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Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.

Voltaire

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I invite you to visit my new group on Facebook called 1501 Quotes Questions & Pondering About the Creative Process and where I hope to engender some lively discussions about the creative process by readers sharing their experiences and beliefs. I have 500 new quotes in my collection that were not included in my EBook. Many of the quotes refer to the marketing of creativity. After all, marketing is part of the process, isn’t it?
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It’s All Good

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My days of whining and complaining about others have have come to an end.
Nothing is easier than fault finding. All it will do is discolor my personality
so that none will want to associate with me. That was my old life. No more…

…Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they are going to be dead by
midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can
muster. And do it with no thought of any reward. Your live will never be the
same again.

Og Mandino

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Give the newly re-popularised buzz phrase, ‘It’s all good!” the meaning it deserves. Believe it for just one more day. And another. And another. One day at a time. Be kind, caring, empathetic with everyone you meet without an attachment to any outcome. Build relationships without an analysis of what you are going to get. It is as simple as a smile, eye contact, and wishing another a good morning. Prepare to perform Random Acts of Kindness. The tools are simple: graciousness, a smile, and creativity.

I am writing this today because I was the recipient of an act of kindness two weeks ago and I am still smiling.

I was driving on the NY State Thruway, pulled off for gas, and continued another fifty miles or so. I stopped at the next rest stop for a cup of coffee. I could not find my wallet. I tracked back to the previous gas station. The wallet was not there. I started to panic. Sure I understood that it would be time consuming, frustrating and annoying to cancel all those credit cards. I thought, “It’s all good, whatever that means.”

Just then I received an email message from a woman named Rosemary who found my wallet and asked me to call her back so that she would know what I wanted her to do with it. Then I accidentally erased the call. The panic became overwhelming.

My friends and family were telling me to trust the universe. That is what I would have told them to do. However,I wasn’t believing it was all good. I got home five hours later. My wife and I had a late dinner. She helped me calm down.

The next morning, there was an email message from Rosemary telling me the wallet was in the mail. I wanted to call and thank her however there wasn’t a telephone number, last name or location. I returned her email with a note saying I wanted to send her a limited edition print as a thank you.

Rosemary wrote back promptly. She said, “All I ask is that you be kind to others.”

The wallet was returned via the post office three days later.

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It’s All Good may mean that nothing is bad. It may be used in a seemingly optimistic sense

Art Buyer:

Hey man. We gave the assignment to someone else. Sorry about that.

Photographer:

Oh, It’s all good.

It may also mean; despite any possible doubt, everything’s cool:

Photographer:

We agreed that the agency would send me a check for 50% of the production
budget, before tomorrow’s shoot.

Art Director:

Don’t worry. It’s all good.

It may be used when someone doesn’t wish to get into something difficult,
complex or just plan annoying. Whatever. Later for that. It’s all good.

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From Bob Dylan’s Song

It’s All Good

Big politician saying lies

Restaurant kitchen full of flies

Don’t make a big difference, don’t see why it should

But it’s alright ’cause it’s all good

All good, it’s all good

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I have never asked for a dime from my readers for anything. About three weeks ago, I received an email message from Stavit Allweis:

Hi Ian,

I’m writing to invite you to view early images from “ISNESS” my epic fotonovela currently in the works.

It is hybrid of cinema, the graphic novel form, and is deeply informed by cult masterpieces of past.

We are in the crucial mid-production phase and reaching out to create a fan base and raise finishing funds.

Naturally, I am hoping that you will find my efforts worthy of an article or link on Ian Summers’ Heartstorming.

It would be an honor to have you glance at the Kickstarter link: http://kck.st/bEKVTm

Sincerely,

Stavit Allweis

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Stevie found Heartstorming while searching for photo novella on the Internet. I am glad she did. She found a couple of my articles about sequential art and a challenge to photographers to create the next great photo novella. I am impressed with the fundraising campaign for a wonderful innovative project. She has been using Kickstarter as a means to raise money to complete her photo novela. She has less than one week to raise the remaining start up costs for ISNESS.  Kickstarter is an all or nothing at all deal. Won’t you take a few minutes to view the video below and donate five dollars or more? Everyone contributing $35 or more will receive a signed copy of the book upon publication.

Still photographers interested in multimedia should check this out. Photo novelas are great examples of sequential art. Learn more about the How Messing with Mr. In-Between May Make Gutter Talk more Interesting.

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THE STORY
ISNESS tells of the story of the last remaining family on earth. The story is set in the remains of the culture of the 1970’s, somewhere in North America.

Over the course of 24 downspiraling hours, one family member after another succumb to powerful forces of evolution run amok in their home. As in mythology, their characters are deeply archetypal and some posses supernatural qualities.
On one level the story is the disturbing tale of a dysfunctional suburban family gone post- apocalyptic. On a deeper level, the story lays out and examines increments along the carnality/spirituality spectrum in the human predicament.

THE NAME
ISNESS, the name of the novel pertains to survival: Either “you IS or you ISN’T”. It is the degree of one’s “isness” that nature trades in: that moment in nature’s cyclical regurgitation of matter that we experience as being alive and which we cling to so desperately.

THE FORM
The final product will be in the form of a graphic novel composed of many sequential photographic images. This genre, though rarely employed by comics artists nowadays, used to thrive in the form of pulp magazines in the 70’s and earlier. It never took off in the United States as it did in Europe and South America.

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Only $431 to go as of August 20th with only 7 days to go. Please help.

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As of this writing $6319 dollars has been raised. Stevie needs only $431 to reach her goal of $6,750. Remember, it’s all or nothing at all. Don’t let this great project get away.

Check out this interview with Stevie Allweis at Williamsburg-Greenpoint News+Arts.

There is even more background information at Stevie’s blog Countercomics.com

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uestioning, .

Ways to Engage Your Prospects Without Becoming a Bore

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Bore: A person who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.
Gian Vincenzo Gravina

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A bore is a fellow who opens his mouth and puts his feats in it.
Henry Ford

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One out of three hundred and twelve Americans is a bore…

and a healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people’s patience.

John Updike

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The worst thing about a bore is not that he won’t stop talking, but that he won’t let you stop listening.

Author Unknown

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Copyright © 2010 Thomas Lee

Heartstormer Thomas Lee lives in Bozeman MT.

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Me Me Me ME ME ME! And then I…

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Are you a bore or a listener when you interface with prospects, clients, networkers, and others? Are you asking enough questions that allows the other person to share? Do you let them know that you heard them by paraphrasing what they share with you? For example, “What I heard you say is…” Or do you enter someone’s space and begin talking about yourself before you even sit down?

Here are some tips that will help you be liked in the process of building relationships with the people who can give you what you want.

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Show Up
Make the Meeting About the Other Person
Ask Questions
Be Caring
Be Fully Present
Listen
Get Information
Give Information
Laugh a Little
Dare to be Different
Develop Loyalty
Be a Little Mischievous
Remember Details

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Ask creative questions that are challenging, caring, interesting, informative, open-ended. Creative questions often begin with What if…? How may we…? In what ways…? Who are…? Why…? These kinds of questions are filled with a variety of answers that will help you get to know the other person. Each question leads to dialog. Do not ask questions that may be answered yes or no. Practice keeping control of the interview. Do not give your power away. Hold back from handing your portfolio to your prospect for as long as possible. Get them talking about themselves. Repeat what you heard your prospect say to confirm that you understand and to let them know you are listening. What I heard you say is… It is okay to take notes.

Make a list of ten creative questions that you may ask to learn more about your prospect and to get them sharing about themselves. Here is a starter list of advertising related questions (Please make up your own):

What if we were to collaborate on an assignment? What would you want me to know about you? What would you want to know about me?

What if you could change one thing about the agency business, what would it be?

What if you knew who the right photographer was to do a job even before you created the final concept? Have you ever worked with a photographer the initial concept phases of an ad.

Pretend that advertising has been banned by congress. What kind of work would you do? How would you go about doing it?

What if the next print ad you did demanded the highest level of innovation? In what ways would you want to collaborate with a photographer?

What if we were living in a Utopian world where each person could choose the kind of work they want to do? What kind of work would you do if money was not an object?

If you could make one improvement about how photographers try to get your attention, what would it be?

Let your prospects know that you know something about them and that you have chosen them as prospects. Let them know you are interested in them:

I want to work with art directors who are not only interested in great ideas but who can sell them through to their clients. I want to work with risk takers. Etc… (personalize this) I saw what you did when you were still at Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe. How in the world did the agency get the client to approve the idea?

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