.

I believe we can change, but not without facing it head-on like we are right now.

Race isn’t a four-letter word.  

It’s a fact of life that needs to be discussed openly and honestly. Race should be embraced and explored fully to establish comfort.

We get squeamish when we acknowledge skin color and the differences between us, so it gets brushed under the rug with rosy adages like, “We're all the same.”

But we shouldn't feel awkward. We should lean into this discomfort and talk about it.

This is a belief that has always guided me as an individual, as well as a marketer.

I’m Used to Being in the Minority & I’ve Always Embraced That Responsibility  

When I was in my junior year at the University of Connecticut, I once glanced at my tuition invoice to find I was awarded a $1,000 “Marketing Minority Scholarship.”

I had to laugh. It was an ongoing joke among my friends that I majored in marketing “because no brown kids went into marketing” -- but I embraced this.

Yours truly as a freshly-degreed, bushy-tailed marketing grad.

All of my classes were seas of white faces, but I was used to it from attending high school in Connecticut. It just came with the territory. As I joined the workforce and attended conferences, however, I soon learned just how underrepresented South Asians -- let alone distantly South Asian, first-generation American, Indo-Caribbeans, like myself --are in the marketing industry. Still, it didn’t faze me.

I didn’t see being a minority in this field as a disadvantage or something to be ignored. It was an opportunity. An opportunity and responsibility to represent.

In 2019, it’s common to see a biracial couple or a minority in a national commercial, but this is a recent phenomenon; one that still catches me by pleasant surprise when I see it happen.

When I started working back in 2011, this diversity was a rare sight in marketing, advertising, and the media in general. I knew I had a fresh perspective, a different walk of life, a new experience to share — and share I would. As I began creating content, I infused my writing with examples from Bollywood, stories from my family life, and photoshopped vectors of people to make the groups more diverse.

I made “brown jokes” to my team and shared my culture, suggesting we all celebrate Holi in the office.

      View this post on Instagram

    Light creates color and color creates light. For the second year in a row, I was lucky to share a piece of my culture (and a tiny bit of heart and soul) with my team @impactbnd — and it was bigger and literally brighter than ever! Holi/#Phagwah has always been my favorite festival and it brings me so much joy to see everyone enjoy it as much as I do. Happy #Spring & #Holi everyone! 🌈❤️💐🎨 #festivalofcolors #holihai #instagood #IMPACTteamweek #holi #phagwah #color #spring #impactteamweek #love #life

A post shared by Ramona (@fromramonawlove) on Mar 22, 2018 at 8:23pm PDT

Representation matters and I wanted to do my small part to advance it.

It became a part of my voice and vision as a content creator. But then there was that email. This message was a rude reminder that there are still people in the world who don’t want to see diversity or new perspectives. There are people who just don’t want to see faces or names like mine grace their inboxes.

The inbound marketing industry is often very idealistic, warm, and fuzzy. We preach helping and being genuine.

Unfortunately, even our beautiful, tolerant bubble of existence, can be popped by bigotry, no matter how good our intentions.

Again, in my experience, it comes with the territory.

Vulnerability in Content Marketing

“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it.” - Stephen King, On Writing

When you create content, like any artist, you are putting a piece of yourself out into the world.

We always encourage experts to share their unique perspectives and points of view, but in doing so, they’re also opening themselves up to criticism.

They’re opening a door to anyone and everyone, with a virtual invitation to express their thoughts and feelings on what they shared.

Perhaps some may disagree with your opinions and state so professionally, but others, as my email proved, may feel a need to comment on you personally.

This is both a beauty and a blemish of what we do.

Everyone can have a voice -- but what are the limits, if any?

And if we say there are limits, are they defined by what we should or should not be sharing, or by our capacity to be “thick-skinned” when under attack?

At IMPACT, I strive to help our publication be the most honest, candid marketing resource online. We want to bring you real stories and opinions, not the sugar-coated, best-case scenarios so many others do, but we do so with respect.

Unfortunately, not everyone does.

In content marketing, when you put your name, face, or stamp of approval on something, you become vulnerable to every kind of feedback both solicited or not.

Professional and personal.

Loving and hateful.

In a more volatile social atmosphere.

You Can’t Let This Risk Stop You

You can’t let the risk of being met with hate or disapproval silence your voice; to stop you from sharing your unique experience or shedding light on the world’s ills that are a direct result of turning a blind eye.

I know my words will not change the world or solve anything, but this the reality we live in.

This is my experience and, sadly, it’s not new or unique. This is the daily experience of millions of people in our country and abroad.

Today, I am a proud brown woman, so I know this man’s racist words and thoughts on those who look like me mean nothing. I'd usually shrug them off. However, if I were younger or perhaps hadn't experienced this type of hate before, I would feel ostracized.

As if I didn’t have the right to get up every morning and exist, let alone do my job and speak my mind.

Racism is alive and well. It’s everywhere -- in the digital world, as well as the marketing world, and this is what it does.

It condemns people purely for existing as God created them. It makes them feel like they have no value as human beings, that their stories and faces don’t matter.

I refuse to be condemned.

One person's ignorance is another’s fuel for change.

Marketers, we need to embrace diversity and inclusion in our ads. Highlight different faces and points of view in our content. Share your unique experiences.

When you go the extra mile to not only acknowledge but embrace diversity, you let millions know they do belong; they are welcome; their pains and needs are valid, and understood by someone other than themselves.

You silence hate mongers like the coward who emailed me. Anonymously, I might add.

As marketers and as citizens of the world, this is all of our opportunity, and frankly, our responsibility to each other.  

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/instead-of-unsubscribing-he-called-me-a-terrorist

[newmonk]

TAKE IT EASY

30TH MARCH 2018 I was out with mom for my birthday lunch. My 25th birthday. This year wasn’t heading anywhere in terms of what I’d imagined it to be and I was sort of disoriented with life. I had just quit a long term project mid-way on an ugly note, was at the lowest in my personal life, and I’d started losing interest in things around me. Seemed like everything was breaking down at the same time.

But being the eternal optimist that I am, I was pushing myself everyday into thinking that come what may, now on I will only focus on what I want to do, both professionally & personally, so that I’m never in the mental space that I was (then)in.

Coming back, after lunch when mom & I headed out of the restaurant, I got a call from Riva (OML), saying they wanted to meet regarding Anirban Dasgupta’s Amazon Prime special. Now Anirban had discussed about his special with me and had mentioned a couple of months ago that he wanted me to work on his special, but in what capacity, I didn’t know, I don’t think even he knew what designation he wanted me to handle when he said that. Honestly, I was yearning to work on a stand up special, yet was slightly skeptical, as some time ago another comic had approached me to work on their special, since that hadn’t materialized, it had fizzled my excitement. Anyway, I was elated to be working with Anirban, since I really like the man, his comedy and even more: his ethic. So right after I got off the call with OML, at that very instant, I felt positivity rush through my head, a feeling that this could be the beginning of something new, a fresh start.

FLASHBACK #1 I remember meeting Anirban for the first time at CLC Mumbai back in September 2016, he had called me over to record his set. I had frequently been shooting live stand up sets then, and a mutual friend, Siddharth Dudeja had referred me to him.

3RD APRIL 2018 I met the producers Tihany and Harshita at OML, we had a nice conversation and I shared my previous work with them. They clearly seemed like people who were open to working on new ideas with new people, which was really good. So, after certain deliberations over the following week (as I am told), I finally got a confirmation call to direct the special!

11TH APRIL 2018 Pre-production for ‘TAKE IT EASY’ kicked off on 11th April 2018, the core team sat across a table, and tried to understand each other’s’ perspectives. Usually, I take some time to open up and discuss my ideas, and that’s what happened here as well, but the vibe at that workspace was quite comforting, and within a couple of days, I felt like a part of the team.

Special thanks to Tihany, Harshita, Riva & Sneha for handling the entire production so well right from the top.

15TH APRIL - 30TH APRIL 2018 Recces at CLC began. The good part was that CLC was home turf for both of us; Anirban(as artist) and me(as director), as we had done several shows at the venue both together & individually, yet we knew that it would be challenging to shoot there, as the entire idea was to make CLC not look like CLC, firstly because it is an Amazon Special and has to look like one! & secondly, ANYONE who has seen even one Indian stand-up act on YouTube knows exactly how CLC looks like. That was the first realisation that this is going to be a tough job.

As recces and pre-prod meetings became routine, Parag - Associate Producer, joined the team (He is a valuable addition to any unit that he joins)

TRIVIA #1 Judah Friedlander, Bill Burr, Chris Rock & Chris D’Elia are some comedy greats that Anirban introduced me to during pre-production. We kept referencing their work; posters, framing, edit patterns, trailers, which helped us get perspective on our own show, right from the beginning.

FLASHBACK #2 Anirban had asked me back in January (2018), how the idea of an entirely black and white special was, what would be anyones’ first thought about it. What was my first thought about it? My first reaction was that it’ll be super-cool, but immediately I started thinking about its context with the material & I remember telling him a mix of black & white with color would be a better option.

6TH MAY 2018 Shoot day passed by just like that, I honestly don’t remember much from that day, it was a weird mix of nervousness, sleeplessness & excitement. I remember how it ended though, we celebrated Harshita’s birthday at CLC, and later Anirban, Prerna & I went to a house party, quite chill, good times :)

9TH MAY 2018 – 11TH JUNE 2018 Post production. Long working hours. Sleep? What’s that? No routine. Miscommunication. Post production. Long working hours. Sleep? What’s that? No routine. Miscommunication. Post production & Sound Mixing. Long working hours. Sleep? What’s that? No routine. Miscommunication. This loop is infinite.

On a serious note: Pooja, Mihir & Kshitij, added immense value to this project.

One interesting thing that happened during this time was that we only got the OFFICIAL CONFIRMATION to go ahead with the black & white look just ONE WEEK before the final delivery of the special. Hard to believe, right?

BACKSTORY: During pre-prod, we were told that the black & white look had been approved which is why we had planned EVERYTHING according to that color palette, but just TEN DAYS before the shoot, we were informed that suddenly the platform wasn’t sure of screening a full blown one hour special in monochrome, and was contemplative about their decision (Read: Murphy’s Law). Now neither did we have time for coming up with Plan B, nor could the show date be pushed, we had no option but to play safe, so the setup that we finally shot; including: lighting, backdrop, costume, was kept global/generic, since the call of the special being in color or monochrome would only be taken during post-production. It was a bummer, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

We stood our ground, and as you may have noticed: the special went out in MONOCHROME. Yay!

PRE-CLIMAX The kind of freedom Anirban gave me was commendable. He didn’t compromise on anything whatsoever, and I truly truly appreciate that about him, it was empowering. The thought was clear, we wanted to create a new experience for the comedy viewers, but with purpose in place, not only for the sake of it, or just because we could. We had fresh ideas, at the same time, needed to balance it with the guidelines of the platform, so although we were taking risks, they were calculated, as to how experimental we can/should get.

CONCLUSION During this process, I realised that Anirban apart from being such a well-established artist, consciously ‘chooses’ to be a student of the (comedy)art form, always open to ideas, opinions and learning. You name a special (live or online), and I’m quite sure he must’ve seen it. That level of involvement.

He’d told me once that his intention is to go up at least once on stage EVERYDAY, irrespective of the circumstances; That just blew my mind! Even I want to be that determined in what I do, or find something that pushes me to that extent.

I can’t even begin to tell how straining, restless yet satisfying the last two months have been. But streaming the special on Amazon Prime Video now is a great feeling. I’ve seen the special on all devices possible, Android phone, iPhone, Macbook, Windows, PS4, Fire Stick, you name it. I think I’m just habituated to watching it every day.

Anirban performed ‘Take It Easy’ for the last time at CLC, Noida on 23rd June, 2018 & coincidentally I was there to watch the show, for the final time, thereby coming full circle with the show. Somethings are meant to happen I guess, or perhaps I’m just overthinking. Haha.

RANDOM NOTE I love the art-form. It comes from a place of angst and frustration, its just lovely to see a comic go up of stage and share their individualistic opinion about things. More than laughing, it makes you wonder about the circumstances that the person has been through, the issues that we as a community, a country face on a regular basis. Stand-up actually comes from a place of deep-rooted pain and I think that’s beautiful.

SHOUT-OUT (i) Namit & Prerna(Anirban’s management): These guys operate at a different pace man! So efficient & creative at the same time. I love the understanding they share with Anirban, it’s such a good marriage between the three. They helped us sail through the process, with ease. Most of the good ideas & creative decisions that made it to the final output, were actually suggested by the two of them. Great collaborators.

(ii) Vipin from 9 Horses, who gave the sound the exact feel that we wanted. P.S.: Sound is the MOST important (yet highly neglected) aspect, especially for a comedy special, it’s make or break.

(iii) Every stand-up artist who has hired me till date. It was because of them that I could consistently practice shooting and editing comedy, it was during this course that I realized the potential that stand up has, especially visually, and I can’t even begin to tell how experimental it can get, if thought through!

CONCLUSION CONTINUED I want to thank Anirban for giving me this opportunity, I absolutely enjoyed myself through it (except the marketing collaterals -_-)

Also wanted to share that I got to direct another Amazon special, for Gaurav Kapoor. This time again, we’ve tried a different look and feel and I’m really glad that the folks at OML have been accepting of most of the ideas that we’ve pitched to them. Anirban & Gaurav’s specials are two ends of a spectrum, which is good for me, since I get to showcase my versatility right from the beginning of my directorial journey.

Directing ‘Take it Easy’ was a big deal for me, and I think I lived up to it(whatever the case, IMDb ratings will tell soon). I hope I’ve grown as a person during this process and can apply the knowledge I’ve learnt from this, into future projects and life, in general.

Going back to my beloved(NOT) corporate films for a while, see you on the other side!

Sharing some images from the process behind making ‘Take It Easy’.

[gorillasnail]

The Super Slow Show

I haven't rigorously watched many of YouTube's latest productions (the "higher-value" ones they do, starring some of their most popular YouTubers), but from what I *have* seen, all YouTube has managed to do so far is to completely miss the point. It is my understanding that in order to create these productions (movies, series, bigger-budget videos etc) YouTube enlists some of its most popular creators and places them under the instructions of Television industry professionals, to ensure "higher quality" content.

You'd think, though, that the very platform that made all these people famous would at least understand what it is that's made them so popular in the first place. And a non-exhaustive list, (that I want to believe applies to the majority of YouTube creators) is the directness, apparent earnestness and complete uniqueness of their content.

See, YouTube as it began as a new subcategory of pop culture ten years ago, was something completely different. Kids started watching YouTubers precisely because it was different from Television, and it wasn't just some vague fuck-you to what their parents were watching: Internet video was truly something new and amazing in terms of an art form, and a huge part of of that was its realism. Whereas Television had, by the 2000s, turned into an ugly, glamorous mess of fake, made-up situations that were extremely bad at not looking fake and made-up, YouTube was a heaven of things that looked (and were, back then) completely DIY and obviously spontaneous: Just people, talking into their cameras, giving birth to an art form.

Fast forward a thousand years and most of the people on top of the YouTube mountain are millionaires backed up by small armies of professionals and, most of the times, Disney. But the ones that have managed to actually stay on top have mostly maintained that face-to-face, cosy aesthetic. That's what makes their work endearing and fun, that's what makes people fall in love with their personalities, buy their products, support their endeavors and enjoy their work.

Enlisting TV professionals to oversee that work is equivalent to nullifying everything that makes it so cool. It takes away that directness, that illusion of comradeship and friendship, and replaces it with the distant, cringey, uncool, ineffective, unconvincing, tryhard aesthetic of television, the very thing that made young people abandon TV in the first place. It also strips their creators from their own unique personal creative traits, the stuff that make them distinct and tie their communities together. Personalities are indeed a very important part of the YouTube trade, but those personalities don't just come through by putting the creator in front of a camera. All of those guys, having started out as one-man-bands, have infused every aspect of their work with their unique signature: From the performance to the editing, to the titles of the videos, the humor, the staging, and anything else that comes in play when creating something video-like, each of these creators has their own unique blend of stuff that make up their brand. When you strip their content from everything else but their face, the viewers are gonna feel that something is different, and wrong. All these creators, veterans or newcomers, have helped shape this very young form of entertainment by disposing of every norm there used to be about visual storytelling and filmmaking - norms that have flooded and made stale most old-school relevant industries. Beginning anew, with a wondrous new toolbox in their hands, (that of modern, affordable technology) and with no pre-existing inhibitions about what you are "supposed" to do in video (or cinema or whatever you wanna call it), and most of them without an ounce of academic training in the subject, they managed to reinvent the use of video for entertainment and create a whole new art form. By bypassing the normal ways of doing stuff, they achieved what many old-school artists have only dreamed about: a blank slate.

And now, a decade later, these are weathered pros who know their work better than anyone else, because they're the ones who invented it. When you put them under the "commands" of people who are still stuck to the dos and donts of traditional movies and TV, that's not just a misfire, that's actually kind of gross.

So, as I was saying, the only YouTube production I've loyally followed is The Slow Mo Guys' "Super Slow Show", an ongoing, daily series of videos that at first glance look like typical SMG videos, but in reality feel like the watered-down, television version of their content. Gav and Dan's unmistakable chemistry is of course still there, and does manage to save a lot of episodes and "gags" from absolute disaster. But having these two sit around and make cringey jokes that they clearly did not write, not being able to decide whether they have to do them unironically or not, is the zenith of television aesthetic. And it feels super weird.

When it comes to the SloMo Guys' craft, the videos are still majestic occasionally, although in order to come out with a new video daily, they *have* resorted in some rather dull, uninspired "experiments" that expectedly have no interest at all when seen in Slo-Mo. The series is still kind of fun, I watch it almost daily. But it illustrates perfectly the intrinsic problem with this kind of production, particularly because it doesn't completely suck. Why not give the creators the budget, but also give them more creative freedom to infuse the projects with the feel we love them for. I know providing them with a crew is part of what you would call "higher production value" but, come on. This is clearly not their aesthetic, this is clearly not their production, this is clearly not their brand. They're just called upon to recreate what someone completely disconnected from YouTube *thinks* their content is about. And that's just... sad.

#slo mo guys #the super slow show #youtube #youtubers

[hypertagmaster]

7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing

Earlier this year, I wrote that I believe art plays a critical role in content marketing.

But what does that actually mean? When you think about it, what does that word “art” really mean?

“I’ll know it when I see it.” – Random critic

For the purposes of this conversation, I’ll define art as an expression that can’t be made by an algorithm. It’s the creative spark, the unusual choice, the flare of personality, the moment of real human empathy and connection.

I believe it’s a serious mistake to think that marketing and art are somehow separate.

As Brian Clark has said for years:

“People who think art is sacred and marketing is dirty tend to be terrible marketers and marginal artists.

People who think art is irrelevant and marketing is about tricking people into buying shit they don’t need tend to be terrible marketers and worse human beings.” – Brian Clark, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and the Art of Phony Marketing

While I’m defining art, let me go ahead and define marketing: It’s what we communicate that allows us to work with others. Advertising, social strategy, SEO, funnels, automation — they all need to serve that function.

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that marketing was another word for lies. Don’t buy it.

Smart marketers don’t accept the excuse of “It’s just marketing” to hide the truth or produce crummy work that benefits no one.

Wise marketers embrace art as integral to what they do, as much as strategy and execution are.

Here are some observations I’ve made over the years about how artists work and how anyone can adopt a more artistic mindset.

1. Artists geek out over craft

“Creativity occurs in action: It is not a trait; it is something you do.” – Bert Dodson

Get a group of writers together and you’ll hear a whole lot of geeky talk about structure, language, word choice, metaphor, and the serial comma.

Art is about your unique and personal expression of the world you see around you. But you can’t express what you see and feel until you master your chosen craft.

As a content marketer, you make a living with words. Dive into the disciplines that will teach you how to stitch words together in ways you haven’t tried before.

Study poetry. Study screenwriting. Study short stories. If you’re a podcaster, take an acting class or voice lessons.

The reason an artist’s life is so interesting and rewarding is that you never stop learning. When you master your craft at one level, new levels reveal themselves. The game gets ever more complex and interesting.

Any study of creative writing will benefit you as a content marketer. You’ll learn how to show, not tell. You’ll think more carefully about word choice. And you’ll learn the nuances that make for superb storytelling.

A writing workshop can be a great start, but there are also lots of wonderful books on writing well. Here are just a couple of suggestions — this is far from a complete list.

Resources:

Stephen King’s On Writing

Samuel R. Delany’s About Writing

Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey

James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

2. Artists protect their productive time

If you pick up a book about the work habits of creative people (I’m a bit obsessed with this topic), you’ll notice something striking.

Nearly all great writers, musicians, painters, and other artists tend to work in well-defined work cycles.

They nearly always have specific times of day set aside for creative work. They protect this time with a ferocity that can border on cruelty.

Often, this time is strictly reserved for what writers call “draft” — the messy, sometimes ugly part of the creative process where we take new ideas and work through them with as much craft as we can manage.

You need to be a bit brutal about protecting this time. That’s more important than it ever was, thanks to the seductive call of so many distractions.

Because, to be honest, a lot of days, this isn’t the fun part. This is the moment when all of those lovely dreams and ideas get turned into unsatisfying reality — on the page, the canvas, or the screen.

It’s where you face the dreaded, “The words on the screen don’t sound like they did in my head.”

The only way most of us ever manage to get anything done is simply to be rather robotic about getting to work. Uninterrupted creative time needs to get blocked into your calendar. You need to defend it — against your own resistance as much as anything else.

Resources:

There are lots of excellent apps that help you defend your productive time. I like the Freedom app to protect me from my own worst habits.

Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work is a fascinating look at how different artists have used their time.

3. Artists embrace bad art

If we’re spending time every day creating something that doesn’t match our creative vision, how do we push ourselves to keep showing up?

Artists know that the way to create good art — maybe some day even great art — is to make a whole lot of bad art.

We’re looking for what painters call “brush mileage.” You’ll never be able to paint well until you pull a paintbrush through a certain amount of paint and onto a certain volume of canvas or paper.

We make good sentences by starting with awful sentences.

Writers, in my opinion, have it lucky. We can keep working on a piece until it doesn’t suck. Try that with a watercolor; you won’t be happy.

If we keep working on material that’s appropriately challenging, we’ll keep getting better. At first, your pieces may need a lot of editing time. As you mature creatively, your rewrites might get faster, but you’ll still find that genuinely good work needs the discipline of multiple rewrites.

Resources:

In my experience, there’s no substitute for a thoughtful critique of your writing. Critique groups can be helpful, if (big if) the right people are in them. A well-qualified writing teacher or freelance editor is probably the gold standard.

If that’s not in the budget for now, find a friend or fellow content creator whose writing you admire and barter in-depth critiques for a task you’re terrific at.

4. Artists seek flow

Most of us have heard of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, even if we need to refer to Google any time we have to spell his name.

It’s all about that “creative state” — the mental point where time stops and we feel pure creative focus.

For us to find flow, whether it’s in rock climbing, flower arranging, or writing, we have to keep ourselves balanced on the edge between “too hard” and “too easy.”

When it’s too hard, we’re frustrated all the time and our thoughts get cramped. It’s hard to create anything new when you’re just angry with yourself.

When it’s too easy, we either become hacks, cranking out the same tired crap, or we get bored and start to become self-destructive.

The life of an artist is about constantly looking for that edge, and climbing back onto it again and again.

Resource:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

(By the way, my best sources for how to pronounce his name say “Me-high Cheek-SENT-me-high.”)

5. Artists ask a lot of questions

Craft is about how skillfully you can express an idea. Art adds interesting questions to that expression.

Craft makes the work pretty. Art makes it meaningful.

Is that the best way? Are there other options we could explore?

It truly doesn’t matter what your topic is. If you ask questions — lots of them — you’ll start to come up with interesting answers.

Questions lead us to new places. They build cathedrals and pyramids and space stations.

Resources:

Some of the most powerful questions you’ll ever answer will come from your audience. You’ll never outgrow the need to listen closely to your audience’s questions.

But in addition to those, consider these:

Why does the world look the way it does today?

What haven’t we thought of yet?

What’s standing so fully in our way that we can’t even see it?

6. Artists value pragmatism

“Creativity is a lot like happiness. It shows up when you’re thinking of something else.” – Bert Dodson

In my experience, the stereotype of the “flaky artist” who’s out of touch with reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

If your vacuum cleaner breaks? Don’t throw it into the landfill; call your artist friend. She’ll know how to rewire it, she can resolder the piece that broke off, and she’ll tweak the switch so it’s easier to use.

Of course, she may also paint it deep red with a filigree pattern of pale yellow and silver polka dots, and add a sound system.

Art presents endless opportunities for recycling, rethinking, and pragmatic problem solving.

Lots of us quit the formal practice of problem solving when we stopped doing word problems in math class. Artists solve new problems every time they sit down to work.

Artists understand that it’s not enough to have some grand idea. We have to figure out how to translate that into something other people can see or hear or touch.

Resources:

Our monthly content challenges are designed to give you pragmatic exercises to improve your craft and your creative output. You still have time to complete our creative challenge for January here:

January’s Content Excellence Challenge Prompts

And look for February’s challenges on the blog next week.

7. Artists actively seek an audience

Art begins in self-expression. But at a certain point, we have a deep desire to find an audience for our creative work.

There’s nothing wrong with making art to please yourself. It’s a satisfying way to spend your time.

But when we “go pro” — when we seek an audience — we begin to walk the tightrope between what we intend and what we actually communicate. Between our expression and how the audience sees that expression.

It’s a bit of a zen paradox.

Art is not about you. Also, art is about you.

Some art works well for a small number of people. Some art works well for millions. It’s your job as a creative professional to find the ones who get your message, then find some more people like that.

That’s why it doesn’t make you a “hack” to want to build the audience for your work. When you tell great stories, your stories become your audience’s stories. If a story is powerful enough, it picks up and walks on without you.

Resources:

Helping you find a bigger audience is one of the reasons we’re here. You can snag a juicy library of free content marketing training here, including lots of resources to help you grow your audience and community:

The Copyblogger free content marketing library

And for the rest of this month, we’ll be talking a lot about how art (and craft) will serve your work. February will be a rich month of tutorials, techniques, and inspiration to elevate your content. We’re all looking forward to seeing you in the coming weeks!

The post 7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing appeared first on Copyblogger.

via marketing http://ift.tt/2jvVITu

#IFTTT #marketing

[layralannister]

7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing

Earlier this year, I wrote that I believe art plays a critical role in content marketing.

But what does that actually mean? When you think about it, what does that word “art” really mean?

“I’ll know it when I see it.” – Random critic

For the purposes of this conversation, I’ll define art as an expression that can’t be made by an algorithm. It’s the creative spark, the unusual choice, the flare of personality, the moment of real human empathy and connection.

I believe it’s a serious mistake to think that marketing and art are somehow separate.

As Brian Clark has said for years:

“People who think art is sacred and marketing is dirty tend to be terrible marketers and marginal artists.

People who think art is irrelevant and marketing is about tricking people into buying shit they don’t need tend to be terrible marketers and worse human beings.” – Brian Clark, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and the Art of Phony Marketing

While I’m defining art, let me go ahead and define marketing: It’s what we communicate that allows us to work with others. Advertising, social strategy, SEO, funnels, automation — they all need to serve that function.

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that marketing was another word for lies. Don’t buy it.

Smart marketers don’t accept the excuse of “It’s just marketing” to hide the truth or produce crummy work that benefits no one.

Wise marketers embrace art as integral to what they do, as much as strategy and execution are.

Here are some observations I’ve made over the years about how artists work and how anyone can adopt a more artistic mindset.

1. Artists geek out over craft

“Creativity occurs in action: It is not a trait; it is something you do.” – Bert Dodson

Get a group of writers together and you’ll hear a whole lot of geeky talk about structure, language, word choice, metaphor, and the serial comma.

Art is about your unique and personal expression of the world you see around you. But you can’t express what you see and feel until you master your chosen craft.

As a content marketer, you make a living with words. Dive into the disciplines that will teach you how to stitch words together in ways you haven’t tried before.

Study poetry. Study screenwriting. Study short stories. If you’re a podcaster, take an acting class or voice lessons.

The reason an artist’s life is so interesting and rewarding is that you never stop learning. When you master your craft at one level, new levels reveal themselves. The game gets ever more complex and interesting.

Any study of creative writing will benefit you as a content marketer. You’ll learn how to show, not tell. You’ll think more carefully about word choice. And you’ll learn the nuances that make for superb storytelling.

A writing workshop can be a great start, but there are also lots of wonderful books on writing well. Here are just a couple of suggestions — this is far from a complete list.

Resources:

Stephen King’s On Writing

Samuel R. Delany’s About Writing

Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey

James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

2. Artists protect their productive time

If you pick up a book about the work habits of creative people (I’m a bit obsessed with this topic), you’ll notice something striking.

Nearly all great writers, musicians, painters, and other artists tend to work in well-defined work cycles.

They nearly always have specific times of day set aside for creative work. They protect this time with a ferocity that can border on cruelty.

Often, this time is strictly reserved for what writers call “draft” — the messy, sometimes ugly part of the creative process where we take new ideas and work through them with as much craft as we can manage.

You need to be a bit brutal about protecting this time. That’s more important than it ever was, thanks to the seductive call of so many distractions.

Because, to be honest, a lot of days, this isn’t the fun part. This is the moment when all of those lovely dreams and ideas get turned into unsatisfying reality — on the page, the canvas, or the screen.

It’s where you face the dreaded, “The words on the screen don’t sound like they did in my head.”

The only way most of us ever manage to get anything done is simply to be rather robotic about getting to work. Uninterrupted creative time needs to get blocked into your calendar. You need to defend it — against your own resistance as much as anything else.

Resources:

There are lots of excellent apps that help you defend your productive time. I like the Freedom app to protect me from my own worst habits.

Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work is a fascinating look at how different artists have used their time.

3. Artists embrace bad art

If we’re spending time every day creating something that doesn’t match our creative vision, how do we push ourselves to keep showing up?

Artists know that the way to create good art — maybe some day even great art — is to make a whole lot of bad art.

We’re looking for what painters call “brush mileage.” You’ll never be able to paint well until you pull a paintbrush through a certain amount of paint and onto a certain volume of canvas or paper.

We make good sentences by starting with awful sentences.

Writers, in my opinion, have it lucky. We can keep working on a piece until it doesn’t suck. Try that with a watercolor; you won’t be happy.

If we keep working on material that’s appropriately challenging, we’ll keep getting better. At first, your pieces may need a lot of editing time. As you mature creatively, your rewrites might get faster, but you’ll still find that genuinely good work needs the discipline of multiple rewrites.

Resources:

In my experience, there’s no substitute for a thoughtful critique of your writing. Critique groups can be helpful, if (big if) the right people are in them. A well-qualified writing teacher or freelance editor is probably the gold standard.

If that’s not in the budget for now, find a friend or fellow content creator whose writing you admire and barter in-depth critiques for a task you’re terrific at.

4. Artists seek flow

Most of us have heard of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, even if we need to refer to Google any time we have to spell his name.

It’s all about that “creative state” — the mental point where time stops and we feel pure creative focus.

For us to find flow, whether it’s in rock climbing, flower arranging, or writing, we have to keep ourselves balanced on the edge between “too hard” and “too easy.”

When it’s too hard, we’re frustrated all the time and our thoughts get cramped. It’s hard to create anything new when you’re just angry with yourself.

When it’s too easy, we either become hacks, cranking out the same tired crap, or we get bored and start to become self-destructive.

The life of an artist is about constantly looking for that edge, and climbing back onto it again and again.

Resource:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

(By the way, my best sources for how to pronounce his name say “Me-high Cheek-SENT-me-high.”)

5. Artists ask a lot of questions

Craft is about how skillfully you can express an idea. Art adds interesting questions to that expression.

Craft makes the work pretty. Art makes it meaningful.

Is that the best way? Are there other options we could explore?

It truly doesn’t matter what your topic is. If you ask questions — lots of them — you’ll start to come up with interesting answers.

Questions lead us to new places. They build cathedrals and pyramids and space stations.

Resources:

Some of the most powerful questions you’ll ever answer will come from your audience. You’ll never outgrow the need to listen closely to your audience’s questions.

But in addition to those, consider these:

Why does the world look the way it does today?

What haven’t we thought of yet?

What’s standing so fully in our way that we can’t even see it?

6. Artists value pragmatism

“Creativity is a lot like happiness. It shows up when you’re thinking of something else.” – Bert Dodson

In my experience, the stereotype of the “flaky artist” who’s out of touch with reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

If your vacuum cleaner breaks? Don’t throw it into the landfill; call your artist friend. She’ll know how to rewire it, she can resolder the piece that broke off, and she’ll tweak the switch so it’s easier to use.

Of course, she may also paint it deep red with a filigree pattern of pale yellow and silver polka dots, and add a sound system.

Art presents endless opportunities for recycling, rethinking, and pragmatic problem solving.

Lots of us quit the formal practice of problem solving when we stopped doing word problems in math class. Artists solve new problems every time they sit down to work.

Artists understand that it’s not enough to have some grand idea. We have to figure out how to translate that into something other people can see or hear or touch.

Resources:

Our monthly content challenges are designed to give you pragmatic exercises to improve your craft and your creative output. You still have time to complete our creative challenge for January here:

January’s Content Excellence Challenge Prompts

And look for February’s challenges on the blog next week.

7. Artists actively seek an audience

Art begins in self-expression. But at a certain point, we have a deep desire to find an audience for our creative work.

There’s nothing wrong with making art to please yourself. It’s a satisfying way to spend your time.

But when we “go pro” — when we seek an audience — we begin to walk the tightrope between what we intend and what we actually communicate. Between our expression and how the audience sees that expression.

It’s a bit of a zen paradox.

Art is not about you. Also, art is about you.

Some art works well for a small number of people. Some art works well for millions. It’s your job as a creative professional to find the ones who get your message, then find some more people like that.

That’s why it doesn’t make you a “hack” to want to build the audience for your work. When you tell great stories, your stories become your audience’s stories. If a story is powerful enough, it picks up and walks on without you.

Resources:

Helping you find a bigger audience is one of the reasons we’re here. You can snag a juicy library of free content marketing training here, including lots of resources to help you grow your audience and community:

The Copyblogger free content marketing library

And for the rest of this month, we’ll be talking a lot about how art (and craft) will serve your work. February will be a rich month of tutorials, techniques, and inspiration to elevate your content. We’re all looking forward to seeing you in the coming weeks!

The post 7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing appeared first on Copyblogger.

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[marie85marketing]

7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing

Earlier this year, I wrote that I believe art plays a critical role in content marketing.

But what does that actually mean? When you think about it, what does that word “art” really mean?

“I’ll know it when I see it.” – Random critic

For the purposes of this conversation, I’ll define art as an expression that can’t be made by an algorithm. It’s the creative spark, the unusual choice, the flare of personality, the moment of real human empathy and connection.

I believe it’s a serious mistake to think that marketing and art are somehow separate.

As Brian Clark has said for years:

“People who think art is sacred and marketing is dirty tend to be terrible marketers and marginal artists.

People who think art is irrelevant and marketing is about tricking people into buying shit they don’t need tend to be terrible marketers and worse human beings.” – Brian Clark, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and the Art of Phony Marketing

While I’m defining art, let me go ahead and define marketing: It’s what we communicate that allows us to work with others. Advertising, social strategy, SEO, funnels, automation — they all need to serve that function.

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that marketing was another word for lies. Don’t buy it.

Smart marketers don’t accept the excuse of “It’s just marketing” to hide the truth or produce crummy work that benefits no one.

Wise marketers embrace art as integral to what they do, as much as strategy and execution are.

Here are some observations I’ve made over the years about how artists work and how anyone can adopt a more artistic mindset.

1. Artists geek out over craft

“Creativity occurs in action: It is not a trait; it is something you do.” – Bert Dodson

Get a group of writers together and you’ll hear a whole lot of geeky talk about structure, language, word choice, metaphor, and the serial comma.

Art is about your unique and personal expression of the world you see around you. But you can’t express what you see and feel until you master your chosen craft.

As a content marketer, you make a living with words. Dive into the disciplines that will teach you how to stitch words together in ways you haven’t tried before.

Study poetry. Study screenwriting. Study short stories. If you’re a podcaster, take an acting class or voice lessons.

The reason an artist’s life is so interesting and rewarding is that you never stop learning. When you master your craft at one level, new levels reveal themselves. The game gets ever more complex and interesting.

Any study of creative writing will benefit you as a content marketer. You’ll learn how to show, not tell. You’ll think more carefully about word choice. And you’ll learn the nuances that make for superb storytelling.

A writing workshop can be a great start, but there are also lots of wonderful books on writing well. Here are just a couple of suggestions — this is far from a complete list.

Resources:

Stephen King’s On Writing

Samuel R. Delany’s About Writing

Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey

James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

2. Artists protect their productive time

If you pick up a book about the work habits of creative people (I’m a bit obsessed with this topic), you’ll notice something striking.

Nearly all great writers, musicians, painters, and other artists tend to work in well-defined work cycles.

They nearly always have specific times of day set aside for creative work. They protect this time with a ferocity that can border on cruelty.

Often, this time is strictly reserved for what writers call “draft” — the messy, sometimes ugly part of the creative process where we take new ideas and work through them with as much craft as we can manage.

You need to be a bit brutal about protecting this time. That’s more important than it ever was, thanks to the seductive call of so many distractions.

Because, to be honest, a lot of days, this isn’t the fun part. This is the moment when all of those lovely dreams and ideas get turned into unsatisfying reality — on the page, the canvas, or the screen.

It’s where you face the dreaded, “The words on the screen don’t sound like they did in my head.”

The only way most of us ever manage to get anything done is simply to be rather robotic about getting to work. Uninterrupted creative time needs to get blocked into your calendar. You need to defend it — against your own resistance as much as anything else.

Resources:

There are lots of excellent apps that help you defend your productive time. I like the Freedom app to protect me from my own worst habits.

Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work is a fascinating look at how different artists have used their time.

3. Artists embrace bad art

If we’re spending time every day creating something that doesn’t match our creative vision, how do we push ourselves to keep showing up?

Artists know that the way to create good art — maybe some day even great art — is to make a whole lot of bad art.

We’re looking for what painters call “brush mileage.” You’ll never be able to paint well until you pull a paintbrush through a certain amount of paint and onto a certain volume of canvas or paper.

We make good sentences by starting with awful sentences.

Writers, in my opinion, have it lucky. We can keep working on a piece until it doesn’t suck. Try that with a watercolor; you won’t be happy.

If we keep working on material that’s appropriately challenging, we’ll keep getting better. At first, your pieces may need a lot of editing time. As you mature creatively, your rewrites might get faster, but you’ll still find that genuinely good work needs the discipline of multiple rewrites.

Resources:

In my experience, there’s no substitute for a thoughtful critique of your writing. Critique groups can be helpful, if (big if) the right people are in them. A well-qualified writing teacher or freelance editor is probably the gold standard.

If that’s not in the budget for now, find a friend or fellow content creator whose writing you admire and barter in-depth critiques for a task you’re terrific at.

4. Artists seek flow

Most of us have heard of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, even if we need to refer to Google any time we have to spell his name.

It’s all about that “creative state” — the mental point where time stops and we feel pure creative focus.

For us to find flow, whether it’s in rock climbing, flower arranging, or writing, we have to keep ourselves balanced on the edge between “too hard” and “too easy.”

When it’s too hard, we’re frustrated all the time and our thoughts get cramped. It’s hard to create anything new when you’re just angry with yourself.

When it’s too easy, we either become hacks, cranking out the same tired crap, or we get bored and start to become self-destructive.

The life of an artist is about constantly looking for that edge, and climbing back onto it again and again.

Resource:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

(By the way, my best sources for how to pronounce his name say “Me-high Cheek-SENT-me-high.”)

5. Artists ask a lot of questions

Craft is about how skillfully you can express an idea. Art adds interesting questions to that expression.

Craft makes the work pretty. Art makes it meaningful.

Is that the best way? Are there other options we could explore?

It truly doesn’t matter what your topic is. If you ask questions — lots of them — you’ll start to come up with interesting answers.

Questions lead us to new places. They build cathedrals and pyramids and space stations.

Resources:

Some of the most powerful questions you’ll ever answer will come from your audience. You’ll never outgrow the need to listen closely to your audience’s questions.

But in addition to those, consider these:

Why does the world look the way it does today?

What haven’t we thought of yet?

What’s standing so fully in our way that we can’t even see it?

6. Artists value pragmatism

“Creativity is a lot like happiness. It shows up when you’re thinking of something else.” – Bert Dodson

In my experience, the stereotype of the “flaky artist” who’s out of touch with reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

If your vacuum cleaner breaks? Don’t throw it into the landfill; call your artist friend. She’ll know how to rewire it, she can resolder the piece that broke off, and she’ll tweak the switch so it’s easier to use.

Of course, she may also paint it deep red with a filigree pattern of pale yellow and silver polka dots, and add a sound system.

Art presents endless opportunities for recycling, rethinking, and pragmatic problem solving.

Lots of us quit the formal practice of problem solving when we stopped doing word problems in math class. Artists solve new problems every time they sit down to work.

Artists understand that it’s not enough to have some grand idea. We have to figure out how to translate that into something other people can see or hear or touch.

Resources:

Our monthly content challenges are designed to give you pragmatic exercises to improve your craft and your creative output. You still have time to complete our creative challenge for January here:

January’s Content Excellence Challenge Prompts

And look for February’s challenges on the blog next week.

7. Artists actively seek an audience

Art begins in self-expression. But at a certain point, we have a deep desire to find an audience for our creative work.

There’s nothing wrong with making art to please yourself. It’s a satisfying way to spend your time.

But when we “go pro” — when we seek an audience — we begin to walk the tightrope between what we intend and what we actually communicate. Between our expression and how the audience sees that expression.

It’s a bit of a zen paradox.

Art is not about you. Also, art is about you.

Some art works well for a small number of people. Some art works well for millions. It’s your job as a creative professional to find the ones who get your message, then find some more people like that.

That’s why it doesn’t make you a “hack” to want to build the audience for your work. When you tell great stories, your stories become your audience’s stories. If a story is powerful enough, it picks up and walks on without you.

Resources:

Helping you find a bigger audience is one of the reasons we’re here. You can snag a juicy library of free content marketing training here, including lots of resources to help you grow your audience and community:

The Copyblogger free content marketing library

And for the rest of this month, we’ll be talking a lot about how art (and craft) will serve your work. February will be a rich month of tutorials, techniques, and inspiration to elevate your content. We’re all looking forward to seeing you in the coming weeks!

The post 7 Real-World Ways to Think Like an Artist for Better Content Marketing appeared first on Copyblogger.

[nathandgibsca]

7 Real-World Ways to Think and Work Like an Artist

Earlier this year, I wrote that I believe art plays a critical role in content marketing.

But what does that actually mean? When you think about it, what does that word “art” really mean?

“I’ll know it when I see it.” – Random critic

For the purposes of this conversation, I’ll define art as an expression that can’t be made by an algorithm. It’s the creative spark, the unusual choice, the flare of personality, the moment of real human empathy and connection.

I believe it’s a serious mistake to think that marketing and art are somehow separate.

As Brian Clark has said for years:

“People who think art is sacred and marketing is dirty tend to be terrible marketers and marginal artists.

People who think art is irrelevant and marketing is about tricking people into buying shit they don’t need tend to be terrible marketers and worse human beings.” – Brian Clark, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and the Art of Phony Marketing

While I’m defining art, let me go ahead and define marketing: It’s what we communicate that allows us to work with others. Advertising, social strategy, SEO, funnels, automation — they all need to serve that function.

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that marketing was another word for lies. Don’t buy it.

Smart marketers don’t accept the excuse of “It’s just marketing” to hide the truth or produce crummy work that benefits no one.

Wise marketers embrace art as integral to what they do, as much as strategy and execution are.

Here are some observations I’ve made over the years about how artists work and how anyone can adopt a more artistic mindset.

1. Artists geek out over craft

“Creativity occurs in action: It is not a trait; it is something you do.” – Bert Dodson

Get a group of writers together and you’ll hear a whole lot of geeky talk about structure, language, word choice, metaphor, and the serial comma.

Art is about your unique and personal expression of the world you see around you. But you can’t express what you see and feel until you master your chosen craft.

As a content marketer, you make a living with words. Dive into the disciplines that will teach you how to stitch words together in ways you haven’t tried before.

Study poetry. Study screenwriting. Study short stories. If you’re a podcaster, take an acting class or voice lessons.

The reason an artist’s life is so interesting and rewarding is that you never stop learning. When you master your craft at one level, new levels reveal themselves. The game gets ever more complex and interesting.

Any study of creative writing will benefit you as a content marketer. You’ll learn how to show, not tell. You’ll think more carefully about word choice. And you’ll learn the nuances that make for superb storytelling.

A writing workshop can be a great start, but there are also lots of wonderful books on writing well. Here are just a couple of suggestions — this is far from a complete list.

Resources:

Stephen King’s On Writing

Samuel R. Delany’s About Writing

Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey

James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

2. Artists protect their productive time

If you pick up a book about the work habits of creative people (I’m a bit obsessed with this topic), you’ll notice something striking.

Nearly all great writers, musicians, painters, and other artists tend to work in well-defined work cycles.

They nearly always have specific times of day set aside for creative work. They protect this time with a ferocity that can border on cruelty.

Often, this time is strictly reserved for what writers call “draft” — the messy, sometimes ugly part of the creative process where we take new ideas and work through them with as much craft as we can manage.

You need to be a bit brutal about protecting this time. That’s more important than it ever was, thanks to the seductive call of so many distractions.

Because, to be honest, a lot of days, this isn’t the fun part. This is the moment when all of those lovely dreams and ideas get turned into unsatisfying reality — on the page, the canvas, or the screen.

It’s where you face the dreaded, “The words on the screen don’t sound like they did in my head.”

The only way most of us ever manage to get anything done is simply to be rather robotic about getting to work. Uninterrupted creative time needs to get blocked into your calendar. You need to defend it — against your own resistance as much as anything else.

Resources:

There are lots of excellent apps that help you defend your productive time. I like the Freedom app to protect me from my own worst habits.

Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work is a fascinating look at how different artists have used their time.

3. Artists embrace bad art

If we’re spending time every day creating something that doesn’t match our creative vision, how do we push ourselves to keep showing up?

Artists know that the way to create good art — maybe some day even great art — is to make a whole lot of bad art.

We’re looking for what painters call “brush mileage.” You’ll never be able to paint well until you pull a paintbrush through a certain amount of paint and onto a certain volume of canvas or paper.

We make good sentences by starting with awful sentences.

Writers, in my opinion, have it lucky. We can keep working on a piece until it doesn’t suck. Try that with a watercolor; you won’t be happy.

If we keep working on material that’s appropriately challenging, we’ll keep getting better. At first, your pieces may need a lot of editing time. As you mature creatively, your rewrites might get faster, but you’ll still find that genuinely good work needs the discipline of multiple rewrites.

Resources:

In my experience, there’s no substitute for a thoughtful critique of your writing. Critique groups can be helpful, if (big if) the right people are in them. A well-qualified writing teacher or freelance editor is probably the gold standard.

If that’s not in the budget for now, find a friend or fellow content creator whose writing you admire and barter in-depth critiques for a task you’re terrific at.

4. Artists seek flow

Most of us have heard of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, even if we need to refer to Google any time we have to spell his name.

It’s all about that “creative state” — the mental point where time stops and we feel pure creative focus.

For us to find flow, whether it’s in rock climbing, flower arranging, or writing, we have to keep ourselves balanced on the edge between “too hard” and “too easy.”

When it’s too hard, we’re frustrated all the time and our thoughts get cramped. It’s hard to create anything new when you’re just angry with yourself.

When it’s too easy, we either become hacks, cranking out the same tired crap, or we get bored and start to become self-destructive.

The life of an artist is about constantly looking for that edge, and climbing back onto it again and again.

Resource:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

(By the way, my best sources for how to pronounce his name say “Me-high Cheek-SENT-me-high.”)

5. Artists ask a lot of questions

Craft is about how skillfully you can express an idea. Art adds interesting questions to that expression.

Craft makes the work pretty. Art makes it meaningful.

Is that the best way? Are there other options we could explore?

It truly doesn’t matter what your topic is. If you ask questions — lots of them — you’ll start to come up with interesting answers.

Questions lead us to new places. They build cathedrals and pyramids and space stations.

Resources:

Some of the most powerful questions you’ll ever answer will come from your audience. You’ll never outgrow the need to listen closely to your audience’s questions.

But in addition to those, consider these:

Why does the world look the way it does today?

What haven’t we thought of yet?

What’s standing so fully in our way that we can’t even see it?

6. Artists value pragmatism

“Creativity is a lot like happiness. It shows up when you’re thinking of something else.” – Bert Dodson

In my experience, the stereotype of the “flaky artist” who’s out of touch with reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

If your vacuum cleaner breaks? Don’t throw it into the landfill; call your artist friend. She’ll know how to rewire it, she can resolder the piece that broke off, and she’ll tweak the switch so it’s easier to use.

Of course, she may also paint it deep red with a filigree pattern of pale yellow and silver polka dots, and add a sound system.

Art presents endless opportunities for recycling, rethinking, and pragmatic problem solving.

Lots of us quit the formal practice of problem solving when we stopped doing word problems in math class. Artists solve new problems every time they sit down to work.

Artists understand that it’s not enough to have some grand idea. We have to figure out how to translate that into something other people can see or hear or touch.

Resources:

Our monthly content challenges are designed to give you pragmatic exercises to improve your craft and your creative output. You still have time to complete our creative challenge for January here:

January’s Content Excellence Challenge Prompts

And look for February’s challenges on the blog next week.

7. Artists actively seek an audience

Art begins in self-expression. But at a certain point, we have a deep desire to find an audience for our creative work.

There’s nothing wrong with making art to please yourself. It’s a satisfying way to spend your time.

But when we “go pro” — when we seek an audience — we begin to walk the tightrope between what we intend and what we actually communicate. Between our expression and how the audience sees that expression.

It’s a bit of a zen paradox.

Art is not about you. Also, art is about you.

Some art works well for a small number of people. Some art works well for millions. It’s your job as a creative professional to find the ones who get your message, then find some more people like that.

That’s why it doesn’t make you a “hack” to want to build the audience for your work. When you tell great stories, your stories become your audience’s stories. If a story is powerful enough, it picks up and walks on without you.

Resources:

Helping you find a bigger audience is one of the reasons we’re here. You can snag a juicy library of free content marketing training here, including lots of resources to help you grow your audience and community:

The Copyblogger free content marketing library

And for the rest of this month, we’ll be talking a lot about how art (and craft) will serve your work. February will be a rich month of tutorials, techniques, and inspiration to elevate your content. We’re all looking forward to seeing you in the coming weeks!

The post 7 Real-World Ways to Think and Work Like an Artist appeared first on Copyblogger.

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[soph28collins]

7 Real-World Ways to Think and Work Like an Artist

Earlier this year, I wrote that I believe art plays a critical role in content marketing.

But what does that actually mean? When you think about it, what does that word “art” really mean?

“I’ll know it when I see it.” – Random critic

For the purposes of this conversation, I’ll define art as an expression that can’t be made by an algorithm. It’s the creative spark, the unusual choice, the flare of personality, the moment of real human empathy and connection.

I believe it’s a serious mistake to think that marketing and art are somehow separate.

As Brian Clark has said for years:

“People who think art is sacred and marketing is dirty tend to be terrible marketers and marginal artists.

People who think art is irrelevant and marketing is about tricking people into buying shit they don’t need tend to be terrible marketers and worse human beings.” – Brian Clark, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and the Art of Phony Marketing

While I’m defining art, let me go ahead and define marketing: It’s what we communicate that allows us to work with others. Advertising, social strategy, SEO, funnels, automation — they all need to serve that function.

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that marketing was another word for lies. Don’t buy it.

Smart marketers don’t accept the excuse of “It’s just marketing” to hide the truth or produce crummy work that benefits no one.

Wise marketers embrace art as integral to what they do, as much as strategy and execution are.

Here are some observations I’ve made over the years about how artists work and how anyone can adopt a more artistic mindset.

1. Artists geek out over craft

“Creativity occurs in action: It is not a trait; it is something you do.” – Bert Dodson

Get a group of writers together and you’ll hear a whole lot of geeky talk about structure, language, word choice, metaphor, and the serial comma.

Art is about your unique and personal expression of the world you see around you. But you can’t express what you see and feel until you master your chosen craft.

As a content marketer, you make a living with words. Dive into the disciplines that will teach you how to stitch words together in ways you haven’t tried before.

Study poetry. Study screenwriting. Study short stories. If you’re a podcaster, take an acting class or voice lessons.

The reason an artist’s life is so interesting and rewarding is that you never stop learning. When you master your craft at one level, new levels reveal themselves. The game gets ever more complex and interesting.

Any study of creative writing will benefit you as a content marketer. You’ll learn how to show, not tell. You’ll think more carefully about word choice. And you’ll learn the nuances that make for superb storytelling.

A writing workshop can be a great start, but there are also lots of wonderful books on writing well. Here are just a couple of suggestions — this is far from a complete list.

Resources:

Stephen King’s On Writing

Samuel R. Delany’s About Writing

Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey

James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

2. Artists protect their productive time

If you pick up a book about the work habits of creative people (I’m a bit obsessed with this topic), you’ll notice something striking.

Nearly all great writers, musicians, painters, and other artists tend to work in well-defined work cycles.

They nearly always have specific times of day set aside for creative work. They protect this time with a ferocity that can border on cruelty.

Often, this time is strictly reserved for what writers call “draft” — the messy, sometimes ugly part of the creative process where we take new ideas and work through them with as much craft as we can manage.

You need to be a bit brutal about protecting this time. That’s more important than it ever was, thanks to the seductive call of so many distractions.

Because, to be honest, a lot of days, this isn’t the fun part. This is the moment when all of those lovely dreams and ideas get turned into unsatisfying reality — on the page, the canvas, or the screen.

It’s where you face the dreaded, “The words on the screen don’t sound like they did in my head.”

The only way most of us ever manage to get anything done is simply to be rather robotic about getting to work. Uninterrupted creative time needs to get blocked into your calendar. You need to defend it — against your own resistance as much as anything else.

Resources:

There are lots of excellent apps that help you defend your productive time. I like the Freedom app to protect me from my own worst habits.

Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work is a fascinating look at how different artists have used their time.

3. Artists embrace bad art

If we’re spending time every day creating something that doesn’t match our creative vision, how do we push ourselves to keep showing up?

Artists know that the way to create good art — maybe some day even great art — is to make a whole lot of bad art.

We’re looking for what painters call “brush mileage.” You’ll never be able to paint well until you pull a paintbrush through a certain amount of paint and onto a certain volume of canvas or paper.

We make good sentences by starting with awful sentences.

Writers, in my opinion, have it lucky. We can keep working on a piece until it doesn’t suck. Try that with a watercolor; you won’t be happy.

If we keep working on material that’s appropriately challenging, we’ll keep getting better. At first, your pieces may need a lot of editing time. As you mature creatively, your rewrites might get faster, but you’ll still find that genuinely good work needs the discipline of multiple rewrites.

Resources:

In my experience, there’s no substitute for a thoughtful critique of your writing. Critique groups can be helpful, if (big if) the right people are in them. A well-qualified writing teacher or freelance editor is probably the gold standard.

If that’s not in the budget for now, find a friend or fellow content creator whose writing you admire and barter in-depth critiques for a task you’re terrific at.

4. Artists seek flow

Most of us have heard of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, even if we need to refer to Google any time we have to spell his name.

It’s all about that “creative state” — the mental point where time stops and we feel pure creative focus.

For us to find flow, whether it’s in rock climbing, flower arranging, or writing, we have to keep ourselves balanced on the edge between “too hard” and “too easy.”

When it’s too hard, we’re frustrated all the time and our thoughts get cramped. It’s hard to create anything new when you’re just angry with yourself.

When it’s too easy, we either become hacks, cranking out the same tired crap, or we get bored and start to become self-destructive.

The life of an artist is about constantly looking for that edge, and climbing back onto it again and again.

Resource:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

(By the way, my best sources for how to pronounce his name say “Me-high Cheek-SENT-me-high.”)

5. Artists ask a lot of questions

Craft is about how skillfully you can express an idea. Art adds interesting questions to that expression.

Craft makes the work pretty. Art makes it meaningful.

Is that the best way? Are there other options we could explore?

It truly doesn’t matter what your topic is. If you ask questions — lots of them — you’ll start to come up with interesting answers.

Questions lead us to new places. They build cathedrals and pyramids and space stations.

Resources:

Some of the most powerful questions you’ll ever answer will come from your audience. You’ll never outgrow the need to listen closely to your audience’s questions.

But in addition to those, consider these:

Why does the world look the way it does today?

What haven’t we thought of yet?

What’s standing so fully in our way that we can’t even see it?

6. Artists value pragmatism

“Creativity is a lot like happiness. It shows up when you’re thinking of something else.” – Bert Dodson

In my experience, the stereotype of the “flaky artist” who’s out of touch with reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

If your vacuum cleaner breaks? Don’t throw it into the landfill; call your artist friend. She’ll know how to rewire it, she can resolder the piece that broke off, and she’ll tweak the switch so it’s easier to use.

Of course, she may also paint it deep red with a filigree pattern of pale yellow and silver polka dots, and add a sound system.

Art presents endless opportunities for recycling, rethinking, and pragmatic problem solving.

Lots of us quit the formal practice of problem solving when we stopped doing word problems in math class. Artists solve new problems every time they sit down to work.

Artists understand that it’s not enough to have some grand idea. We have to figure out how to translate that into something other people can see or hear or touch.

Resources:

Our monthly content challenges are designed to give you pragmatic exercises to improve your craft and your creative output. You still have time to complete our creative challenge for January here:

January’s Content Excellence Challenge Prompts

And look for February’s challenges on the blog next week.

7. Artists actively seek an audience

Art begins in self-expression. But at a certain point, we have a deep desire to find an audience for our creative work.

There’s nothing wrong with making art to please yourself. It’s a satisfying way to spend your time.

But when we “go pro” — when we seek an audience — we begin to walk the tightrope between what we intend and what we actually communicate. Between our expression and how the audience sees that expression.

It’s a bit of a zen paradox.

Art is not about you. Also, art is about you.

Some art works well for a small number of people. Some art works well for millions. It’s your job as a creative professional to find the ones who get your message, then find some more people like that.

That’s why it doesn’t make you a “hack” to want to build the audience for your work. When you tell great stories, your stories become your audience’s stories. If a story is powerful enough, it picks up and walks on without you.

Resources:

Helping you find a bigger audience is one of the reasons we’re here. You can snag a juicy library of free content marketing training here, including lots of resources to help you grow your audience and community:

The Copyblogger free content marketing library

And for the rest of this month, we’ll be talking a lot about how art (and craft) will serve your work. February will be a rich month of tutorials, techniques, and inspiration to elevate your content. We’re all looking forward to seeing you in the coming weeks!

The post 7 Real-World Ways to Think and Work Like an Artist appeared first on Copyblogger.

from Copyblogger http://www.copyblogger.com/artist-mindset/