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Oliver the Writer…Motivational Action

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A few days ago I reading a post about how motivation and basically everything related to motivation has been an addiction of sorts. Looking at the landscape of media especially places like Facebook and Twitter, it is easy to find anything motivational and positive. It’s apparent that there is a market for this. And just like most things it over saturated and in my humblest opinion it does get overly routine and non remarkable.

I’m totally guilty of this too. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you know everyday that I do a “Good Morning World” message. And all my good morning world messages are a positive, thoughtful, and motivational quote or idea to help start your day on a good note. So as you can see, I do add the influx of motivational things you see everyday.

However, I would like to say, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with spreading positive motivational things to friends and family. My point is that, you can’t just receive it, read it, and then share it, just like that. I think that too many people just take it face value and do nothing more than collect and share.

I think and know that the best thing to do with the motivational energy that you get from these is to take action with them. Actually get out of your seat, stop browsing Facebook and Twitter, and take some steps to getting something done. It is a better use of your time to do something for yourself to help you get one step closer to a career goal, scratch out another item on your bucket-list, and or make time to build and nurture great relationships.

I totally understand that it is easy to get caught in reading motivational blog after motivational blog but just doing that will not alone make you a better person. I have been there and I have done that. What have learned from there is that hoarding the information and sharing it doesn’t get you anything if you don’t do anything with it. It is better to share AND help others with it. What this gets you is twofold; first you ensure that you understand what you are reading and learning and second and most important of all; you are helping another person and or community gain a set of tools to build the world that they want to create and live in. It’s been said time and time again but remember this; whatever it is that you do, love it, share it, and do it not for yourself but for your community. It is NOT about YOU! It is about the COMMUNITY that nurtures and fosters you.

So enjoy the motivational quotes and ideas that you see everyday, but do yourself a favor and the people around you and take ACTION with it. Help make and create a community that will nurture and foster more positive and motivational karma.

Oliver the Ideamaker…Originality

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Originality? What is it? How do you find it? And how do you define it?

These are some of the questions I have been pondering lately. Over the last few weeks, I have heard discussions about people copying materials and ideas, copying what others have been doing and then passing it as theirs; without an mention of where it came from or influenced from.

So the pondering question has been, how do you find and make original material?

The quick answer is do it yourself and make it from scratch. Don’t look towards others for influence and also don’t pay attention to what others are doing. But if you think about it; that is easier said than done. In this day and age it is so easy to see what others do and the ease of acquiring knowledge it makes it almost impossible to avoid any influence. And chances are you have already been influenced in one form or another.

For example, this blog that you are reading isn’t the most original of ideas. There are thousands of blogs out there and there are countless personal ones that talk about normal daily life like the ones I have written here so far. And this topic alone, I’m sure has been discussed and posted previously by others.

So then how do you create original material.

One idea is to “steal” it from many artist. Last week on Chase Jarvis LIVE guest Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist, discussed the idea of; Stealing like an Artist. The idea at first seems far fetched.  What?! Steal?! The idea doesn’t really mean to just steal without reason. Taking from one artist is stealing but taking from many artist is research! The reason for this is easy to see and understand. It means that sometimes you need that extra push and understanding to get you to the next step. Learn a skill that you didn’t know before. Borrow. Learn. Create.

Another however more extreme idea is to go on a trek of self discovery. Disconnect…find yourself…leave what is familiar to you, and let the unknown and journey help you to find the next idea. And then pray that the idea is original.

But here comes the problem; you can’t completely disconnect from the situation because you have already been influenced by other things that you carry with you always even if you disconnect from the world. From when you are born you have already been influenced.

See the problem? So how do you make original content? Yes that’s a repeat.

Here’s my idea. You make original content by ALWAYS KEEPING A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU. Have a stream of conscience and document. No matter how small or far fetch the idea. Just write down, let it stew, and then when you know the timing and feeling is right. Do something with it. Simple right. Well I’m imagining that this is not so,etching that happens overnight or over a couple of days. This kind of thing will take place over weeks, months, and even years. You need the different influences to be your guiding principles and let that guide and lead you to the next step. It seriously is about the journey not your destination that is important. Yes that has been beat to the bones over time but it is true!

Oliver the…and things on my mind

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The last two days or few for that matter, I have been struggling with being restless. Sometimes it seems to me that when things are going well, a little too well, that eventually there is that moment when the shit hits the fan. And then things get dirty and stinky.
As of late there have been a lot of things going in my life. Some good and some not so good. And dealing, managing, and addressing all of these things have started to weigh down on me and make me restless. I try to be calm and collective but sometimes I just mentally freak out. These are the time where everything seems that it can not get accomplished and I just fell overwhelm and the solution or the more like it that I take is that I just shut down and deep down I wish it would complete itself. But I know from experience that this is not the case. By doing what I just did, it simply delays the uncomfortable situation where I have to face myself and see that I’m not perfect. The stupid thing is that I don’t see myself as perfect however I sometimes try to make it seem like it. But deep down I can be scared and afraid to admit this to friends. The thoughts of, being looked at differently and judged in a manner of being less than what I am now is scary to think about.
I have this one nightmare that I tell everyone the way that I feel and everyone just defriends and no longer speaks to me. And I just wake up in a daze and confused feeling because I couldn’t understand why my friends would just do that to me. I attribute this nightmare to my younger childhood when I wasn’t seen as anything special because I wasn’t one of the popular kids. At the time I just told myself; ill show them. And shoe them I did, I focus all my efforts on my studies and things that I could do myself and not ask for help. Looking back at it now, I did this to show off and show that I am valuable and I have something to offer. But I think at the time I just wanted to show off that I was better than they thought. But still after all that time and effort I still wasn’t good enough. It seemed it didn’t matter at all, I was still seen in the same way. And again I couldn’t understand.
Even to this day I still do this and admittedly it still feel really weird when I do get compliments and applause because for the longest time too, it seemed that I would only get this when people wanted something from me. Basically I know they were going to use me and then leave me. But the frustrating thing is that I knew it but I still did it anyway because there is a big part of me that everyone has good in themselves and their good will come out. Bit unfortunately more times than not this hasn’t been the case. Which I think to this day makes it hard for me to accept achievements as true achievements because I still think that nothing I do is special and that everyone can do it. This is one thing that I still struggle with and try to work on.
I know that a lot of the friends that I have met over year sincerely and wholeheartedly mean well when they compliment me and I really do appreciate it. I really do because it is with those friends that I just want to hug them and just overwhelming say thank you to them for believing me.
I think the hardest hurdle for me is being restless and having all these scenarios running in my head. My mind runs in so many directions that sometimes I can’t figure out what is true or not. I come with these scenarios that may or not occur. But instead of letting it happen I think too much about it. And I think I do this is to less the pain, embarrassment, and uncomfortable feeling that comes when things just don’t turn out as I hoped.
If you are still reading this at this point thank you. I appreciate you listening to me go on and on about this. But I wanted to let you know, I really do see the best in people first. I know that if I have made friends with you and we have build a good relationship of getting to know one another I am thankful for your friendship. You have truly made me feel blessed and happy. I know with your support and genuine friendship I can overcome this. But just know that sometimes a one on one conversation or a simple message of; “Hi, how are you doing? I hope you are well. wanna hang out?” from time to time is always a nice gesture and I do appreciate it. I still live under the premise of the golden rule of; TREAT PEOPLE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED.

Today is the Day

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Today is the day that I decided that I will begin this blog again.  I declared to the world, well at least to my Facebook friends and audience, that I was going to embark on this journey of writing and sharing my thoughts and daily happenings with you all.  This will be a journey with no paved path, rather I will make and pave one as I go.  There is no directions per se about this blog other than I will reflect on the happenings in my life.  Consider this as an live journal where you can see what I’m thinking at a certain times and moments.

I have set myself to post at minimum 3 times a week.  I honestly did this because I didn’t want to over commit myself and not post as often.  Rather I have given myself a buffer to take a break from the day to day of posting.  I applaud all those that could write and post everyday.  You guys are simply awesome.  I just know myself at this point I just don’t have the time or more honestly I just don’t feel like it sometimes.  This is just something I will have to work through as a go.  I know I have the ability to do something on a daily basis.  I’ve done a Photo 365 a while back.  However also deep down I know that it has been 3 years since I’ve done such a task.

With that I have started my journey and embarked on this trek of discovery, documentation, and sharing with you all.  As I sit here writing this I feel like Doogie Howser, on the closing credits of the show as he types in he’s old school 1980s computer there’s a voice overlay.  Just imagine it.