we’re so used to wanting everything easy, we forget the real value of hard [trying]. We’re so used to caring about the result, we forget the value of the process. Feeling good is more valuable than being good.From Learning to learn (*) by Spencer Lum (*)
[On] Fame. At this point I would say that it is a planetary value - wealth, fame, power at the cost of everything else.This was recorded sometime in 2008, I am guessing. I saw it late one night on the ABC in February 2009 (*).
So I think that value being shared around the planet creates in people this thought that if I am famous, I will be happy.
And what I have come to see is that fame only amplified that which was there already.
So if I was depressed or I if I was insecure or if I was angry or whatever it was it just amplified it.
It made everything bigger and it did not sort of give, give me what it had been sort of purported to be able to give.
And so there was this great disillusionment.
[On Life Purpose] At this point in my life I am clearer that I share music because it is part of my life purpose.
To write it is, the act of writing it is for me and the act of sharing it is so that other people can make it their own - they can derive comfort, inspiration or whatever they want to derive from it.
So it becomes an offering of some kind and because of that I can do it and I can work really hard.
If I were singularly doing it to just be in the public eye for gratuitous reasons, than I would probably last about an hour.
Success is, of course, as an internal factor – a connection that we, or I, have made with whatever I am searching for.which leads onto a rather interesting observation about the relationship between Success (*) and Searching (*):
Sometimes it can be elusive.
Sometimes it can be immediately self-evident.
The expression. The pose. The posturing. There can be windows that open up that are surprises.
But it’s that connection.
It’s the connection between having a sense of what you are working for, but not really having it defined well enough, so you always have to search, you always have to dig a little bit, it’s always a little bit unknown what you are looking for.
If you know what you are looking for I’m not sure what the value of finding it is.via INTERVIEW: “An Interview with Bruce Wrighton” (1988) (*) by Sean Phelan.
That is to say, I’m not sure what’s the value of doing the search. At that point that part of you has been ‘played out’ so to speak.
If I find myself making the same images over and over again,
I begin to suspect that I have to dig a little harder or deeper to find what the next level of mystery is in a particular subject matter or go on to a different one.
Noticing (*) what people do is often more valuable to us than listening (*) to what they say they think.via The Value of Soft Data (*) by The Story of Telling (*).
[..] the trick to bringing things that matter to the world is not just to absorb information, but to make meaning (*) from it.
The Story of Telling on Words:
Our words communicate much more than the messages we want people to hear. How we use them shapes our thoughts and character—it shows people what we value and conveys the truth about who we are. Our every word has the power to provoke or reassure, draw people in or push them away. We get to choose how well and how wisely we use them.via The Weight Of Our Words by The Story of Telling.
Asking ‘what if’ (*) feels risky because it means you might have to acknowledge that what you’ve worked hard to put in place might not be the best solution. But if we don’t have the courage to question our assumptions we’re choosing to stagnate by default.via The Value Of Asking What If (*) by The Story of Telling (*).
We all think he’s a genius, but he placed a lot of value on craftsmanship. When he started, he had no talent for drawing. If you look at his early drawings, they’re horrible. So how did he develop?”Via The Genius in us All (*) from New York Times (*).
The answer, Mr. Van Tilborgh said, was persistence. “If he couldn’t do it, he tried it 50 more times. He was one of those rare artists who had the energy to work through the fear of failure.
Joel Meyerowitz on Photography and a Moment:
It's always fun to turn the tables on someone who is filming you and do it back to them. If nothing else it becomes a record of the moment, and that has value too.via Turn the Tablle by Joel Meyerowitz.
And so I did and so it was.
There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys. How’s the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"He eloborates in the midst of the long and inspiring Address ...
[..] The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about....The fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance. [..]and conlcudes with ...
The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death. It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:The above photo is the photo that seemed to start my obsession of photographing water in earnest. No need to explain any more than this. Just thought this was a nice way to tie it all together, for me at least.
This is water.
This is water.
Inspiration (*) comes in many forms and from many sources. What I have learned (*) in doing architectural photography (*) is to be open to new ideas and to see the possibilities that present everywhere. [..] The ideas keep coming because inspiration (*) on its own may arrive in erratic bursts, but going after it consciously (*) day by day makes for a rewarding journey (*) and consistently better photography (*).via In Photography, Inspiration is All Around You (*) by Ellen Fisch (*).
GaudÃ's position in the history of architecture is that of a creative genius who, inspired by nature, developed a style of his own that attained technical perfection as well as aesthetic value, and bore the mark of his character.Thanks Ellen for making this so clear.
we're in a business and an art where everything is subjective (*). There is no objective (*) measure. Our compulsion to move the technical game forward is an admission that we constantly seek a metric. A means of gauging value.via When the tools trump the art we all go home. (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).
Daniel Ostroff on Design:
design should not be an act of creative self-expression but rather a process of problem solving.
via Legendary Designer Charles Eames on Creativity, the Value of the Arts in Education, and His Advice to Students by Maria Popova.
I think the important thing is to focus on what brings you the most value.
It can be tough to block out the noise but you have to put in the effort otherwise you’ll go crazy.
Geoff tells me that this group was important to Jenny because it taught her about the cancer she was living with, including providing opportunities to attend programs to learn about the importance of good food, positive attitudes, meditation and loving support.Each year at this celebration, the Group remembers those members who lost their lives to their cancers, and related illnesses, during the year. This is done by Liz reading the name of the lost member and then Debra (one of the leaders of the Group) striking a bell. This year four names were read and the Bell struck after each name.
She got to spend time and form friendships with people going through the same thing, volunteered with the group to raise a huge amount of money for cancer research and support through Daffodil Day and Relay for Life, and it also helped her prepare herself for the time when the disease would take her from us.
Jenny also became an important role model for the group, inspiring them through her support and the way she chose to live her own life.
Chris Martin on how you look at it:
Everything in life is how you look at it, isn't it? It's about trying to see the value and beauty of everybody, and the joy of togetherness, but at the same time the accepting of differences of opinionvia Coldplay's Chris Martin: why things have never been better by Andrew Stafford.
[Andrew P Street] is comedy the new news?via How Donald Trump killed comedy - What happens to satire when the world of politics is a joke? by Andrew P Street.[ Dan Ilic ] Politics is often dense and obfuscates intent, so there's ... value in breaking down, in simple, clear language, what the hell is going on.
Can I suggest that you print out and save some of the digital images you currently take of family and friends? You may not always keep track of the digital work that we make these days but the sheer physical-ness of a printed object makes it a more valuable artifact. One that's easier to access and harder to throw away.via Old School Instagram. We used to call them Polaroids (*) by Kirk Tuck (*).
Amazing to me what power there is locked in a single image.
Radhika Subramanian on Algorithms:
Data is inherently dumb. It doesn’t do anything unless you know how to use it, how to act on it, because algorithms is where the real value lies. Algorithms define actionvia Query Vs. No Query! Do You Care? by Radhika Subramanian.
