The simple things, the story, the ability to engage it is in the confluence of these that we all have our inspiration.

Communication can and does take many forms.

The ability to harness a variety of forms of communication through the creative process is something we are not doing so well in our education systems.

Don’t get me wrong there is lots of creativity and lots of communication but we are not doing a lot to connect the 2.

Here is a great example of that connection taking place.

My question is how do I get my creative advertising students to see the forest in spite of the trees?

This TED talk really made me think hard about not just being inspired but using that inspiration.

I have watched that talk a lot.

And I have thought about what is being said and the message is always the same.

The inspiration will find you BUT it is up to you to take hold of the inspiration and do something with it.

I was watching, It Might Get Loud, and Edge spoke about inspiration, seeing it and grabbing it.

Here are the words of Edge from ‘It Might Get Loud’.

I wonder how many other creative people have articulated finding inspiration and incorporating it into their craft?

Maybe where we go wrong when we think about inspiration and creativity is we spend a lot of time looking for it and too little time thinking about applying it.

The problem is where to turn?

This is going to sound funny but I let the inspiration boost find me.

I know what you are saying, sounds a little new age.

What I am not doing is assuming a yoga stance and meditating, maybe I should.

Instead what happens is just about the time I need to get an inspiration recharge I find myself listening more intently to things people around me are saying.

It is from the everyday conversations that I find, or it finds me, that inspiration boost.

So a couple of days ago I am talking to Sticky Fingers at the radio station, yea he has a cool name, and we are talking U2.

U2 leads to a conversation about a documentary Sticky saw about 3 guitar players, well a movie really.

The film is called It Might Get Loud “Three Rock Legends” (Jimmy Page, Jack White, The Edge).

Sticky was talking about the ideas they were presenting.

I went to YouTube and took a look.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is not just a guitar movie it is a movie about leadership, inspiration, problem solving and sustaining creativity in a business while keeping your mind focused.

The next morning I bought a copy of the film in iTunes and have been mesmerized.

While the film is about music and three musicians I really think this is an educational tool and for me it has once again provided an inspiration boost.

Inspiration, as I said, finds me and it comes from the oddest places.

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking to Tim Hassall about his music.

The message was simple, so simple, do what you love and if you do what you love you will do it exceptionally!

What you love may not make you wealthy, in monetary terms, but on the satisfaction level you will be over the top!

Here is my conversation with Tim and some of his music, very inspirational!

But a list in and of itself is a pretty useless thing.

The value of your inspiration list is it might open the door to a whole new set of ideas for others.

So don’t just make a list SHARE it!

And please share it with me!

My list of 2 great resources for the month is as follows.

Cory Doctorow, one of the co-editors of BoingBoing, and a fantastic author has a content rich website where he has also resumed his podcast! I like Doctorow because he is the perfect example of what I tell my students!

1. trust yourself

2. be amazing at what you do

3. share

4. make it worth while

5. dare

Changethis is one of my favorite idea sites.  What I love about CT is the contents are brief and they come in the form of a manifesto. Here is what it is about.

Are you an optimist?

Sometimes it seems as though our disagreements—over everything from politics to business to the designated hitter rule—are more serious and more divisive than ever before.

People are making emotional, knee-jerk decisions, then standing by them, sometimes fighting to the death to defend their position.

And yet, we’re optimists.

People call the team at Change This optimists because we don’t believe it has to be this way. We don’t believe humans evolved to be so bad at making decisions, so poor at changing our minds, so violent in arguing our point of view. We’re well aware of how split our country and our world have become, but we don’t think the current state of affairs is built into our very nature.

The problem lies in the media.

In the old days, we had the time and inclination to consider the implications of a decision. Everyone wasn’t in quite so much of a hurry. At the same time, most conversations (and most arguments) were local ones, conducted between people who knew each other.

Today, it’s very different. Television demands a sound bite. A one hundred word letter to the editor is a long one. Radio has become a jingoistic wasteland, a series of thoughtless mantras, repeated over and over and designed to fit into a typical commute.

What I also love about the site is it shines a light on ways to use technology or WEB2.0 tools to communicate better!

For instance how do we manage comments in a more public manner? What about disqus.com and I learned about this on the Changethis site!

OK your turn!

Who would pick up a book about U2 and think they would find a motivational text, an entrepreneurial guide, a students handbook and comic tease all wedged into one package?

Well this is just that book!

I picked up the book because I really enjoy the music of U2 and to be honest the book was on sale for 5 dirhams (just over 1$ American).

The book is a collection of interviews, so the band is talking about their story in their words.

The art of teamwork might be a good title.

Against all odds might be a good title.

Hold on to your morality might be a good title.

The point is simple, we can find all sorts of inspiration and even lessons from the stories of others.

Whether you like U2 or not this is a great book to help you put your own life, love and obsessions in order.

What is even more amazing is how the story of the book is the story of the music and the story of the band.

The take away? Be you no matter what!

Click here to view the embedded video.

John brought the whole conversation down to 5 principles!

1. you need to have clarity of purpose

2. believe in you

3. be committed

4. be consistent

5. have courage

John Kanary speaking to James Piecowye on Nightline in Dubai.

As John said we all need to ask where do we really want to be?