Read the quotes below and just watch the video. Even if you’re not a Potter fan, this speech is amazing.
J.K. Rowling’s Commencement Speech at Harvard
On failure
“There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction.”
“Rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
“…some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you’ve lived so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case you’ve failed by default.”
On imagination
“Unlike any other creature on this planet. Human beings can learn and understand without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places.”
“The willfully unimaginative see more monsters, they are often more afraid.”
“As is a tale, so is life. Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”
Inspirational Story: The Elephant Rope
As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them.
“
| — | Michael Michalko |
Indeed a very interesting campaign!
Although it’s understandable that the right brain side should look much more chaotic and colorful, I still think that the left sides are way too bland, too empty. It looks like the left side of the brain is pure boredom and uselessness, something that’s obviously not true.
The exception is the bottom right image, where the left side elaborates nicely on the concepts of logic and pattern, whithout stealing too much attention from the right side.
Hou about you: which poster is your favorite and why? And which side of the brain you identify the most with?
Mercedes Benz, February 2011
Such a beautiful and clever ad campaign
Minimalist author Leo Babauta writes about finding solitude for creative work in our busy, cluttered and noisy lifes.
Can you create in a lousy environment, with people talking and phones ringing? Or do you seek some lonely spot where you can actually listen to the quiet voices in your head?
These are just perfect! I think the same ideas apply to other artistic fields as well…
I can relate to all of these right now, and it’s turning out really problematic.
Creative coach Marc McGuinness talks about routines to “set the mood” for creative production.
I still haven’t figured out a good way to “trigger” creative work. Sometimes ideas just pop up out of nowhere; sometimes it takes lots of sketches and doodles and hard thinking until something good comes up; and sometimes I am able to sit at my desk and immediately start working - without the usual “let’s just check out the e-mail before starting”…
How about you? How do you create? Do you have some sort of habit or ritual? Do you sit and wait for that mystic spark of inspiration?
The surprising truth about what motivates us is a 10 minute video with a smart animation and very interesting ideas!
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
― Rachel Carson
Another short and great text written by Leo Babauta, Create gives us simple and powerful advice, perfect for making things happen in 2012!
