ICARUS FLYING HIGH


Seth Godin (2012). The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?


In the Greek myth, Icarus flew too high, wax feathers melting in the sun, plummeting to the water below; but, one can also fly too low, wings dampened by the condensation and fog from the water...another plummet...Godin plays off this myth to encourage us to fly higher...

principles of making and sharing art with tons of quotes and stories, very inspiring...


you get to choose what kind of art you want to make in life, and who you want to share that art with (a specific tribe/audience that will benefit from the art, not a mass general audience)...

a commitment to making art that matters to your and your tribe is what matters...this commitment to continue making and shipping art is separate from the outcome (the reaction of the audience) which is beyond your control...you can use the feedback from trusted others to make better art, but this is separate from the commitment to keep making art...

make a ruckus, go to the edges, make something beautiful, be brave and courageous enough to say, THIS IS ME, see what i made, this is my art...that takes vulnerability and will inevitably lead to much failure and pain, the lizard brain wants to protect you from this and make you afraid to create art, but that is the price of making art, we never know for sure what the outcome will be, but we embrace that fear and meet it with a fierce grit to keep making the art, and that makes life worth living.




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