http://changethis.com/manifesto/66.01.Brainwashed/pdf/66.01.Brainwashed.pdf\
In Seth Godins manifesto Brainwashed, Mr Godin recites to us how we as a society grew up being oppressed. Not physical oppression, but mentally oppressed. He describes the relationships we had as children with our schoolwork. Those equations we thought we never would use, turns out we were right after all. Godin describes our tireless “cog-in-the-wheel” work at these establishments slowly eating away at our creativity. In the article, Godin also relates his idea of the seven layers available to anyone for the search of reinvention. The layers are connect, be generous, make art, acknowledge the lizard, ship, fail and learn. The three most important I feel are acknowledge the lizard (we must learn to laugh at ourselves), be generous ( the ability to give before we get) and make art (an original thing that expresses our inner self).
During this quarter the blog I was required to do at first seemed to be an annoying addition to my already hectic schedule, but after reading these articles I can fully understand the meaning and reasoning behind them. When trying to search for my inner creativity and find a way to become a better person all around, these articles help me break down and fully understand what I should do to elaborate on these skills.
Acknowledging the lizard, even though this whole idea sounds like some childish story from long ago, the meaning behind this is quite humbling. We as a society take to much pride in ourselves. When someone makes a joke or crack about our work, we get too worked up and insulted by the simple gesture of mocking. To acknowledge the lizard means to step back and acknowledge the fact that we don’t like this, but ultimately we should learn not to be insulted by such gestures. Rather we should lean to further our own humility and take every joke as a laughing criticism. After all would you rather be scolded or joked with?
Next we must be generous. Too many people now a days think only of themselves, this is not helping our society go anywhere. If anything it is reverting us back to the days of when it was socially acceptable to steal goods from another family just to ensure your own life. Generosity is something we all have, it just tends to get lost along the way on our learning sojourn. There are very few people today who put others before themselves, I feel if this was done more often we all could become the ideal citizens everyone cherishes to be.
Finally society should learn again to create and make art! It seems so simple, but sometimes the simplest solution may be the best option by far. Making art does not require a degree, or teaching or even talent! All art needs to flourish is passion. Passion will create any symbolic representation of your feelings that can help you represent your true feelings. Anyone who disagrees with this should just look at famous abstract art masterpieces. Looking upon some of these pieces, you can truly feel the artist angst, motivation and pure passion in every brushstroke. Not only does making art relieve antagonisms, it can also be the connector of relationships between friends, family and new acquaintances.
Society needs to listen to these attributes, I have learned that I must as well. Listening to these layers will most likely create a new idealogical look on life for me personally. This I believe will create a flourish of new motivation, and therefore a more pleasant outlook on this mystery we call life.
