Mar
01
And I quote, “It’s day 4 of Humility Week at the NDD”
I fancy myself a pretty good thinker. But considering almost all my napkin drawings start with a quote that I myself did not make up, it would be disingenuous of me to say I come up with nothing but original ideas. That, in turn, keeps me humble.
However, I do like to think I am unique thinker. A unique thinker isn’t someone who thinks up something out of the blue. Instead it is someone who takes these ideas from others and combines them, mixes them, bakes them into a uniquely stated idea. Not necessarily a new idea, but an idea that has been thought through by one unique individual and come out the other side with something no one else can give it, the perspective and expression of that one person.
I think a lot of young people who are unformed in their own identity don’t understand what this means. I see it all the time on reality TV shows like American Idol. The judges say to the young person, ‘you have to just be yourself’ or ‘you have to put your own spin on it’ or ‘you just need to find your own voice’. And the least mature of the singers look blankly back at the judges, having no idea what it is they are talking about. They don’t know yet how to take another idea, (another song in this case) and make it their own because there is no ‘own’ there yet. They are doing their best to imitate a great singer but they don’t know yet how to become a great singer themselves.
The originality of your ideas isn’t what you should have pride in. It is what should endow you with humility. How you take what is given to you from the outside and transform it into something uniquely yours, THAT is what you can have true pride in.
Drawing by Marty Coleman, who reads in bed.
Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also read in bed.
Dec
04
>
I woke up early, around 5am (had to pee) and laid back in bed with thoughts of accomplishment in my head. I am not sure why but the question ‘what would you say is your greatest accomplishment’ came to mind. I envisioned it being asked by an interviewer as if I was on a morning talk show.
My first thought in response was this: My greatest accomplishment is continuing to be positive, confident and happy in spite of what life has thrown at me. Following right behind was the thought: My greatest accomplishment is continuing to be an artist most every day of my life.
Both revolve around knowing and being who I am, who I want to be. If I struggle with knowing and acting to be who I want, it is a struggle not to become someone else, but to adjust myself enough to fit in as I might need to fit in in certain circumstances. I am not always successful at that.
So, what about you? What is your greatest accomplishment? I am NOT talking about careers or how many kids you have or something like that. I am talking about your emotional, social and psychological accomplishments in life.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily blog
Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Philosopher and Essayist
Nov
15
>
A vintage napkin from 2002.
I love the sky, especially here in Oklahoma. When people ask me if I miss California I usually say the landscape is better there but the skyscape is much better here in Oklahoma.
It is easy to see the landscape; it is permanent for the most part, it will always be there, and so we feel like we can define ourselves in relationship to it. It is like a non-fiction story of history or science. We believe we are hearing a true story, something real.
But the sky is a different story. It is a novel. It is a poem. It is not telling us something we can rely on to be true because it disappears and may not come back. If it does it will be different. How can we rely on the sky? But isn’t it true, it is always changing yes, but it is always returning as well. It comes back and becomes something you knew before, the clouds aren’t exactly the same, but they remind. It is the reminder as in a novel, of your own life, your own history. It is a poem that gives hints, that gives bread crumbs reminding you of something else, a remembrance.
I love the sky. It feeds my eyes every day.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily blog.
Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Essayist, speaker and philosopher
Jul
17
>And so the week of beauty comes to an end. I feel more beautiful, do you?
A nice simple definition that rings true. I do think the love of beauty is about
taste. I also think it is about acquired tasted, in other words. There is
something to be said for being educated about something. All that means
to me is that you have had the patience and teachability to learn what
others know about something, understanding that there are subtleties to
appreciate in all areas of art, whether it be napkin drawings or opera.
It isn’t abandoning your taste to learn about the arts, it is building on it.
quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American writer
Jul
03
>Hope you all are enjoying the summer. I am on vacation and am presenting
some of the original napkin drawings I created for my daughters from
1998-2004 until I get back.
Just get off it as soon as possible is the idea.
