is it me or has the too-easily accessible internet made us creative types susceptible to what i would call, and heretofore coin, inspiration fetishism?…

every time i open any of my socially conscious accounts these days, it is to find yet another peer fawning over the words of one godin, gladwell or béhar and declaring them to be “so inspiring,” “amazing” or, god-forbid, “telling the truth!” (exclamation theirs.) the truth is that too many of my confreres find some sort of solace and pride in their judicious identification of what constitutes value, especially as previously singled out by others, but fail miserably to act upon the principles therefore unearthed. it seems to me that when some professional editor, ceo or designer deigns to publicly expound on the oft-expounded virtues of leadership, excellence or the way to creation, it is neither to show off, encourage awe nor even lead by example, but rather to foster principle. they aim to advertise the source of their supposed success not merely encourage imitation of its least valuable consequence, form.

for example, so many tweets were dedicated a few months ago to the glory that is mr. milton glaser at swiss miss’ justifiably lauded creative mornings series. so “inspired” was the audience, before, during and after the 40-minute lecture that i read nary a word of action pronounced that might have described the ways in which such inspiration could propel one’s creative juices to act as he once did, with fearlessness, focus and point of view, into creating a body of work until then unseen. to my mind, the graphic designing icon’s message, as that of his peers, is always to coax us into applying the foundational principles of courage, feistiness and eyes-wide-open, not at all simply to do as they did. never would they advocate for us to be milton glazers, bruce maus or rem koolhauses but to find within ourselves, with a bit of luck, a talent as vociferous as theirs to then turn into careers. that is why they often talk about their lives as well as their work in those lectures and present them as intricately co-dependent so that we may see the professional value of a life interestingly and uniquely lived which in turn feeds and inspires the work. “be inspired by your own life, not by me!” they seem to scream into ears that seldom listen. but that is unfortunately not how we have come to receive their well-chosen remarks. instead using the word inspiration as mere description of a mostly contemplative and adoring state of which action is not a necessary component. the result is a rattling off of magnified and over-dramatic adjectives calling for brilliance and amazement which, even if justified, signal a stop in the intellectual process. “i just came out of scott belsky’s lecture and he was a-ma-zing!…” i have no doubt he was but when you label his performance with a borrowed word, you have stopped thinking about his point, and that of his company, which is not to be a-ma-zing (do correct me if i’m wrong scott) but to help you apply who it is you are to what it is you do, a process interrupted by having made it about him and not about you… that pisses me off!

this is also sadly what happens when TED talkers are idealized to the point of a worthy message getting lost in context. i know people who spend hours a day getting inspired by watching the videos of people who have had the opportunity to observe and act upon their noteworthy, and often peculiar, visions of the world. but how many tweets about sarah kay’s incontestably rousing if i should have a daughter speech do we have to endure before one person can feel the fire inside not to simply admire but learn from her remarkable particularity?… thousands by my count without a single one distinct from the next in its passive brand of veneration. don’t get me wrong, TED, 99%,
pecha kucha and innumerable others of their ilk are indeed extraordinary platforms for kind to meet kind but they must in my opinion be treated as such, platforms upon which to build new and different edifices, not merely fan clubs.

if i idolize orson welles, steve jobs or dieter rams, it is not out of reverence for their work, that is a matter of taste, not value, hence useless to me, but is rather out of acknowledgment, understanding and, finally, willingness to apply the singularity of their disparate methods. i do not wish to imitate their way but to find myself a similar outlook, so single-minded that it cannot be stopped, come success or failure. the important lesson i learn every time i find myself in their audience is not how to do as they did but be as they are or were, a gigantic difference seemingly rarely understood by the throngs of admirers that follow and report on their idols’ every move. that is why the industry born out of the incessant willingness of people to listen to the wise words of those whose work they love as well as the rarely-declined opportunity to be adored is booming. we have become addicted to wisdom, alas, rarely apply given advice!… why?! there is a reason that department in the bookstore is called “self-help” which is that personal action needs to be taken after the message has been ostensibly understood. and there is a reason why, every year, the aisles of that department grow with the number of people they mean to help: because they don’t help anyone reluctant to perform! they are books, written by well-meaning people with assuredly good ideas, which end up on our shelves at home as a testament to a purchase but with little to show for in actual life change. and so it is with inspiration from creative giants, proud trophies of attendance out of which so little emerges as actionable. a fetish, among so many others, experienced in the moment but that which has seemingly little to do with our lives…

that is why i would love for the promoters, lecturers and audiences of so many of these conferences, talks and quotes to one day band together and find a way to act upon the intentions so loudly spoken and build something of value. stop being cute and coy and sycophantic and fucking do something, take steps to change in yourself that which you found so inspiring in the other and instill said quality in your daily process instead of recounting the beauty of what he or she said in order to appear savvy at cocktail parties! because that beauty also lives in you, me, us, those giants are no better, they just didn’t waste too much time fawning over their peers and elders and found their own ideas to be worthier of their efforts, and so must we! i am tired of #inspiration and need more #action to take its rightful place in our quotidian habits. what happened to motivation? what happened to influence? what happened to awakening? all of those consequences of inspiration yet left on the cutting room floor like so many well-meaning designs perhaps thought to be too ambitious for little-ol-us… that is not the case, we are everything we think we are and are only cheating ourselves of the afore-admired level of excellence because we have mistakenly believed greatness to be “of others.” those whom you have travelled to hear speak have attained a level that you personally recognize and subscribe to and that is to your credit and advantage, not theirs, that is information you can now use to apply principles you have identified, through your superior intellect, and can put to work to define your own present and future, which will be different from theirs.

be inspired to do something, that is the point of the word itself! be inspired to do something useful! be inspired to do something, not merely lay in the shadows of those mistakenly believed to be taller than you. s’all i’m saying. only then will the massive cataloguing of brilliance have been worth the trouble to encode, bind and travel to. otherwise, it is just another form of entertainment…

have a truly inspired week!