>The truth is we are never going to attend to only one or the other. We will always be paying attention to the trite and base things to some degree. To WHAT degree is the question.
Do you spend your entire day thinking of these trivial, maybe mean-spirited things? Do you focus continually on gaining things and status for yourself? Do you worry constantly about how you appear to others? Do you judge others based solely on surface elements?
And the bigger question, do you offset any of those obsessions with deeper thoughts and actions that help you call into question your focus, that help turn you towards higher good for yourself and others.
Maybe it is church that does it, listening to the sermon. Maybe it is walking in nature. Maybe it is reading wisdom from the ages. Maybe it is watching and evaluating the moral tales on TV (yes, there are many good lessons to be learned on TV). Whatever it is, are you paying attention? How are you balancing your life towards the greater things?
It doesn’t happen by accident, especially in a capitalist driven world that is geared towards wanting you to be a consumer, to spend money. You have to be deliberate about inventing yourself, about creating the greater self you want to be.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily blog, which you should subscribe to. It will make your brain bigger and your day better.
Quote by Mencius, 372 – 289 BCE, Chinese philosopher
This is the cruelty for all of us who like to talk idealistic talk, about the world and about ourselves. It is so easy to be fooled into thinking what we present, what we say, about ourselves is the reality. But that isn’t always case. It takes two things that aren’t always easy to do. One, I have to be honest, perceptive and realistic about myself. Two, I have to be willing to let others see that real person.
The question is, what if that real person isn’t all that nice, or talented, or great? What if I am filled with pettiness, am shallow, am mediocre? What then? Then you are free. You are free to start where you are, with who you are and go forward. You can’t go from the shallow end to the deep end if you don’t even know you are in the shallow end in the first place. quote sent by Judith Eng Tolk, thank you!
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Through my company, MAKE Studio, I can do many things for you.
Speaking
Are you in need of a dynamic, engaging speaker?
Do you need someone who can address your group with something fresh and original?
Recent titles of my presentations include:
The Six Stop Signs on Creativity Road
The Six Races to Run for Content Creation Success
Strategies and Attitudes in Social Media Engagement
Coping with Change Within and Without
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Reasons to become a Napkin Kin.
I started drawing the napkins for my daughters in the hopes that they would be stimulated in their minds and hearts to think deeply and well about a range of topics. Now that I draw them for everyone else as well I hope the same.
So, if you:
Are interested in the world of ideas and want to engage in meaningful conversation with an intelligent community about them
Love quotes and the power within them.
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Just like fun cartoons.
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My Wish List
For my plan to conquer the world to succeed I need following things to happen. If you can help, I will make you Secretary of Something or Other, I promise.
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I use quotes every single day. I believe a reference book publisher could get a lot of mileage out of connecting with me.
Publishing and Distribution
I am working on my second self-published book but would also love to get an agent and a publisher and have a book published the old fashioned way.
Who doesn't want their work distributed. I would love to see the napkins in daily or weekly publications.
Merchandise
I currently have my merchandise available online via Zazzle. However, I would love to get it out to brick and mortar stores and am looking for companies who can do greeting cards, t-shirts, posters and more.
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I love to travel and would welcome speaking engagements around the US, Canada and beyond to allow that to happen.
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The truth is we are never going to attend to only one or the other. We will always be paying attention to the trite and base things to some degree. To WHAT degree is the question.
