This is the book that I bought in the airport in Sabah. When I spent the time in a bookstore with chunchun, I read this book and I love the saying in this book. I decided to buy this even I finished 80% of the book in the bookstore. Well...because I found the saying in the book quite encouraging. I hope that it can encourage me every time when I or my kids are in need.
Even if I am not an artist, I think the saying in the book is also encouraging to someone who has a dream to pursuit. For me, even I don't have any big dream to pursuit, I am eager to improve myself day-by-day.
l Steal like an Artist
You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life.
You are the sum of your influences. The German write Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we
love.”
You have to be curious
about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference.
Go deeper than anybody else – that’s how you’ll get ahead.
Google everything. I mean
everything, Google your dreams, Google your problems. Don’t ask a question
before you Google it. You’ll either find the answer or you’ll come up with a
better question.
l Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started
It’s in the act of making things and doing our works that we figure
out who we are.
Fake it until you make it
(i). Pretend to be something you’re not until you are, until you’re successful,
until everybody sees you the way you want them to. (ii) Pretend to be making something
until you actually make something
Start copying what you
love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself.
Who to copy is easy. You
copy your heros – the people you love, the people you’re inspired by, the
people you want to be.
What to copy is a little
bit trickier. Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You
don’t want to look like your heros, you want to see like your heros.
In the end, merely imitating your heros is not flattering them.
Transforming their works into something of your own is how you flatter them.
Adding something to the world that only you can add.
l Write the book you want to read
The best advice is not to
write what you know, it’s to write what you like. The
same principle applies to your life and your career: Whenever you’re at a loss
for what move to make next, just ask yourself, “what would make a better story?”
The manifesto is this: Draw the art you want to see, start the
business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you
want to read, build the produces you want to use – do the work you want to see
done.
l Use your hands
“going through the motions” If we just start going through the
motions, if we strum a guitar, or shuffle sticky notes around a conference
table, or start kneading clay, the motion kickstarts our brain into thinking.
The computer is really good for editing your ideas, and it’s really
good for getting your ideas ready for publishing out into the world, but it’s
ont really good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit
the delete key. The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us – we
start editing ideas before we have them.
“Things are on an inevitable path to being finished. Whereas in m
sketchbook the possibilities are endless.”
l Side projects and hobbies are important
It’s so important to have
a hobby. A hobby is something creative that’s just for you. You don’t try to
make money or get famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy. A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take. While my art is
for the world to see, music is only for me and my friends. We get together
every Sunday and make noise for a couple of hours. No pressure, no plans. It’s
regenerative. It’s like church.
l The secret: do good work and share it with people
l Geography is no longer our master
Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings. You
need to make it uncomfortable. You need to spend some time in another land,
among people that do things differently than you. Travel makes the world look
new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder.
l Be nice (the world is a small town)
Make friends, ignore
enemies
“There’s only one rule I
know of: You’ve god to be kind.”
You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself
with. In the digital space, that means following the best people online – the
people who are way smarter and better than you, people who are doing the really
interesting work. Pay attention to what they’re talking about, what they’re
doing, what they’re linking to.
So go on, get angry, But keep your mouth shut and go do your work.
The important thing is that you show your appreciation without
expecting anything in return, and that you get new work out of the
appreciation.
Life is a lonely business, often filled with discouragement and
rejections. Yes, validation is for parking, but it’s still a tremendous boost
when people say nice things about our work.
Keep a praise file and use it sparingly – don’t get lost in past
glory – but keep it around for when you need the lift.
l Be boring (it’s the only way to get work done)
Take care of yourself
Stay out of debt
Keep your day job – establishing and keeping a routine can be even
more important than having a lot of time.
Amassing a body of work or
building a career is a lot about the slow accumulation of little bits of effort
over time.
Marry well – a good partner keeps you grounded
l Creativity is subtraction
The same is true when you do your work: You must embrace your
limitations and keep moving
In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s
the things we choose to leave out.
