Find Your Tribe, Create Your Art

Seth Godin has several great books about business and marketing but two of his most important messages are about the broader concept of living our lives: Find Your Tribe & Create Your Art. Here's how I started to do both...

In the Spring of 2002- or as I've come to call it... my time of discombobulation- through the Summer of 2003 I had parted with 1/3 of my friends, 1/3 of my stuff, and almost all of what I thought I'd known for sure. It was disorientating.

Fast-forward to the Spring of 2013 and I'm hosting workshops about what I've learned and the philosophy I've created for myself and my life. One of the key lessons I learned was to declutter the things that aren't working in our life and replace them with aspects that will light us up- this includes the people we choose to spend out precious time with.

I use Seth's book Tribes as the lead-in to this conversation. I talk about how many of us have collected friends by as flimsy of criteria as we went to school, worked, or lived by each other. It's time to stop and ask ourselves if these are the folks we want to continue to invest our energy and time in or are we ready to go find our tribe? The folks we admire, are fascinated by, that value us and make us better at who we are: these folks make up our Tribes.

We don't need to be asked, to be picked, or invited into a tribe- we just join in or begin to lead our own.

I tell the story of how I became a published author, how I was mentioned in pal Amy's book Bright Side Up, and how coming from no background in writing what-so-ever I now have a bunch of writer friends that I consider my tribe. As I explain Seth's point of finding our tribes I open to the inside jacket cover of his book where there is a picture of me in the top corner. Then I deliver the line:

I went from loving books and admiring writers... to being in books and becoming a writer. 

Seth and I are not friends, I made the cover jacket because as an admirer of his work I had gladly sent in a photo when he had asked (not knowing what it was for but trusting it was something fun and worthwhile)- but that's where everyone can start. Find people we are inspired by, marinate in their wisdom, and then go and create our own path with our own message.

Seth's current book The Icarus Deception is all about how now is the time to create our art and get it out into the world.

This is what I am doing with my work and my workshop. And how do I know it is working? Because a friend who took the workshop recently thanked me for some help and ended with: ... you are part of my tribe! 

Seth's brilliance is he observes things, names them, and then expands that concept with his writings so we can participate if the message speaks to us. Finding our tribes and sending our art in to the world... I can't think of two more important things for us to focus on. So thanks Seth, you've made a difference in my world, inspired me to get my art shipped, and helped me explain the importance of finding people we connect with and then creating even more possibilities of art from there.

  

Solution To All Your Problems

The problem with our problems is not that there are no solutions it's that we like complaining about them, ignoring them, or using them as excuses more then doing what it takes to fix them.

It's almost always that simple.

Seth Godin was giving a talk and asked people to write down on a card the problem that was holding them back from making their art. They then passed their "problem" to the person next to them who was tasked with writing down a solution. He didn't care if the problem was solved by this random person next to them, there is never a shortage of solutions that can be shot at a problem. But what if they did come up with perfect answer, how many would be willing to act on the solution? And unsolvable problems are their own solution because they are simply limits that need to be worked around or accepted and signal we can now move on.

So if you're stuck ask for solutions, hire an expert if you need to. But my guess is you probably know what the first step to solving your problem is you're just choosing not to do it. No judgment, I'm doing the same thing. I just happen to know that's what I'm doing... do you?

When we label and then carry around problems that aren't solvable we're wasting our time (never going to be able to fly, be 5'7", have magic to bring my loved ones back to life, or have perfect family and friends). Not to say we should give up on something because we haven't found the answer, but come on-- you know the answers to 99% of your problems, have access to find them, or know who does.

The solution to our problems is to move forward and start enacting a solution whether it be ours, an expert's, a random one suggested by the person sitting next to us and then pivot as a better solution comes along. Now the question is will we let something stop us or will we start living into the solutions... only you have that answer.