A Perfect Aim, and Missing the Target

A Perfect Aim, and Missing the Target

It is always a shame when a person, organization, or group loses sight of their objective, their reason for being.

Albert Einstein said “A perfection of means and a confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."

A service company forgets their call to serve their customer, and instead becomes bureaucratic, following the rules.

A hospital begins to focus on profitability, giving lip service to patient satisfaction (relating it to profitability) and patient care is forgotten.

A pastor thinks the target is the size of the congregation, their popularity and prestige, while spiritual development and maturity of members in the congregation is somehow seen as competition.

Political parties and representatives look at re-election and accumulating power while they forget the people they are to represent.

Do I need to talk about bankers and investment brokers?

Profitability in a business is necessary to staying in business, but it cannot become the reason for being. Size and power are needed to do a job, but those things should not be the target. The Bible asks, what does it profit a person if they gain the whole world, and lose their soul?

Stop the insanity!

What is the purpose of your existence? Aim there! And if you lose, you will be losing with faithfulness to your call, to your purpose.

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Looking back, and stumbling forward.

Looking back, stumble forward

Today I had the pleasure of going up to the Booth Western Art Museum and enjoy their Cowboy gathering and Chuck Wagon cook-off with a young friend of mine, Michael.  Besides enjoying some of the images that I have not seen in a while something else impressed me.

The chuck wagon teams started cooking at 8:00 am, and lunch was served at noon.  The food was delicious (but way too authentic).  I thought about how long my mother took to cook our supper – and compared it with how long it takes me to “whip up” supper.  

And what do we do with our new found time?

I am challenged to do something worthwhile. And if I cannot find something worthwhile, at least I’ll do something creative. And if I cannot find anything creative, I’ll do something educational. And something that builds relationships would be an added benefit to any of those activities.

As a note, the team that I enjoyed most was a team that had worked together as friends for over 20 years.  What an impressive way to build and maintain relationships!  Way to go Skillet and Spurs!

Mapping Creativity and Preparedness Intersections.

Intersection of Preparedness and Inspiration

Part 3 of 3

I told you yesterday that I would give you a map to help find the intersection of preparedness and inspiration.  Here are some of the directions that I have found useful.

Into the soup of preparation, stir in a healthy dose of passion. Passion or excitement will create an environment where inspiration just wants to show up.

Sprinkle prayer liberally over the mixture.  If God can make every snowflake different, every fingerprint unique, I am convinced that He never gets tired or bored injecting new life and new creativity into what He has created, and He had creativity to spare (or to share).

And keep the heat of your ego turned way down low.  When we take full credit for our creative work, we come to believe that we are only as good as our last song, invention or work of art.  Such pressure is like a sedative to a creative being.  Allow yourself to play, to make mistakes, to grow and to learn.

And for those who have wondered, yes, I have written faithfully in my creative journal all week. So far.

The Other Road

The Other Road

Part 2 of 3

Yesterday I left the blog with us walking down a road of preparedness.  We talked about study, being the expert in your field and, quite frankly, it sounded like a lot of work.

But sometimes the other road comes in, and when Inspiration crossed Preparation some magical things happen.  The universe (inside your mind and body mostly, but elsewhere as well) flips and turns so that things flow into your direction.  Suddenly the poem flows effortlessly from your pen.  Without notice the oils shape themselves on your canvas in a way that all you can do is stand back and stand amazed.  For one unbelievable day, or evening the Universe conspires to create something fantastic by your hand.

And the next morning, it is gone, and you return to your work and creating by sweat.

Have you experienced that crossroad marvel?  If you have, it is an experience that you are always trying to get back to.

Tomorrow I’ll share with you a map…

The Creative Intersection where we want to live. Part 1 of 3

The Essential Creative Intersection

Part 1 of 3

There is an intersection that we all want to get to, but to get to that intersection, there is a road we must travel.

The road is the road of preparedness.  We must be prepared in our field of creativity.  Learning, becoming an expert in our field, is essential.  We need to learn the past, where we are in the present, and hopefully where our field will be in the future.  We need to master the tools, and the techniques. We must learn the rules, why they are there, and learn when to break them.

Preparedness is work. It is hard.  But it is a required road to get to the intersection where we want to be.

At that intersection, the effort will be well worth it.

Tomorrow we will look at the other road of the intersection

See you then.

Don't Fade into the Sunset

Don’t fade into the Sunset!

Have you ever photographed a sunset, with all the rich colors only to view it on your computer (or print it later) to find all those beautiful colors have faded?

“I guess you just had to be there.” You told your friends. But there may be another reason your sunset faded.

Different lights have different colors to them. Normal light bulbs give a yellow light. Florescent bulbs give a green light, while daylight is bluish.  We don’t see the colors because our brains alter the colors that we see so they will “look normal”.  But the colors are there anyway.

Most digital cameras have an “auto color” selection where the camera selects the light source that it thinks is being used and adjusts accordingly.  That is why you can take a photo inside, and then outside and you will not see much of a color shift.

But when you photograph that sunset, if the camera is still on “auto color”, the camera will remove some of the red, yellows etc. that you were so impressed with so it will look (what the camera thinks is) normal. 

The next time the splendor and magnificence of a sunset makes you grab your camera to capture the moment, turn the “auto color” off and tell the camera that you are “outdoors daylight”, and you will be amazed at the colors you get in the photograph.

You will thank me for this!

My children are older.  They are all married and gone.  The house is quiet.

Some of my fondest treasures are the photographs of my children when they were younger.  I still have them.

It is the memories of our good times together, with family now passed on.  Such treasures.

If you are taking photos with your cell phones or store them on your computer.  I beg you to either print them or store them in an external source.  Sometime your cell phone will die, or get traded in for another one.  Your computer will crash.

Have you seen a news story about someone who lost their house to a hurricane or fire?  And what is one of the first things they say?  "I lost all our family photos..."

Don't wait for a tragic experience. Don't wish you had printed your priceless photographs, or stored them elsewhere.  Backup you images somewhere else than your computer.

You will thank me -  when three computers from now you still have your wonderful family images!