Image — CL-Q, Tate Switch House
Soundtrack — The Day, The Roots
-

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. — Robert Kennedy

This is the final exhale of #EmergingJournal, preceding the first inhale of the #CreativeEntrepreneur. How did we get here? Why are we here? And how far have we come? I explore these question not introspectively, but fully aware that there are thousands of students (yet to graduate), graduates (experiencing industry for the first time) and seasoned employees (itching to manifest their own agendas) who are simultaneously on this road of discovery and/or manifest their ideas in the most effective way possible.

The intention of Emerging Journal was to explore how to become someone of value within the creative industries. By value I mean impactful and respected, however, what was demonstrated was the criteria in which we as creatives are measured by, the as a result, finding ways to subvert those markers and take control of our own progress and develop a value system that empowers creatives rather than make them dependent. Fact, this was a tumultuous expedition, comprising of extreme highs in the form of commissions, international opportunities and the growth of my individual agendas. Un/fortunately also including the lowest of lows, which appeared as the ‘self-degradation paradox’ meaning having to be overqualified to be visible, while having to undersell my achievements in order to have a seat at the table.

The emergence of any creative within the creative industry is not rocket science, but it’s gruelling.

This series of articles was developed as a means to challenge the preconceptions of what it meant to be a creative practitioner. More importantly, jolting fellow creatives to view themselves, as ‘Creative Entrepreneurs’ as a result identifying the non-exploitive financial models within their practice. rejecting the idea that to sell is to create a product not an “Expressive or explorative piece of work”.

Along with this emotionally corruptive journey, I had sought out how to define the term “Emerging” within creative industries, and the power structures that have created the crabs in the bucket circumstance and an unshakeable inferiority complex plaguing artists across the world. Therefore one crediting those able to survive the waves of public annihilation or worst, the deafening indifference of culture-defining publications.

At our first point of reflection, we established that to accept the title of “Emerging” is to subscribe to criteria of approval in which you did not define, in anticipation of your day in the sun (international acclaim). Undeclared, the maintenance of this form of acclaim is trend-led rather than by conviction. Switching perspective to that of a Creative Entrepreneur, the manifestation of your ideas or the dissemination of your talents is with an intent to be regarded as formidable. Principally sound and self-directed, progress is regarded as inevitable through an opportunistic eye with a desire to be in association with the agenda.

It’s important to clarify that “Emerging” whether from a practitioner or entrepreneurial perspective is not bound to international acclaim but rather garnering recognition in a specific field, followed by having an effective engagement with the key figures and/or institutions of that community. Concluding with securing your own audience through your own unique contribution or exploration of topics of interest.

If these three objectives have been achieved, not only have you emerged but you have formed a cyclical and potentially profitable business model.

Littered with business advice and strategies such as; how to build equity in your practice, how to identify a successful business and how adjusting your mindset can create opportunities that your peers will never fathom unless instructed, this journal has been far more than business advice, but an insight into the psychological status of creative entrepreneurs at an unnaturally rapid rate, transitioning from hobby to obsession then to career.

Thinking as a leader, better yet an investor changes your perspective drastically, Jay-z’s 4:44 album articulates that clearly. The remedy to an artist’s narcissism is to change their priorities and put their community first. Putting yourself will get you to pay for your own gravestone. Entrepreneurship is the most immediate route to impact a community, although the most difficult. However, employment and the evolution to larger finances delays impact but offers more conclusive result when put into action. Whichever path is chosen awareness or surveillance of the battleground remains the same; Peers, publications, Institutions, Venues, Partners, Associates, Benefactors and or Sponsors. The bottom line is to understand your environment, discovering something new is to declare war on what already exists.

These past 9–10 months have been a time to be recklessly organised, grasping at opportunities, creating opportunities and laying the foundation to create an effective and meaningful pursuit of passion, purpose and professionalism. So, after all, is said and done, I welcome the question one more time…

Anonymous: What is Emerging?
CL-Q : Emerging is the fortification and refinement of your philosophy as a creative come creative entrepreneur. Your philosophy your approach your infrastructure, your ethics. These are the foundations in which your practice come business are built on, better yet elevated by. The title was devised through the same mentality of insurance companies. Creating a state of fear and validation only achieved when you’ve bought into their service. RESIST. Validation from others is powered by the absence of you making yourself self-efficient, self-valued and self-defining. Recognition, respect and financial independence can be built for yourself. It’s not given, it’s not earned, it’s built. You can’t work for yourself if you’re not willing to work on yourself. A certain level of maturity and the ability to shift from thinking subjectively and objectively is essential. Once again, if it does not exist build it. Portfolios, digital or physical are only the beginning, you become a service as soon as you are commissioned, you become a platform as soon as soon as other voices are represented. Neither of these things detracts from you being an artist / designer / director/ writer or any other title you use. The work is not less pure because you sold it. If the integrity of the work fails to remain intact it’s because you allowed it to be compromised, that’s more of a reflection of you, rather than the client. The world is not short of customers, what we lack are the languages to dialogue with them. Don’t make your world small.

Anonymous : How do you know who your allies and your enemies?
CL-Q : If they hate me, they wish mediocrity upon me.

—

Missed an article? You can read the entire ‘EmergingJournal’ here :

www.shadesofnoir.org.uk/category/emerging-journal/
 — 
www.cl-q.com/emergingjournal
 — 
Follow @iam_clq to track his progress as a #CreativeEntrepreneur w/ @unmaterialised & @theadvrsry

Emerging Journal - 3rd TERM REPORT was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — Arcades, Troika (2012)
Soundtrack — Camelblues, Mndsgn
-

A friend once told me while I confessed my regret for the uncompromising simultaneous development two businesses, that there was no other context in which I could of developed Unmaterialised, ‘The Advrsry’ and deconstruct the industry and psychology of a creative entrepreneur via Emerging Journal. Pursuing these goals in any other format would have been perceived as an automatic failure or an ineffective use of time.

Emerging journal is what happens when you have a mid-life crisis in your twenties. Spending majority of your time dedicated to objectives that severe no benefit to your desire, your people or your culture. Lest we forget that, one wo/man’s success is another wo/man’s failure. In this drastic change, the penultimate goal is the externally recognised value in your business, specifically by those who matter, and by matter I mean those who contribute to your topic of discussion. Remember, business is a dialogue, not a series of alternating monologues.

In its most general use, we cannot ignore the basic human need to be valued, this translates into anything impacting or impacted by humanity. However, the difference between the beaten path and the road less travelled are eventually rendered irrelevant. This is a case in how you want to learn, engaging with unavoidable hurdles or taking deviating paths. There is no straightforward path to success, only multiple routes to the same key lessons in which we decide how soon to learn them :

THE ACOLYTE
Following heavily tested and proven models/paths, subscribing to popular ideologies and/or delaying your own agenda. Typically this materialises as undertaking formal approved educational paths, producing trending / popular culture, targeting key validators and appeasing their desire in trade for recognition. Then borrowing against the cultural capital gained and shifting attention to your own agenda.

COLLECTIVE COOL
A vision that forms around a movement of closely related, but different individuals illustrating the breadth of an ideology. Summed up, it’s easy to ignore an individual, it’s impossible to ignore an assembly, as they grow they become their own ecosystem as an offshoot from the mainstream. Demanding three possible interactions; join, capitalise, oppose.

THE MARTYR
Sprouting an obscure philosophy, a commitment to evangelising becomes a race between amassing converts before you expire.

Whichever path is taken, it’s advised that they all submit to these very common business S.M.A.R.T principles in being; Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic / Rewarding and Time-bound. I hold my hands up in complete dismissal of four out of the five principles, but to know that something is attainable is to have a reference of its accomplishment. In some instances these examples don’t exist so they are pieced together from disparate sectors, in true postmodernist behaviour, the blueprint is a bricolage of conflicting ideals and wielding them under a new agenda.

With that all said and done, what becomes clear through this journey are my priorities and how I negotiated the definition of value between ownership or profit.

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

#033 : PATHS was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — Cinematic Orchestra Concert Visuals, The Light Surgeons
Soundtrack — Bass head Jazz, Cee-Lo Green
-

The definition of “Emerging” has been treated somewhat as an elusive entity, or an enigma if you will. Shifting from a default title to a marker of an achievement, then a mentality or preparedness and most recently and ideology at its most advanced.

In a recent article titled ‘Perhaps you should give up’ by Dan Norris (Entrepreneur, Author & International speaker) he stated:-

’What I found, after I had some success in business is that business success is not about hard work at all. Entrepreneurs are not athletes. Successes in business often come down to a tiny moment in time where a decision is made for some reason that drastically impacts the trajectory of the business. And from that point forward, momentum kicks in and success comes far easier. The irony is that quite often that decision is to stop working hard. To stop persisting. To give up.’

It should be no surprise that the thought of giving up has come up more than once. In fact, if it hasn’t I would question whether you have been pushing hard enough thus far. This can be brought on by fatigue, negative comments from your nearest and dearest and/or persistent failures and barriers. This is the norm and should be expected.

Norris continues stating ‘When I was running my agency for 7 years earning minimum wage, I worked my arse off. I never took a holiday, worked 12 hour days most days, never ever switched off, I had hosting customers calling me at 5am on my weekends regularly! I’d never worked harder, but the business was a dud. I was working hard and persisting with a shit business.’

This is where I disagree, failure in his previous ventures are not a testament to the quality of his ideas or businesses, but an indication that his business models were potentially inappropriate or unsustainable for the idea. There are three pillars to a successful business; first establishing the business, second sustaining or maintaining it and thirdly growing the company. Notice finances have not been mentioned at this juncture. A successful business is not defined by its profits but its growing demand. Once these pillars are secured, enters the possibility of monetising the company also known as the fourth pillar. A good example of this is the genesis of Facebook.

It’s important to clarify that this is not a counterargument to Norris’s article but a raised flag, as a warning to those who are beginning to define success through generalised markers. In context to creative emergence” publications such as Dazed, Fader, It’s Nice That, Creative Review and countless others use criterions to justify who can be labelled as “emerging”. That criteria may not be relevant to you. Allow me to explain, I’ve continually asked myself; Why does the definition of emerging continue to change? What are we as creative actually chasing? Why is the achievement of reaching key markers of success so anticlimactic?

To which I respond, What is actually of value, the accomplishment or the process? This is what distinguishes the world into two categories, One those who seek markers to mark their achievements to justify their end. Two, individuals groups who are seduced by the process, and fail to acknowledge their ascension and wish those markers of success meant more. As a result, they maintain a desire to continually grow and emerge to new levels. This is what separates the many from the few.

To conclude, Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton offers a description of entrepreneurial talent.

‘This is what to look for in an entrepreneur: somebody with an idea that totally consumes him — an idea that becomes the way he thinks, a way of life, and an obsession. That obsession fuels unstoppable optimism and determination. All businesses have terrible problems, but highly talented entrepreneurs enjoy the problems, even welcome them. Untalented entrepreneurs are destroyed by these problems. That’s why just wanting to be an entrepreneur isn’t enough. Encouraging people to be entrepreneurs the usual way — just take a class, get a loan, and then you’re ready — is setting them up to fail.’ — This Man Turned Three Bad Ideas Into Fortune 500 Companies,

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

#032 : DEFINITIONS was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — A Million Times 108, Human Since 1982
Soundtrack — Sometimes, Cee-Lo Green
-

‘Timing is everything,’ — Alvy Ray Smith.

In a recent article by ’Entrepreneur’, Co-founder of Pixar, spoke about how he endured 45 rejections before the late Steve Jobs said yes to what would become on eof the greatest animations studios.

Before we proceed any further, I thought it best to clarify the title of this article ’10,000 hours’

Michal Caldwell author of the book Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), where he examined the factors that contribute to high levels of success. He attributed this to the “10,000-Hour Rule”. In which he defines, as the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, by practising the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours.

Anonymous : How does this apply to ‘Emerging’?
CL-Q : It doesn’t, it shouldn’t.

I profoundly disagree with the concept of 10,000 hours being a requirement to become an expert in a chosen field. Mainly due to its lack of acknowledgement of an individual’s natural affinity to particular modes of processing information or performing acts. However, I believe it’s inevitable to know and do more when more time is allocated to an activity.

Anonymous : Are you where you deserve to be?
CL-Q : Honestly…yes.
Anonymous : Has your time been used the correct way?
CL-Q : It’s not possible to fail efficiently.
Anonymous : Isn’t that what Emerging Journal is attempting to achieve?
CL-Q : Negative, It’s about learning effectively, creating the circumstances to fail, succeed and explore in the most intense period of time to yield results.

What we are failing to understand is that time is viewed from two opposing perspectives; one, through the position of the consumer (public) recognised as moments to cherish. Second through the eyes of producers, to whom are almost regarded as a clairvoyant, marking impactful moments months if not years in advance. We either live in the lag of time or in the apprehension of it. This why the aim of productivity is somewhat a wasted ambition and saturates every sector to the degree it stunts the existence of ideas and products. Relevancy is the cancer of progress and maturation.

With this in mind, I implore all creatives to embark on an emerging journey, with the goal to be experts in their progress, rather than experts in their stagnation. This translate into a mastery of their time breaking down as follows:

281 days
9 months, 9 days
24,278,400 seconds
404,640 minutes
6744 hours
281 days
40 weeks and 1 day

No different from a scientific experiment; hypotheses, objectives and expectations forge the parameters of what you are embarking on, but still submissive to your persistence. Pixar stands testament to this, operating at a loss for five years and selling portions of their company to land their breakthrough production ‘Toy Story’ in 1995 to later become a juggernaut in the digital film industry. What we can gain from this is progress must rule over pride in the desire for impact, with a conscious that progress of the pride is paramount.

Yet I am plagued by the question, is greatness only achieved through consistency?

For further reading : www.entrepreneur.com/article/294821

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

#031 : 10,000 HOURS was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — Breath (The Vertical Works), Anthony McCall (2009)
Soundtrack — Afta-1, Blue
–

“Fear of failure has become the fear to focus.”

Facing a completely different set of challenges, 2009 was a year lacking conviction. At that point, the state of mind was to not stand for anything but to ride the fence In avoidance of being wrong and as a result the inability to grow. It was in a short anthology of poems titled ‘In the Moment : Date, Time & Location’ that I wrote F.O.F (Fear of Failure).

‘I walk away from the title of potential,
And fall into the bottomless pit

D E S C E N D I N G

Neither sinful nor sinless,
Unable to enter either polarising sanctuaries.

Disowned by success, Enticed by failure
Yet refusing humanities shame of mediocrity
Deemed unworthy, a shadow eludes me until I take a stand.’

– 09 December ’09 | 02:36am | 51.591888 , 0.045113

At its first encounter, failure was rationalised as unsuccessful attempts to reach a specific goal. At its second encounter, failure stands on the extract above, the inability to stand for anything.

Today, failure is impossible, there is no shortcoming that shows no sign of progress, there is an opportunity that demonstrates no insight. At its very worst, failure has generated interest and to some extent given birth to the admiration for ‘Spectacular Failures’.

“To stand for nothing is to fail, to have no conviction is to be invisible.”

What I amongst many others face today, is systemic, a ‘Failure to Focus’ i.e specialise. Gone are the days of singular identities, existing in the black or white, 50 Shades of Grey, made us feel okay with our slightly perverse desires, in fact, proud of our rejection of traditional classifications. However is this to our detriment?

Allow me to extrapolate further, for those on the path to establish themselves as practitioners, thought leaders or specialists there is a point where a decision will need to be made (possibly already made) to fully commit yourself to your craft. What that inevitably forms and demands is an unwavering and unimpeachable desire to succeed no matter the sacrifice. Now, to all the spectators of this commitment, what transpires is the acknowledgement that every single decision and act that is made will impact the entire micro-world in which you have created. Scrambling out of desperation to stay afloat has most likely failed and exhausted you. Working extracurricular-ly as a hobbyist repulses you, yet being fully entrenched and possibly becoming one dimensional in your endeavours petrifies you. Why?

Anonymous : Only doing one thing exposes how much I want to be able to partake in other activities.

CL-Q : Focussing makes your world smaller

Anonymous : I doubt my endurance to commit.

CL-Q : Focussing makes your challenges clearer and unavoidable.

Anonymous : The responsibility and ability to impact my own life so drastically is scary

CL-Q : In effect, this is the last decision and the first decision you have to make to see your passion excel. This isn’t about control it’s about priorities.

With our social concerns expanding as far as our technology, the ability to hone our efforts has diminished, we’ve become less satisfied with our interests and ourselves, unsatisfied with our knowledge and experiences but most importantly unable to define our desires succinctly and possibly fear the reality that we achieve our goals, for the inevitable fact that we will need to extend them.

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

Image — Evocation, Shirin Abedinirad
Soundtrack — Want Something Done ,Oddisee
-

It’s been said that the evolving definitions of Emerging that have been highlighted thus far, have lead to a more melancholic read. To this I reply…

“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” — Oscar Wilde

In a recent interview of the Breakfast Club, Marlon Wayans raised a very good point asking — Are we equipped to cope with the benefits and limitations of reaching the next level. In the context of “emerging” that translates into being in demand, operating professionally in all capacities. Is your public facing persona developed and reinforcing what you ethically and philosophically stand for? And do you decisions reflect that? This is about equipping yourself to survive the marathon, not to be first and not live to celebrate it.

A major regret I now realise is that at some point when embarking on the path of become an apostle of the gospels of Unmaterialised and the Advrsry, my actions went against their methodologies. Chalk that up to being over zealous. At some point I started relying on giving answers rather than asking questions. I fell in the trap of the ego, through beginning defensive. There is no better analogy of the immoveable object and the unstoppable force than the descent into ego and the meeting of the immoveable object of the super academic.

At some point I had to rediscover that answers don’t give solutions, they only end the conversation. Inevitable we as people never end conversations we only displace them. So if I amongst many others obsess over their slow or non-existent emergence, it seems we are attempting to maintain the same conversation with the same people in the same way. It’s time to try a new approach. Make your opinion a theory, make theory a philosophy and make your philosophy an act. Irrespective of whether audiences agree or disagree, they will need to respect it.

At this juncture “emerging” is a euphemism for getting your s*** together, and inevitably you will be equipped to deal with obstacles that obscure your path and vision.

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

#029 : EGO was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — Rain Room, Random International (Barbican)
Soundtrack — Far Far away III, United Vibrations
-

“Keep yourself restless and unsatisfied.” — Robert Greene

Anonymous : What is your greatest achievement?

CL-Q : It’s hard to say — not because I’ve had so many, but because I don’t take the time to acknowledge them.

Anonymous : -

“We lost the moment, as soon as we attempted to preserve it.”

Def. MISTAKE :
An act or judgement that is misguided or wrong.
-
Def. REGRET :
feel sad, repentant or disappointed over something that one has done or failed to do.

As we steer towards the finishing line of Emerging Journal, I’ve chosen this moment to disclose the failing rationalisations that have plagued this journey of exploration and perseverance. Many have made claim that I have achieved the goal of “Emerging”, concluding with the question ’What else do you need to prove and to whom?’ in which I gently replied…our life is about constant justification, if not to others to ourselves.

It’s too easy to assume the character of the meticulously calculated, endlessly proactive and highly favoured individual, but live the opposite. The pursuit of authenticity in the social media world can cost your life in reality. If we fail to acknowledge it in ourselves our insecurities will enable us to witness it in our peers and closest friends — let the Instagram stories testify.

With two months remaining to the looming deadline, energy is low, motivation is waning and the objective has become unclear. Why are we doing this? The pursuit of acknowledgement is the indirect willing commitment to indentured servitude. It dawns on me, if we acknowledged our own successes, crafted our own opportunities (no matter how humble) perhaps this millennial generation wouldn’t be so disappointed in life.

Nevertheless, here we are; overeducated, inexperienced and impatient. The past eight months have been littered with ignorant mistakes, glaring regrets and valuable lessons. to which two continue to impact the work of ascension of Unmaterialised & The Advrsry. Firstly, the absence of a partner, (which was the paramount decision in attending the Royal College of Art) as many visionaries will attest to, excessive commitment inevitably leads to a numbing cloud of subjectivity, in which objectivity from an outside party plays the saving grace of all public facing works. The privilege to share a vision has fuelled the greatest movements in human civilisations and established markers for their efforts. Yet here we stand with thousands of followers, friends and supporters and not a single person to call a business partner. Is that a testament to the company we keep or the mentality of today society?

Secondly, I made the un/conscious decision of choosing productivity over effectivity, where the act of being present is to be absent from development. Granted, one cannot exist without the other, the desire to maintain momentum by extending your 15 minutes in the spotlight is a potential sign of doubt in your ability to attract attention once again, saying more about self-doubt than the challenges of the industry.

Picking your moments is what fundraising is built on and that comes with having your thumb on the pulse of your sectors of interests.

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

#028 : REGRETS was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — Faustin-Tuyambaze
Soundtrack — ’Til it’s done, D’Angelo
-

Support comes in all shapes and sizes, sometimes giving with the right and taking with the left but as I put my pessimism away, there comes a point where we acknowledge that no idea comes to fruition without support. Steve Jobs and Apple, Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web.

{Sidebar}

/Nobody I mentioned made their mark on our lives single-handedly, nobody!

I and assume others need to evolve past the misnomer that we can make anything of substance, from our bedroom in our parents home without the input, hand holding or guidance of another human being.

Typically the bigger the idea the longer it takes to realise alternatively, the bigger the workforce needs to be. Before you ask, yes there are shortcuts, but not the shortcuts that you would want to build your ideas on. Returning to the theme of the world wide web, the internet and the invention the world “GLOCAL” has made us more connected and less trustworthy, more knowledgeable but less intelligent, more present but less committed. (you get the point)

8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. (Bloomberg)
40% of businesses don’t make it past 5 years.
90% of start-ups fail in their first 5 years.

Putting all excuses aside, what we can agree with is that men and women lie, but numbers don’t.

Within the last 3 months, I’ve seen a business prepped to take over London, with supporters from different walks of life with extensive resources; financial and experiential banging down the door to be a part of it go into administration, all as a result of bad management.

With all the talk about sustainability, human energy hasn’t factored in as a finite source. I amongst many others can attest to the inability to fuel their agendas single-handedly (for an extended period of time). This means that these agendas are at high risk of living / progressing only as far as we, the founders can take it. Let me put this another way, a congregation of one does not constitute a global religion. The church lives/expands off the acts of its congregation. The more acts delegated the more clarity and time dedicated to the vision.

Anonymous (1) : My plan is not clear until I’ve got “delegate-able” tasks.

Talking to myself (which is now a regular occurrence) I ask, ‘Is it time you need, or a new mentality?

Anonymous (2) : Why are you hesitant about getting people involved?
CL-Q : I can’t afford to pay people industry rates for all the things I need right now. So I have no choice but to do it alone.
Anonymous (3) : Bullshit. Millionaires still do work for free. You telling me that you have nothing to offer besides money?
CL-Q : -
Anonymous (4) : What’s the real reason?
Anonymous (5) : Trust issues?
CL-Q : No doubt, but that’s not what’s stopping me.
Anonymous (6) : Control issues? Commitment issues?
CL-Q : Having a business partner is more problematic than having romantic relationship.
Anonymous (7) : Without a doubt, but by yourself you can only take Unmaterialised & ‘The Adversary’ so far. And if you want to grow to the next level, you either need to get employees or a partner, this business martyrdom is romantic but not logical or beneficial.
Anonymous (8) : If partnerships are too much to swallow right now, look at your networks, when was the last time you called upon their collective wisdom?
CL-Q : -

After this brutally honest intervention, looking in the mirror, I asked myself one simple but loaded question.

How supportable are you?

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates on his “emerging” journey.

#027 : SUPPORT was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — The Abyss of Hell, Sandro-Botticelli (Dante’s Inferno)
Soundtrack — Fallin’ Down, Julian Dyne ft. Parks
-

This week’s article is intended to illustrate the challenge of ascension or descension in emerging. So, let me begin with the question?

How do you make yourself memorable?

Anonymous : They may not remember my name but they always remember two distinct things; my consistency in the colour of lip stick I use and the clothes that I wear.

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference — Elis Wiesel

From this quote has spawned an appreciation for bad news, the precise quote that comes to mind reads, ‘ There is no such thing as bad publicity’, often associated with Phineas T. Barnum, it acts as an indicator that somebody cares enough about what you do, to publicly disagree with it. So for the sake of this article let’s appropriate Barnum for our own benefit.

“The opposite of progress is not failure, but stagnation.”

With an ironic paralysing fear of coasting, can we first acknowledge that the world and everything within it are in a state of continuous renewal. So to stay stagnant is to be eventually left behind in evolution. Right? It’s blunt but the unfortunate reality.

It’s this precise mentality that breeds the abundant sense of paranoia and unhealthy rate of consumerism that plagues the western world. In an attempt to appear productive and progressive, we publicise and dramatise incremental rationalisations, hopeful that we can deceive the world into believing we are a limitless fountain of innovation. But, let’s be honest it works every single time.

Ironically, we are (hopefully) simultaneously emerging in terms of relevance in the discussion of credible voices in our fields, while we descend into an unsustainable rate of production. It’s time for that to change. As we steer our thoughts back on track, Dante described the descent through the nine rings of hell as a progression of torturous states of existence. Regardless of his graduation to the next stage of hell, there was a clear act of whom he encountered and the justified qualifications for residence at each stage.

Have you already emerged? Are you trying to justify a title you have already earned? Why?

Simply put, emerging is not a one stop ride, deconstruct your stages of emerging, what are the requirements for each stage, if you have already proven yourself in one area, move forward! Whose consent are you waiting for?

It’s a saddening thought that our progress is inadvertently restricted by our inability to see beyond our own self-deprecation, typically at our own expense.

Before I leave you with an abundance of self-reflective questions, may I ask, where does value take its place in the desire for progress?

After all memory is at its optimum when layered with multiple engagements.

Follow @iam_clq for daily updates

#026 : MEMORABLE was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Image — Time, şaki̇r gökçebağ (2010)
Soundtrack — Everybody Loves the Sunshine, Takuya Kuroda
-

In a recent article by the Huffington Post, Jamie Varon explored the battle of productivity, and its disregard of humanity, conclusively exposing our contentious and forever failing attempt to control time.

“If it’s not the time, it’s just not the fucking time. You need to give yourself permission to be a human being.” — Jamie Aaron

Eloquent and delicately put … she’s right. So often do we fail to acknowledge the contradictory and extremely paradoxical circumstances we promote in the western world, i.e working hard to enable us to not work hard.

Bombarded with a series of animated emojis and GIFs screams of YASSS! and bulging eyeballs by friends and peers via text, it’s needless to say that they feel the following words should be engraved into my life from now on.

“You don’t get to control everything. You can wake up at 5 a.m. every day until you’re tired and broken, but if the words or the painting or the ideas don’t want to come to fruition, they won’t.”

As a classic response, I follow up with “Guilty, but what other option do we as creatives have?! We face the same expectations as the typical citizen but operate in a field that gives ‘Zero Fucks’ about efficiency yet we continue to succumb to deadlines, are our actions and words contradicting themselves?”

Beyond that flippant response, I’m drawn to look more personally about where our unhealthy relationship with time rears its ugly head. In context to this journey, many creatives are asking (at varying stages in their lives) what are we battling?

Outdated markers imposed on a previous generation:

18 y/o : Identified and focused career choice, moved out of parents home

21 y/o : Three to five-year experience in the career of choice. Going steady with a romantic partner

25 y/o : Married and buying first property

30 y/o : A family (partner and children) Supervisor/manager in company

40 y/o : Securing family legacy apprenticeships for teenage children and next generations wealth.

50 y/o : Paid off mortgage, supporting next generation starting family

60 y/o : Start to retire

In short, we are lacking or underperforming in relation to our expectations, furthermore, we are competing with our predecessors when we are not operating under the same conditions, while simultaneously attempting to maintain relevancy. However, we have failed to distinguish between “Trending” and being “Relevant”. Regardless, why are we still loyal to this framework? How do we remedy this?

Let me say this, I don’t believe humanity can exist without a subjugating framework, so the dependence on this archaic structure is still pertinent because no alternative has been offered.

In absence of new guidelines, I can only rationalise temporary remedies to delay the impending anarchy of freedom by motivating individuals to identify value in all aspects of what we do. It’s said that the most successful point in an artist’s career is their death. Morbid as it is, what’s been marketed and purchased posthumously is a missed opportunity to explore the mind behind the work, BUT the most remembered individuals and movements still exist today not because they were pioneers but because they turned audiences into participants, therefore reducing the demand on the leader.

The goal has always been to control our own time, and not be forced into producing to the point of non-existence, or worse produce ourselves out of existence.

For original article : http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/9190758
-
Follow @iam_clq for daily updates

#025 : TIMING was originally published in Emerging Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.