Perspective

Out Of Place, But Interesting

Garth Beyer

Something remarkable about Cambodia is that there are a lot of broken objects lying around.

What was once broken, has since been integrated into the environment. Plots of land, homes, playgrounds all have objects that seem so out-of-place, but they make the space interesting. They make the land. It’s a perfect photo for an I Spy book.

The objects show the history, the humanity, and offer perspective on the progress people have made in the last ten years there.

It made me think how hard we all try to hide our pasts, to cast a shadow over our failures, to paint over bad memories with new ones instead of letting them make our lives more interesting.

When we let our failures stay in our box, they may seem out-of-place, but to others they are interesting, they tell your story, they show you’re human.

It’s a step toward happiness. A leap toward success.

 

Stay Positive & If It’s Broken, Let It Be Part Of Your Story

 

The Opportunity Has Always Been Here

The Opportunity Has Always Been Here

Garth Beyer

Opportunity

The opportunity to poke around, to try new things, to experiment, to create something remarkable has always been here, but there’s a fundamental change sweeping the notion in terms of people’s perceptions.

In the past, the opportunity was seen as a risk.

See, there’s really no difference between an opportunity or a risk except in how you look at it.

More and more people are changing their perspective, altering their worldview, choosing themselves instead of waiting to be picked by someone else, waiting to be handed an opportunity. Instead, they’re making their own.

They’re flipping the switch of “it’s too much risk” to “this just might work.”

The beauty of this movement, this moment, is that the opportunity will always be here.

The opportunity to create your own job, do what few others are doing, to play chemistry with your hands (work), your legs (hustle) and your heart (art/passion).

There’s a reason every post ends with a reminder to stay positive. I’ve chosen my perspective. Have you?

 

Stay Positive & Unlike A Mediocre Job, This Opportunity Will Always Be Here

HT to all my idols who through them I’ve learned to take the opportunity. I’m alive. I’m an artist. Thanks.

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How They Will View It

Garth Beyer

is going to be different from how anyone else will view it, read it or gather from it.

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I’m not one for math, but I am one for numbers and trends. If you have a small group of people saying that your work needs to be restructured or that it’s not good, keep asking more people before you make drastic changes to the way you do things.

In college, a professor put up a picture of a magazine spread and asked people in the class what was the first thing they noticed and then asked the order that they would read the content. Five people answered differently.

Fortunately there was enough people in the class to come to a majority conclusion about the best method to layout the spread.

On a similar note, I’ve written a lot of articles that have been criticized up the kazoo, but by the same token, those stories were remarkable to many readers. Had I not sought out massive feedback, I may not have created such strong content.

Yes, there is the Law of the Few, but there is also the Law of the Many.

 

Stay Positive & The More (Feedback), The Merrier

Garth E. Beyer

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Is It This Or Is It That

Garth Beyer

Hanksy

It’s frustrating that everyone wants to categorize, compartmentalize, and label everything that enters their life. It seems as though our brain was designed as a sorting structure. I can just picture little minions analyzing each thought and deciding what folder to place it in. That may be how it works, but that’s not how we grow.

Reading up on street fartist, Hanksy, I came across this interview gem.

EA:  Speaking of serious, it seems like the moment you try and talk about art that is on the streets, you immediately run into these competing definitions—street art vs. tags vs. graffiti. Do you think the insistence on different categories has a place in the conversation about art, or is that boring?

Hanksy:  You run into all the time. It’s frustrating. It’s like asking “What is art? What isn’t art?” I feel like the terms mean different things to different people. One person’s vandalism can be seen as another’s artistic expression. It is what it is. The internet, and people in general, will always attempt to lump things into categories. And they’ll always argue over it. When I first moved NYC, I’d go on these long runs, all throughout lower Manhattan. And I’d see Muffin Milk everywhere. Different versions. And I’m like, “Wow this guy sure loves cursive.” Turns out it’s a t-shirt company or something. Is that street art? I considered it to be, despite the end goal of selling merchandise.

It’s one thing to be objective, it’s another to be subjective. But that categorization of either is exactly my point. Everyone has their own view. We grow by understanding how others categorize and label their experiences, not by doing so to ourselves.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Just Read, Read Others

Garth E. Beyer

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As promised from yesterday, here are five new sources I read from.

TED talks are lying to you – I don’t usually read Salon, but this was cool.

Arts & Letters Daily – always a good place to find variety

Dreamscape – images and music speak as loud, if not louder than words

It’s Nice That – it’s nice that this is so nice…just awesome

Neotorama – nothing more than neat stuff (not really something to read, but a swell way to break between reads)

Bonus: Here’s a test to discover if someone sees your point of view (HT to David Pink.)

Take Your Glasses Off

Garth Beyer

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I read an article that put the idea of how much we observe on a daily basis in better perspective. The article suggested to imagine walking a dog.

Notice how the dog is all over the place, pulling you forward, pulling you backward, to the side, off the path. Notice how the dog is sniffing everything and, quite comically, has something similar to what we call ADD. In reality, it’s simply observing absolutely everything around.

The dog hears the squirrels in the tree, the lawn mower behind the house around the corner, the starting of a car in the garage of the house you just passed. It notices the direction of the wind and the family hollering out for their children on the other side of the block.

The WOW moment for me was when, despite observing as much as a dog possibly can, the dog is still curious of what else is happening in the world and searches for more activity to observe.

Before the article I already thought we had glasses that gave us a narrow perspective of what occurs around us. Now I feel the term “dumb as a dog” is more of an insult to dogs.

 

Stay Positive & Get Observing Like A Dog

Garth E. Beyer

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One Of Life’s Favorite Students

Garth Beyer

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream had some wise words to share. The bottom of the ice cream lid said “A dream alone is just a dream. A dream together is reality.” I am one motivated and high-hoped soul with dreams above the clouds. One year ago, I read the quote by Ben & Jerry and realized that I was going to need a partner in some of my business-creating endeavors. I could only think of one person that I would want to build a business with: Katie Christianson.

All throughout middle school, I grew up knowing Katie, but never talked to her until high school. Our ambitions aligned when we were both offered a chance to be in a program that allowed us to attend college full-time and skip our junior and senior years of high school. It was in college when we realized we had a similarly ambitious mindset and became close friends. Who better choose to interview than someone with a “make the most out of life” attitude?

Having just turned 20, Katie was born in Chicago and raised in Belvidere, Illinois. Katie is now back in Chicago getting her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Loyola University. While a formal education has taught her a lot, some of her biggest lessons came from the greatest teacher known to women, Life. With a mere 20 years of being Life’s student, Katie has learned more than those who are twice her age.

Katie Christianson

At the age of five, she realized that you don’t need anyone to tell you what you can and can’t do. Her mom took her, her sister, and her aunt to Florida when her dad was being a grouch about spending money. “Fine,” her mom said, “we will go without you.” Katie now affirms that you don’t let people hold you back, especially not when they hold you back from maximizing the quality of your life.

Kids will believe anything. And once they believe it, there is little anyone can say or do to change that belief. Katie was no exception to this rule. She shared her story about how she thought she was being evicted when she was six years old.

I thought my parents were lying to me when I came home from kindergarten one day and saw a “for sale” sign in the front yard of our house because my dad was always commenting about how broke we were. My mom was the opposite and would spend her last dime on making us happy so that we always felt secure, but I knew she was just being protective. So when I came home and saw a “for sale” sign in the front yard of our home, I thought we were being kicked out. My mom told me it was because the landlord passed away, but I didn’t believe her. This experience made me realize how important money was. It made me be creative and very budget-conscious even as a six year old. I felt guilty if I spent my parent’s money at all knowing that those funds were being pulled away from something else, so I would try selling lemonade or my belongings to make money. I later realized that the story my mom told me was actually true once I understood how estates are handled after the owner dies, but by the time I fully understood the concept, being savvy was already a part of who I was.

This story screams “maturity,” but, let’s face it, Katie was six years old – still a kid. That leaves an open question, just when did she grow up? Contrary to any assumption, Katie grew up two years after the house-for-sale controversy. After a work-related accident, Katie’s mom became permanently disabled. At first, this had no real effect on Katie other than her mom was always home and her dad worked more. It wasn’t until the day Katie fell off her bike in the street outside her house that she fully understood the effect of her mother’s permanent disability. “I started crying for her.” It was in that moment, when her mom looked at her from the window, that Katie knew there wasn’t going to be anyone coming outside to help her. “I had to help myself. I had to get up, brush myself off, and get out of the street. That’s the day I grew up.”

Among these lessons, Katie learned countless others. She developed a fear of having regret at her deathbed after living with a family member who found out he had terminal cancer the same day he had to have both legs amputated due to diabetes. Recently, Katie learned life is about finding hope in hopeless situations after losing her best friend on June 4th, 2012. As Katie puts it, “there are so many people who need you to pull through so that they can find the strength to pull through themselves.” Since as far back as Katie can remember, she knew that there was something deep within her, something special. “I know if I don’t make the most of each day, I am hindering this inner power.” She understands that she is in this world for a greater cause, admirably selfless in her way of living.

In addition to the hardships and lessons life has taught her, she has also had to combat the deep stereotypes about women that have been ingrained into society. I have witnessed with my own eyes that Katie has had to work harder to stand out. People automatically look to men to lead situations and they are surprised to see Katie being the one to take charge. Katie also admits that it’s a challenge, being a woman, to control her emotions. However, she says, “Women’s brains are wired to be 7 times more emotional than men, so it makes us better able to empathize. My ability to understand different perspectives has made me a better listener and a better friend.”

Personally, I have to say that all that makes Katie who she is doesn’t turn her into just a better friend, it makes her the best. Her determination is ruthless and her compassion and selflessness is considered, by some, to be reckless. Heck, I’m even a bit frightened of where she’s going in life. The goals Katie has set out to accomplish may come as a shock because she doesn’t just dream big, she dreams of turning the impossible into done it and onto the next one. I have learned so much from Katie and she has brought me to tears with her stories of how she got to where she is today. If there is one thing that I would take away from all Katie has taught me, it is that “it’s about persevering when everyone around you would understand if you didn’t.”

 

Stay Positive & Keep At It Katie

Garth E. Beyer

Katie has just started up her blog. You can visit it here

Shoes, Feet, And Fitting In

Garth Beyer
Usain Bolt: Worlds Fastest Man

Everything is a matter of perspective, especially when you are deciding if the shoe doesn’t fit.

I quoted Gloria Steinem as saying “If the shoe doesn’t fit, must we change the foot?” From the original perspective, no, we shouldn’t.

Then I took a really good look at my running shoes  and decided I needed a new pair. A pair that real athletes wear. A pair of shoes that will give me the feeling of being unworthy of wearing them – at first.

Let’s take a different perspective on Steinem’s question. The fact is, sometimes we must change the foot. Sometimes people make or buy shoes the way they do so that they have something to work towards, to shape themselves into so they can fit the shoe. It’s personal growth.

Wait. Take a step back. Don’t be confused with fitting into someone elses shoes. No. Create, design, and construct your own pair of shoes you want to fit into.

This is the beauty of changing the foot that Steinem never realized.

 

Stay Positive & Too Big Of Shoes Are Better Than Too Small

Garth E. Beyer