Last year Getty Museum issued a challenge to recreate a masterpiece using three items from your home. Some entries took the challenge literally. Others took inspiration. Bored Panda shared winners here
In life too often we settle for imitation. It may be the sincerest form of flattery according to Oscar Wilde. But it stifles creativity, is the lazy option, is risk free and leads to a life less lived.
A documentary on the mating practices of birds reinforces the need for daring to be different. The female chooses the male whose song, display, dance or nest building is clearly above and beyond those of his peers. In him she perceives the intelligence, strength and determination that will produce viable healthy offspring. In other words, daring can lead to success.
To 'exist' means to live especially under adverse conditions and stems from 'to step forth, to stand out'.
This week ….
Why fit in when you were born to step out? Dr. Seuss
Because
Tis better to live your own life imperfectly than to imitate someone else's perfectly. Elizabeth Gilbert
It isn't easy but
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. Herman Melville
After all
(You) I don’t have to fit in. Our uniqueness isn’t a scar, but a beauty mark. What makes us different is also what makes us wildly, boldly, and marvellously who we were born to be. Alicia Keys
Because
the path less travelled always makes for a more interesting journey. Bear Grylls
So dare to be different.
Dare to be you.
Dare to be the voice not the echo. Anon
For
The moment you are unafraid of the crowd you are no longer a sheep, you become a lion and a great roar arises in your heart, the roar of freedom. Rajneesh.
Freedom =
Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. Albert Camus
When I worked in advertising I led workshops on idea generation and creativity. One technique was finding commonality in disparate items. What does a boat, a speech, a toilet have in common?
Freedom, in any case, is only possible by constantly struggling for it. Albert Einstein
Today in 1620 the Pilgrims landed in Cape Cod. Led by William Bradford they sought freedom to practice their religion without persecution. One of two ships landed, >50% of the passengers died yet faith prevailed. Today 35M people around the world claim descent to these brave souls, myself included.
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address ‘to honour wartime dead not with a speech, but rather by continuing to fight for the ideas they gave their lives for' - the principles of human equality, a new birth of freedom and self government.
Today is also World Toilet Day, a UN initiative highlighting 54% of the world's population living without proper sanitation. Benefactors such as Bill Gates lead innovation into affordable solutions so that everyone can live a life of choice rather than survival.
Janis Joplin may have said ‘freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose’. I believe freedom is a privilege For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. Nelson Mandela. This week I invite you to free others by making a donation to the World Toilet Day campaign.
PS. In the old days there were no toilets on sailing ships. You went forward and hung your backside over the side and held on. Modesty be damned. This is why a toilet on a boat is called a ‘head’. Not to be confused with a ‘poop’ deck. The highest point at stern of a ship from the latin Puppis.
Sing Your Song
The highest goal of music is to connect one’s soul to their Divine Nature. - Pythagoras (569- 475 BC)
Every morning I wake up to the sound of birds.They sing with their hearts and souls ….. not because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song. Chinese Proverb They sing to attract a mate, to mark a territory and for sheer joy.
Each song is unique, learned through imitation and sung with gusto. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Henry Dan Dyke
This week consider Life is a song. It has its own rhythm of harmony. It is a symphony of all things which… unites the whole into a grand symphony of life. To learn through experience in this life, to appreciate the symphony and lessons of life and to blend with the whole, is the object of our being here. - Dr. Randolph Stone