Brainwashed

Seth Godin’s article, “Brainwashed,” reads a little bit like the ramblings of an aging hippy, but that does not invalidate the point that he is trying to make.  Among his seven levers for those in search of self-reinvention, his suggestion to develop the ability to fail with grace really stood out to me.  Failure is an inevitable part of life.  Everyone falls down at one point or another.  We shouldn’t forgo risk taking in an attempt to be perfect; otherwise you might end up looking like an effortlessly cool Italian person.  Which would be terrible, because it would mean that you have sacrificed your creativity to someone else’s idea of what you should be.

“Acknowledging the lizard” seems like an odd phrase thrown in amongst other suggestions like “make art” or “learn.”  But what Godin means by this is simply that we must acknowledge our own ego.  The part of ourselves that is worried more about the judgment of others than about our own self worth, is the part that will hold us back from achieving greatness.  The little voice in your head that tells you to keep playing the role of the “compliant cog” in the system, Godin refers to as “the resistance.”  Those who make great art are those who have acknowledged and learned to ignore this barrier. 

Godin’s suggestions can be applied to this blog, as well as all assignments in this class.  A blog is a more public format for submitting work than many students are used to.  Which means that for each assignment, be it a soundscape or a script, we must be confident in putting ourselves out there for the entire Internet to see.  Or at least the very specific portion of the Internet that will be looking at this blog, namely other students in the class.  The assignments we do in this class are helpful in that the provide both practice with the tools that we will be using, as well as the public nature of a career in the media.  To have a job in this industry, you must be prepared for others to see and criticize your work.  Not everyone will love everything you do, but you have to do it anyway.