- Have an opinion. Let me be very clear about this: have an opinion or don’t bother making art for commerce— you’re wasting people’s time. I did a creative thinking intensive with one of my favourite artists and sh*t disturbers, James Victore. He assigned each of us a news article and we had to come up with a visual that expressed the thesis. The guys who took a clear position or had a strong emotion created compelling images. It didn’t matter if you agreed with their opinion or not, you were pulled in. The guys who were wishy washy and couldn’t pick a side made stuff that was just…hard to understand — which is annoying. James pressed one of the students, “But what do you believe, man? I can’t tell.” Authenticity is magnetic. (That was one of my first ever Truthbombs, BTW.)
- You don’t need to know where it’s going when you start. Please, just start.
- Your life is your content. Lot of my ‘bombs come from my texts to girlfriends. Ooo! That’s a truthbomb! You’re living proof of your truth (Ooo! That’s a truthbomb! It’ll show up later, just watch.)
- Lovers love. Pickers pick. Some t’bombs get heat and I want to say, “Like, this is not a fully formed essay on my thoughts on the entire matter. It’s one sentence.” Being misunderstood is more tolerable when you know your intentions.
- Don’t take your past victories too seriously. Becoming established and popular can be creative death (think: most boy bands, Kodak film…) From now forward, I’m going to start playing with the Truthbombs. I’ve gotta shake it up a bit. The classics will make a re-appearance, the design is morphing, and I’m expanding into a longer format. Playing with simplicity. Mmmmmm.
- Change your opinions. There are a few things I’ve written that make me roll my eyes. Oh gawd, Danielle. But that’s what I felt then and it might still serve someone where they’re at now. Contradicting yourself over time is part of evolving.
At least, that’s my opinion.
May your heart be sweet.
May your mind be clear. May your opinions be strong. @DanielleLaPorte (Click to Tweet!)
All Love,
Danielle LaPorte is the creator of The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul — the book that turned into a day planner system, a top iTunes app, and an international workshop program. A Desire Map workshop happens every weekend somewhere in the world. Author of The Fire Starter Sessions and the wildly popular #Truthbomb series, Danielle is also the co-creator of Your Big Beautiful Book Plan and co-host of the Beautiful Writer’s Group podcast.
Entrepreneur Magazine calls her “equal parts poet and entrepreneurial badass…edgy, contrarian…loving and inspired.” A speaker, poet, former business strategist and Washington-DC think tank exec, she writes weekly at DanielleLaPorte.com, where over four million visitors have gone for her straight-up advice — a site that’s been deemed “the best place online for kick-ass spirituality,” and was named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes. The Huffington Post named her Twitter feed as one of the “12 of Wisest Twitter Accounts Worth Following.” You can find her @daniellelaporte just about everywhere.
