Serene Simplicity

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Do you want to know the huge mistake you are making right now?  You’re not giving yourself enough credit.

It’s like if your not grateful!  If you don’t credit the good things and your talents, you will always be looking to improve and get that next “improvement” high.  Trust me, I’ve done it, and I still do it.

So, first things first. If you don’t appreciate your unique talents, then every time someone tells you “Wow, you’re so good at ____” you’ll get a huge ego boost and try to ride that wave. By knowing what your talents are, you can take advantage of them!

Personal social proof
Last year, I was setting up a website to make money from my photography. My goals have changed (I am doing other things to make money), but some things have stuck with me. Mainly, people praising my work and saying I have a good eye for photography. It was something I took for granted. Others told me they appreciated my talent, it made me realize “You know, a lot of things I do – I really take for granted!”

For example:

“Just checked out art by Steven Ponec and it is fantastic! A visual shot of serotonin to the brain. You have a phenomenal eye. I’m a stressed mom who needs visuals like that. Thanks!” – Lisa Pietsch

“Your photographs are amazing – do it with confidence, you’ve got a great concept helping people find serenity through imagery. ” – Ashley Ambirge

“I like the way you see the world. BEAUTIFUL!! You are able to see intimacy in the smallest edge of a light bulb, in the petals of a rose, in everything you see. That’s a gift.” – Robin Easton

Here’s what I want you to do

This will actually make my longwinded explanation relevant.  Take some time to think of your talents
If you take time to consider your talents, it will provide you with freedom. You know why?  You can market those talents and use them to impress other friends.

I have a good, and current, example.  I have always had a talent for memorizing music.  Music in general has always been my talent, but getting a song down pat, on the saxophone, I could do in about a week.  I would have the basic notes down while everyone else was struggling with memorization!

Right now, I am using this memorization to my advantage.  I interviewed a teacher, friend, and expert in the acting world, and added her ideas to mine for an acting ebook I am creating.  In my acting class, I had trouble with memorizing lines.  This was totally weird for me.  ”I can memorize music, why not lines?”  So, in order to solve this mystery, I have combined my memorization talents and research talents to begin to craft a book.

I have a deep interest in meditation that I have developed over many years. I like to feel calm and relaxed as much as I can, and I love to share my information on the topic of meditation and relaxation. The Power of Now changed everything about me. It’s the only book I can honestly say has completely and utterly changed my life. The greatest part about the book is that it is in question and answer form. A lot of times, when you go through the book, the next question will be the one that you had in your head.
The Power of Now can help people with many things. The main premise is that being in the present moment, just being, gets people out of their heads. The book says there is no past or future, only the now. The now is what we have to focus on.
Being in the now can help with emotions. A lot of times, emotions arise when we don’t accept what is. This is especially the case with negative emotions. We feel angry when things don’t go our way. I discovered quite by accident that when you don’t have expectations set, things will go the way they go. I figured this out when I would go to movies and have no expectations set for what it would be like. Every single time, I liked the movie quite a bit!
Being in the now also helps with food cravings. For me, a lot of times food cravings filled in a gap where I didn’t feel whole. Eating yummy foods like chocolate or fatty foods temporarily satisfied me. But the thing is, when you are present in what is going on right now, you don’t have that craving for fulfillment. You are already whole and fulfilled.
Here are some other benefits I have found of being in the now. Firstly, my conversations with people are immensely better. When I am out of my head and just fully looking into the person’s eyes, listening to what they are saying, I get so much more out of the conversation. Another area I had struggled with was overeating. But now, since food IS for sustenance more than pleasure, I just eat until I am full, and enjoy the food while I am eating it.
I would highly recommend The Power of Now to everyone. The great part about this book, is you can figure out where to apply being completely and totally in present moment. And that is the best part of the book is that it is deceptively simple. All you have to do is be. Get out of your head and feel your body, breath, and see and hear all the things around you as they are.

(Disclaimer: This blog post has some foul language.)

Transparency
“I am, whatever you say I am. If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?” Eminem seems to have a polar response – either you love or you hate him. When I was a kid, his raps were like cookies in a jar – outlawed and just out of reach. Transparent real and raw, that’s Eminem for you all. Screaming, yelling, shouting – authentic about his feelings. Completely disregarding “social conventions” to get his message across. “You don’t have the guts to say what’s on your mind like the way that I do.” We feel the wrath, anger, and sadness, and we don’t feel comfortable.
Eminem turns the argument of detaching from thoughts and emotions on its head. His raps show us that anger may not make us weak and vulnerable. The upside of anger is that it brings us to action. Being transparent about what we think and letting other people know how we feel gets a lot done. In our anger, we say what we have been meaning to say.   Any good art is challenging and makes people mad. Eminem’s raps do just that. They bring personal and societal problems that we would normally ignore.

Every time I write a rhyme people think it’s a crime to tell em what on’s my mind
Eminem reminds us that it is important to express our true selves and be authentic. Some people are unhappy with us. But what road to success is lined with roses? Sometimes there are sharp thorns along the path. Hell, sometimes there are sharp thorns IN the path that we have to step on to make it through.

Terrified of normal!
A rock, sinking down to the bottom of the pond. This pit in your stomach makes you want to quit. You do crazy things, pushing boundaries every day. The sheep eat rotten grass. Eat the green grass on the untrodden path. People are unsure about this road less traveled filled with personal expression because they don’t know if it will work. They don’t know if they would be able to travel down that path and not give up. People who support me don’t say, “Will this be too hard? What if you can’t do it? I don’t believe in this!” Protection from failure never got people ANYWHERE! It is impossible to live a fulfilling life without failing a lot of the time. Some people won’t believe in you, but that shouldn’t stop you from going to the top. Eminem did. People sneered at a white rapper whose music veered sharply from the norm, which was only talking about girls, cars, and money.
The rich and/or famous tell you to do it your own way! Don’t let society dictate how you do things. How do you think the rich and famous they got to be that rich? By being “normal” like everybody else? NO! In his song Remember Me, Eminem talks about these naysayers in his rap. “I’ve been told no but it was more like NO NO NO!!”

The only person I trust is me!
Eminem has a strong belief in himself, and doesn’t trust others. In Bitch Please II he makes this clear with the rap “You don’t really wanna fuck with me. The only nigger that I trust is me.” Eminem challenges that you don’t have the guts to say what’s on your mind like he does. He disregards social and rapping conventions. Think about it! Young, white rapper, who has raps that are stories, with added sound effects, foul lyrics, and explorations of society and media. Does that sound normal to you?

“Slim shady does not give a fuck what you think. If you don’t like it, you can suck his fucking cock” – Eminem

Think about the things you do in your normal day to day routine.

Why do you do it that way? Ask if there is another way to do it?

What would happen if you changed them up and closed your eyes!

Dance You move to the music even more you wear a sleep mask.

Eat Taste the flavors! Taste the rainbow!

Stand on one foot Jeet Kune Do recommends this to keep and maintain balance.

Go on a roller coaster I know people who do this.  Wish to say I could, but motion-sickness kind of stops me.

Sleeping Unless you are a creeper and sleep with your eyes open!

Exercise Do you really want to exercise your balance? Try doing a squat with your eyes closed and really feel the movement.

Running Just kidding!  I would not want you to run into a wall!

Kissing This is a no brainer (at least I hope!)  Who wants to be a weirdo and go cross-eyed while looking at someone else?

Pee I’d be careful if you were a guy.  Wouldn’t want to miss the toilet!

Play a racing video game It’s even better in the company of others, because then they can laugh at your futile attempts at success.

Listen to music Completely immerse yourself in the sounds of the orchestra piece!

Brush your teeth (“Routine things that involve doing something with your body. You will feel the sensations a lot more” – Jackie. For an added bonus, try it with your non-dominant hand.)

Meditation I gueeess you could have your eyes open.  Doesn’t closing your eyes and breathing deeply give a great sensation?

Having a conversation This really works if it is someone special!  Then you get to hear exactly what they are saying.

Playing a musical instrument. Have you ever noticed that people who play piano or violin or any instrument sway while they play, especially with their eyes closed?

I just read the ebook Life Nomadic.  Let me just say, I was totally blown away.

It’s one of those books you read that makes you think “Why didn’t someone explain this to me before?”  Tynan makes sure to describe what he does in detail.  This book was FULL of quotable quotes and principles for travelling and living life.

My favorite part was about minimalism.  I would consider myself very minimalist, and lots of my friends are weirded out by how few things I have.  But it appears that my minimalism or even the 100 thing challenge don’t even begin to measure up.  Life Nomadic shattered my standards of minimalism.  Three shirts?  Cool!  Sign me up.  Selling all your stuff so you can be wherever you want when you want?  I’ll do it.

The only parts I would change is some of the parts in the chapters about flying on airplanes.  This is  a very small problem, but some of the descriptions could have been better.

Here’s an example:

Tokyo -> SF -> Bangkok.  Get roundtrip from Tokyo to SF  “Set the return date for when you want to go to Bangkok, then take a cheap flight from Tokyo to Bangkok.”

I could be wrong, but what I got from this was Tokyo to SF roundtrip.  Go back to Tokyo on return flight, then go to Bangkok.

Overall though, this book provides a ridiculous amount of value.  It is full of inspiration, information, and quotes and principles that will help you in life.

Thank you Tynan for creating such a great book!

By the way, make SURE to check out his blog.  It is just as full of cool information, like a tour of his RV , the benefits of living transparently, and an interesting look at personal finance.

Why didn’t I think of this earlier?

The 80/20 rule.  Figuring out what tasks were the most important, and leveraging those activities for the biggest benifit.

I feel like I’m a lot of people in their initial impression of the 4 Hour Workweek.  I thought it was a total scam about how to get rich quick with some fake “never work at all!”

But what it turned out, was the book had A LOT more than just information on making money.  It covers all the relevant things in the internet marketing community today.  Outsourcing, time management, and even the suggestion to make a Muse and have it be an information product!

I would recommend this book to anyone.  Every once in a while, the information from this book will seep into my mind, and I will remember “What are important things I could be doing?”

Art

Obsession

Crime and Punishment

1984

Raskolnikov.  The Russian in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. He kills the annoying hated pawnbroker of the town.  He was able to kill her because he was above the law, like Batman the vigilante.  This gave him a strange boldness.  He became obsessed with the crime he committed and finally told the world what he did.
Raskolnikov’s reality was that of pain, fear, and obsession.  Artists make their own perceptions of reality.  They perceive the world through their craft.  Their world is viewed through a vision of beauty.  In some cases, you will have the “troubled” artist.  They may be bipolar and have their work be inspired by their pain.
Obsession is what artists feel.  When they can’t go to sleep because they’re busy thinking or even making art!  Their mind is pulsing with ideas as they refine their craft and practice what they love.  Artists see beauty in many things.  For example, a macro photographer finds beauty in small things.  All artists don’t let other people decide what is beautiful to them.  No one else can tell you what is beautiful!

This reality of freedom for artists is not the case in the novel 1984.  The government surveyed and controlled their population.  They had the thought police to stomp out revolution and creativity.  In Equilibrium, art and music do not have value.  Beauty does not have value.  The government destroys things that give us feeling and provoke emotions.  The premise of the movie is that extreme emotions are the root of ALL evil and cause wars.

In Equilibrium and 1984, each main character breaks out of the imposed reality.  They don’t only try to make the world beautiful for themselves.  Their own ART of rebellion is made to make the world beautiful for all.  In our culture, we don’t let others decide what has value.  We decide as individuals, because our reality is ours to keep.  We can see life from the eyes of a bug to a bird.  Those in charge can’t change what you find to be beautiful.

PS – Those books I listed are my favorite books! I love the scary governmental control of 1984, and the thrilling suspense of Crime and Punishment

I can’t believe all the things I’ve done this past new year.

I’ve made new friends on twitter who have helped me out quite a bit (Thank you Andrew Rodgers, Shelli Langdale, and Ashley Ambirge!)
Making my serene simplicity website has shown that if I work hard and overcome obstacles by coming at it from a different direction, often the answers are the simple ones and I can figure them out
Everything I do is a choice.  At any point I could delete my todo list and start from scratch

I got a flickr and started engaging in the social network

I made an idealog (and I daresay came up with some pretty decent ideas!)
My blog has been getting some views.  One day it got 20 views!
I have a twitter with followers
I remade myself into someone who is really fun to be around and fairly social in the group of friends.  I don’t care if I am a dork.
I’ve stopped being shoved around and started thinking for myself more.

This year, in 2010 I want to:
SELL A PHOTOGRAPH

This year it has been great meeting new people on twitter and feeling generally closer to the friends I have at home.

What epiphanies have you had in 2009?  Please let me know here or on twitter :)
Thank you for reading!