Blog 3

Part I

Godin's theory of being "brainwashed" is interesting as it exhibits why society has scrutinized the individual as a creative entity and has exhibited seven levers to "reinvent" ourselves. He begins by talking about "acknowledging the lizard". This "lizard" that lives within us is the part of the brain which we share in common with the lizard which fears rejection, failure and ridicule from our piers. Society has taught us to listen to the lizard and that we should do what we only feel comfortable doing. Godin says otherwise with the seven different layers.

Two layers he touches on is the ability to connect and for your skills to be shipped. There are those who might call this "networking" or "who you know". It is almost as important to know someone as it is do something. If you can do something but no one knows, you will not able to truly succeed. With social networking, communities and online forums, your work can be seen by many, partnerships can be made, and soon enough you can begin working on your dream. Furthermore you skills must be "shippable". This means that your work has to be able to be dispersed widely and not just locally. In a global economy this is the best and fastest way to succeed.

Part II

These excursuses make you think about the creative process. At times, creativity can be complex and frustrating, just as a math problem can be frustrating so too can creativity. Godin highlights on what he calls the "Lizard" inside us. This lizard is the anchor to our creativity. I am afraid that my work will not be good and that my thought process is not out-of-the-box as most others are. The lizard inside of me is afraid that I will fail: not just on the artistic level, but in society as well. These exercises train that part of my brain that has that creativity. It works it, tears it down, and builds it back together stronger, like studying math. The difference between math and the creative process is that both are judged by two separate criteria. Where as math is judged based on a right or wrong basis, a piece of art is based on a subjective point of view. One person's point of view can be completely separate from the creator's intent. I think the purpose for using blogs as a means to turn in our work as appose to private paper is that we expose ourself to the internet. Everything we write, make and create is public. This goes against the lizard part of our brain that fears society's criticisms.

This blog helps us better structure our work so that others may see what we have written. This helps gives us some idea of how we should present ourselves so that we may be "connect worthy". By "connect worthy" I mean presentable for someone to be attracted to your work. By doing these blogs we organize our ideas in that presentable form. This separates us from those who "shotgun" ideas when networking. Furthermore, we package our ideas and thoughts into a well written, easy to understand blog. For those who want to subscribe to it, it is very easily accessible. This means it has a very high shipping ability. Anyone from around the world can read your profile and those people can send it to anyone else. Connecting and shipping are intertwined. Without connecting, you would have no one to ship your creativity to. On the other side, you cannot connect if you do not properly ship your items in a way that is appealing to potential customers. This blog takes both of those concepts and helps us formulate those ideas into one professional source to express our creative processes.