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Be you

January 14, 2013 in The You Factor, uniqueness with 1 Comment

BeYou

“A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God.” (1 Timothy 6:6 MSG)

I hate to blow your cover here, but let’s face it, you are different. Probably more different than you have ever let us see.

You should get over that.

Different is good.

Today you should decide to really be you. Today you should decide that it’s okay to show us who you are. Today you should decide to quit hiding.

It doesn’t matter if we’ve ever seen anything like you before. It doesn’t matter if you think we aren’t ready for it.

We are.

Be you. You are the only you we’ve got.

Let it shine.

You know you want to.

Don’t abandon your post

October 22, 2012 in purpose, strengths, The You Factor with 3 Comments

image via Twisted Sifter

One person in the right place at the right time can have a powerful impact on something huge.

Never doubt how much you can bring to the table.

Just like the picture above, you may be the one to hold a place for others.

You are important.

Don’t abandon your post.

Are you replaceable?

May 3, 2011 in The You Factor, uniqueness with 0 Comments

“Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet, and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale ’til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’ve heard it said that we are all replaceable. It’s true to a point.

Lest we get full of ourselves, it’s good to remind ourselves from time to time that it’s not all about us, we didn’t hang the moon and stars, fling the planets into place and order the universe. There is a God, and it’s not us. It doesn’t all revolve around us. We aren’t the only ones using oxygen here.

In that sense, we are replaceable.

However, we each have a unique part to play in the master plan. We have each been given an assignment. We have each been chosen in our own God-given uniqueness. Where would we be today if William Shakespeare, George Washington Carver, Guglielmo Marconi, Claude Monet and Albert Einstein had all decided they were replaceable? I think our world would be much different.

In that sense, we are not replaceable.

To resign ourselves to “replaceable” is to ignore the unique contribution we are to make on earth. It smacks of giving up. It reeks of laziness. It stinks like stale, old cowardice.

Snap out of it.

There are things that will remain undone, unless you do them. There are people looking for inspiration that only you can give. There are words to be written, songs to be sung, paintings to be painted and things to be created that are waiting for your fingerprint to make them what they should be. Without you, they will only be a shadow of what they could be.

In that sense, you are not replaceable.

It’s time to prove it.

Prove it to yourself first. Believe it. Be confident in it. Embrace it.

Then prove it to us.

Let your light shine!

May 20, 2010 in impact, The You Factor with 0 Comments

“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”
~ Schumann

Ephesians 5:8-9 (NLT)
For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)
You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

It’s time to let your light shine.

What are you waiting for?

Recycled Art (part five)

February 12, 2010 in originality, risk, series, The You Factor with 0 Comments

It’s better…
“… to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”

~ Herman Melville

“… to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not.”

~ André Gide

The challenge here is you can’t separate the artist from their art. Criticize my art, criticize me. That’s not an artist acting like a baby, it’s just an artist’s reality. The “you factor” in art requires confidence, or at least courage. Presenting who you are to the world is a daunting task, especially if you take stock in their opinion. Since you can’t really separate creator and creation, the only defense an artist has is to either develop a thick skin or start hiding and imitating something or someone people like. Bad news either way.

Imitation is said to be “sincerest form of flattery.” It may be true, but art is not about flattering someone you admire, it’s about expressing yourself. Hopefully, it’s expressing yourself in a way that inspires people – a personal expression.

Your personal expressions will probably, intentionally or not, carry a nod or a tip of the hat to those who have inspired you along the way. I don’t think that’s necessarily bad, and I’m not even sure it can be avoided. Things that connect with people and inspire them are usually somewhat familiar, yet new and original.

You would have a difficult time separating me from my influences because they have become a part of my expression. It’s true of anyone who creates. It becomes a problem only in purposeful intention, trying to be like someone else or trying to hide yourself in the imitation.

If you want to be original, the “you factor” is the essential ingredient. When I listen to a music artist, I can sometimes tell their influences and those who made an impression on them. Not necessarily a bad thing, unless I can’t tell the difference between them and their influences. Cloning or copying is, at best, second best.

I’m calling for what I call “’honest art.” I may not like all of it or connect to all of it, but I will appreciate your honest expression. Give me passion. Energy. Life. In your art, show me who you really are and I’ll respect you for it. Hide it from me and I’ll likely write you off. Just being honest.

Be original. Be you. It’s better that way.

Recycled Art (part four)

February 5, 2010 in creative, originality, risk, The You Factor with 0 Comments

If “Nothing new under the sun…” is a phrase intended to govern the development of creative society, why have we seen so many developments and breakthroughs? Good question, right? I think it’s not just a good question, I think it’s THE question.

If “It has all been done before”… where did the electric guitar or iPhone come from? The CD? Computer design and digital music creation? Digital anything for that matter? They didn’t have any of these things back in the day those words were written.

The point here is “Nothing new under the sun…” isn’t a law that governs creativity, it’s an observation of human behavior and a warning to learn from our mistakes. One such mistake, repeated for generations, is our proclivity to do something because it worked for someone else. What if we made a quality decision to break that cycle?

Memorize this equation:
Worked for someone else ≠ Works for you

Doing something because it worked for someone else, without knowing WHY they did it, will cause you miss huge chunks of important information. Information about what you can learn from them and the application of the thing in question. Not knowing the “why” will cause you to fumble in the dark about the “when” and “if” questions for your purposes (“when” I should use it or “if” I should use it at all.)

Blindly imitating someone else will remove the “you factor” from anything you do. Anytime “you” are removed from the equation, so is any hope for originality. Creativity is about originality. Originality is about risk. If we will be honest with ourselves, the common fear all creators battle is the fear of risk. Without risk, there is no originality, no creativity, no “you.” A recycled idea is a risk-free proposition. There are no game-changing ideas without risk.

All of the game-changing breakthroughs I listed above employed (to one degree or another) the use of someone else’s work or ideas. What made them game-changers was the way they incorporated existing thoughts, concepts and technologies and combined them to create something completely new. Each one met a need. Many of them met needs that didn’t exist until they were created. That’s risk.

Don’t get me wrong, risk doesn’t always lead to success. But… if you don’t risk you can’t succeed. Face the fear head-on. Embrace the risk of putting “you” in the equation. It’s our only hope for originality.