The Problem I’ve Been Trying to Solve My Whole Life
01. Dec, 2009 
2 Comments
When I grow up I want to have a website with an Alexa ranking under 100I was a weird kid.
I was a weird kid.
I had issues before having issues was even cool. Now, I have an issue about how early my issues began, but my therapist says it’s not so much an issue any longer. I’m not so sure.
A nervous lad, out of place on the farm, where the prospect of a life that included things like – farming – bored and terrified me at the same time.
When I wasn’t trying to figure out how the aliens who’d left me there might try to recontact and rescue me – I lived for two activities; reading and watching television.
We only got 2 channels on the old black and white set my mom had wrestled from my traveling tv electronics salesman Dad in the divorce, but that was plenty enough to activate my young imagination.
The Wonderful World of Disney, The Ed Sullivan Show, grabbed me and strapped me into a rocket ship where I’d visit strange lands and see sights beyond my wildest dreams. If it would have been possible to crawl into that box and disappear into cathode ray bliss, I’d have done it.
I read every book I could get my hands on, shredding the little elementary school library and buying every single book I could when they passed the order forms out. My mom was living in near poverty, raising my younger brother and I, but she believed in education and fun whenever we could find it. It was her who saved up and took us to see the few movies we saw at he one theater in town – a magical experience.
When I saw Pirate Radio last week – the soundtrack reminded me of where I first heard all those songs – on a brown and white Channel Master radio in the kitchen – and on the radio in my mom’s car. When The Rolling Stones put out “Let’s Spend the Night Together” the scandalous lyrics got my mom to shut off the radio.
My father bought me a guitar for my 16th birthday, cementing my desire to pursue a career as a rock and roll musician and part time flirt. It was then that all the movies, songs, books, dreams and great hopes took flight – and I decided I would only ever work at a “job” to survive.
I became and idea entrepreneur and through a 11 year career as a professional touring musician, serial business owner, motivational speaker and author, and Internet marketer I found myself working to solve this one single problem:
How does creative person get paid for what hey love – make a decision about what to do – and then earn a good but fair living that didn’t force me to destroy the lifestyle and freedom I craved since boyhood?
Of course, I solved it and made money over and over in a series of business ventures, some good, some utter failures. I’d believed that this WAS my life – and stability and security would always be elusive.
Then I began working on my book The Stardust Factor – and began helping people develop their “Stardust” power – and I soon realized that this was the paramount issue of odd folks like me.
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Rick
Hey Rick -
First Rachael, and now Maria – I think you’re finally getting the hang of attractive website design.
Love ya, man.
Steve
Hey! At least I know why I love you so much now – never could figure that one out
I guess us “awkward ones” just kinda naturally move towards each other. I was always the one who went to school on time (actually loved school) when my sister and her friends hung out and turned up late. I went home after school, while they hung out to watch two people fight. I didn’t like the music I was “supposed” to like, the clothes I was “supposed” to wear and hang out with the people I was “supposed” to hang out with because I am black.
I just never fit in and then one day I dared to call myself a creative and everything just sort of clicked. Online isn’t catering for creatives so you guys are doing a wonderful thing. Online you have to go according to keywords, write according to keywords and do stuff to conform to the internet. It kills the creative spirit.
But now I am noticing a new wave. Even Rich Shefren said he ignored the keywords and went with his passion when he started online because no one was doing what he did when he started and no one was searching for it. But he knew he was great at it and he created a keyword around him! I had started to conform with the masses (conformity is never great for the creative) and had began to talk that way too – I only hope I didn’t kill a creative dream because of it.
I really hope your creatives get to create and build their own keywords around their passion rather than have to be stuck with what’s out there already. I understand the importance of viability but sometimes as creatives we have stuff the world isn’t ready for yet and it will be a shame if something like keywords killed it – or someone else was brave enough to give it a go and succeeded!
Diane