Steal Like An Artist

So, a few weeks ago my wife and I went to FedEx to have them spiral bind one of my wife's family history books that her mom wrote.  I'm always a little surprised that stores like FedEx and UPS can stay in business because I rarely send packages, and I just assume most other people don't either.  Anyway, when you go in there they have several other services: a copy machine, greeting cards, and books.  It was there that I found the book, "Steal Like An Artist", by Austin Kleon.

By this guy >>

I don't really know what makes a book a New York Times bestseller.  I don't think I've ever read a bestseller before it became one, and even if I had I probably couldn't have predicted its future success.  I'm not really part of that community.  But after reading "Steal Like An Artist", I feel like I'm just a bit more connected with the creative community around me, and I'm using what I learned from it to connect more.

The book is about 10 things the author wishes he would have known/been told when he was just starting out.  Here's the list from his website:

That is not my image, and I can't take any credit for it, but I will tell you which of those lessons are my favorite and why.  I liked lessons 1, 2, 5, and 6 the most.

Steal Like An Artist

I have always felt like I can't do something cool because somebody else has already thought of it and done it successfully.  One of my favorite pieces of advice in this part of the book is to identify my sources of inspiration, then identify their sources of inspiration, then use that family pedigree of ideas to support my own new and creative thinking.  It is so empowering to feel like I am showing my respect to my predecessors by copying elements of their work and creating something new.

Don't Wait Until You Know Who You Are to Get Started

This has always been a stumbling block for me!  I always talk myself out of doing things because I'm sure people will realize that I am an impostor.  Who are they to tell me who I am anyway?  I'm trying to shake that feeling off and just get to creating myself each day.

One of my tools of creative expression is what I call "Movies on a Stick", which is a monthly video series I started at work showcasing improvements being made in the company.  I had never really made videos before, and my skills were not very developed, but I've really carved out a place for myself as the Training Group "tech guy", and I love seeing the videos playing on the 80-inch 4K monitors at the entrances to our headquarters.

Side Projects and Hobbies Are Important

The best counsel in this chapter is not to throw any of yourself away.  As I have gotten into Lean and Six Sigma over the past few years, I have often felt like there isn't a place for my creative energy to go and that I need to leave it behind.  But it just never goes away!  I have come to embrace it, and I realize that it is something that makes me, well, me.  The same goes for the data-head in me.  I like being creative and making things engaging, but I also get a thrill out of a good, solid experiment to improve 10 karat white gold casting quality.  It's good to know you and I can be all of the people inside us.

The thought, "Don't die with your music still in you" is often attributed to Dr. Wayne Dyer.  This is something that I think we all fear at some point as adults.  Life is frequently too full of things that we think must be attended to (sometimes those important things look a lot like aimlessly surfing the internet...), and so we miss out on the things that really get us fired up.

As I have embraced my inner creative and stopped trying to be an efficiency-driven machine (which I am not), a funny thing has happened: besides being happier and more excited to be alive, I am surprisingly better at the other aspects of my job.  I'm better at driving for efficiency and doing hard things.  It's like I have a bunch of rowers inside me and when I acknowledge each of them and their worth, they all start paddling in the same direction.  That inner congruence is a great peace.

The Secret: Do Good Work and Share It With People

This lesson is the reason I am even writing this blog.  It's also why I made my website.  I want to share what I am thinking and working on in the hopes that somebody will see it and want to talk about it with me.  Who knows what cool stuff can come out of it.  I want to get a remote job so my wife and I can travel the US and hopefully the world, but if I'm not online, sharing what I'm thinking, how will anybody know that I am even capable of doing so for my day job?

There are a lot of ideas rolling around in my head, and some of them might even see daylight eventually, but they are always a lot better when they are examined, poked, and sharpened by others' insights.

The End.

There are a few thoughts about "Steal Like An Artist".  Go read it!  You can get it from the library as a hardcopy or on Overdrive.  Enjoy!