ON BEING AN ARTIST
Monday, April 23, 2012 § Leave a comment
Malvina Reynolds sings about the ticky-tacky professionals, who all look just the same.
I suspect that her distance from them lets her miss the point. You don’t need a guitar to sing your song.
The musician battles the same two choices as the sales-executive every day: risk averse and conforming to expectations vs. emotionally courageous self-expression. Ticky-tacky is as ticky-tacky does. It’s not in the profession that we occupy; it’s in how we express ourselves in our profession.
For the singer, as much as for the lawyer, art begins beyond the “notes:” when we care.
FOR THE LOVE OF WORK
Monday, April 16, 2012 § 1 Comment
Here’s a beautiful 10 min clip about 9-year-old Caine, who one summer built a whole arcade from card-boxes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U
An arcade of card-boxes doesn’t hold a candle to even the shabbiest of real-arcade games. Why does that obviously not matter when we respond to Caine’s work?
Because care, passion and ingenuity speak to us no matter on what playing-field they are exercised.
Because we recognize when we see someone working with the joy of building, rather than with their eyes on a pay-off.
Because he takes pride in our joy when we appreciate and play his games. It’s about sharing, kinship and human connection.
Caine’s work is self-expression. It’s applied love.
When we can put that into our work, or have our organizations put that to play, the rest has a good chance of falling into place.
Business Buddhism 