Organic reincarnation /  by Evan La Ruffa

Spirituality is fun because it's moldable. Unburdened by rigid constructs more commonly associated with organized religion, spirituality is personal. We can shape it, customize it, and incorporate science, psychology, rituals, and beliefs in varying proportions. To that point, I've never really thought of a persistent human personality as a logical extension of my own spirituality. I used to think that meant I was somehow anti-religion or non-spiritual, but that changed after my study of buddhism, mostly Tibetan and Zen.

Since then, I've found a way to incorporate a scientific understanding of the decay of organic matter with the energetic chain that connects us with the future.

I call it, organic reincarnation.

When a body, organism, or person dies, in the most direct sense, our bodies return to the earth. As such, the cycle persists, regardless of what we believe about the continuation of our soul or personality.....

Earth, birth, death, earth, birth, death, earth.

To me, this has always been the most comforting of conclusions. Afterlife as framed through organized religion doesn't pass the mustard, but neither does an atheistic view that sees death as some type of end, at least for me.

No matter what we believe, it's cool that the earth feeds us and we feed it in return... whether during life or after, this seems like a good reminder for all of us.

Art versus Supply & Demand /  by Evan La Ruffa

Art isn't amazing because every piece is 1 of 1. Sure, every original artwork is a product that births its very own market, but cost is not what makes art worthy or worthwhile. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about artists monetizing and making careers of their creative expression, but art is valuable because of the experience it provides the artist & the viewer, not because of monetary transactions.

The market is certainly an important avenue for validating solutions, but supply & demand applied to art brings more to mind than mere pricing.

It's the emotional power of making & communicating that makes art powerful. It's creative supply that fulfills an undetected demand laying latent until we're activated.

It's nice to be reminded that the purpose of something can be the experience itself.

 

The company we keep /  by Evan La Ruffa

Of all the ways to gauge community, one of the better ways has to be looking around and taking stock of the individuals around us. Communities are made up of people, and after all, shared values seem to dictate groupings now more than ever. When we evaluate everything from a politician's associations to our own social groups, we can figure out where we stand by honestly assessing the crew we've assembled.

To that point, we can use the following questions to figure out if we're where we should be...

Is there a disconnect between what this group values and what I'm trying to be in the world?

If I needed help, would anyone in this group be there for me?

And perhaps most importantly, can I confidently and proudly tell people who are not part of this group that I'm associated with it?

Whether or not we can speak up, wear our values on our sleeve, or compassionately pass those ideas on to others, is a good indication as to whether or not the company we keep is company worth keeping.

Harder to hate them for no reason... /  by Evan La Ruffa

When we look at election maps we see that we are divided between the urban experience and the rural experience in America. It seems as though where you live or where you were raised is a more accurate predictor of worldview than other identity politics we tend to consider as untouchable.

While the red state v. blue state divide is certainly real, it highlights something that is a lot more telling...

Regularly experiencing people different than ourselves makes it harder to hate them for no reason. The state by state schism itself is less important than what it tells us about diversity, inclusion, and regularly relating to people who are different than we are...

It opens us up, makes us more inclusive, and engenders empathy and compassion.

In this sense, people who live in cities need to visit rural areas and people who live in rural areas need to visit cities.

We can call it a 'Reality Exchange Program.'

You in?

The Edmund Pettus Bridge /  by Evan La Ruffa

In college, I took a course with Professor Mike Klein that helped form and cement my views on American equality through deep learning, shared stories, and a visit to Selma, Alabama. His course about the Civil Rights Movement was something I feel every American should have the chance to experience. When we visited Selma, we worked with the community, participated in service projects, and bonded with people who shared our deep belief in equality, justice, and living up to our creed.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge was THE location of the culmination of the Voting Rights movement, and the events of that day, March 7th, 1965, became one of the keynote actions that helped swing the tide to achieve equal voting rights for Black Americans.

(Don't let people tell you rallying behind a cause by taking to the streets doesn't do anything.)

A few classmates and I got up one morning, went for a walk, walked over to that bridge and watched the sun skip off the river. The silence of the morning gave way to songs we sang together, and I thought to myself about how places have their own energy.

It's an experience I'll clearly never forget, but it's also a testament to collective power, belief, and action.

No matter where we go or who we are, we're all regularly presented with chances to be the change we wish to see in the world.

What will be your next chance to speak up? Will you take it?

Please, pay for legitimate news /  by Evan La Ruffa

It's more important than ever that we pay for legitimate news. I highly encourage you to do so, whether through a physical subscription or digital access on your devices. We need to understand the perspective of the news outlets we read, compare and contrast them, know who owns those companies, and refrain from taking any outlet as gospel.

Most of all, we need to support good journalism with our hard earned dollars.

I have a New York Times subscription now and am loving it. It's as much about staying in touch with the world as anything else. Art, culture, technology, innovation, philanthropy, events, and more, a reputable newspaper is worth it.

To my point, honest, ethical, & principled journalism is endangered as a whole, and if we want things to get better, we're going to have to pony up.

We can also support real news by watching their content on Youtube via official channels.For those who don't purchase cable TV, this is a great way to support through clicks and views, since most popular Youtube channels are monetized.

Lets vote with our wallet. We don't have to wait every 4 years to be heard.

Our digital selves own real estate /  by Evan La Ruffa

In a world that's increasingly digital, it's been incredible navigating the creation of avatars. Join Now. Enter your email. Enter your password. (Don't forget to update your profile!) Upload a jpeg that 'best represents you' and all of a sudden our digital selves own real estate.

In a world where a parallel universe exists inside the flat box on our table or the mini computer in our pocket, new rules are created, etiquette evolves, and we get to pick which version of ourselves we want to be.

Critiques of the internet say that it allows people to front, put on their makeup, and only show you the good parts of their lives. But for the most part, people do that in real life too.

That's not the internet's fault, but it does bring up an interesting point with respect to who we are online versus who we are in the world. I believe that we should only ever be as vulnerable, honest, raw, fake, fun, happy, crass, or silly online as we are in person.

No need to magnify or amplify, we can all just be ourselves.

We'll find more power in social media by showing more than just the glossy sheen. By sharing our insights, doubts, forks in the road, and our uncertainty, we do more for each other than the superficial version of ourselves could ever inspire.

I'll (try to) take my own advice.

 

Your book recommendations /  by Evan La Ruffa

Thanks to everyone who got back to me with awesome reading recommendations! Now that I've fixed the email forwarding issue, I was able to collect a selection of those writings and have put them together for you here, along with links to enjoy them. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World by Jeremy Rifkin

Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday

The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living A Good Life by Mark Manson

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Where Do We Go From Here by Martin Luther King (delivered on August 16th, 1967 at the 11th Annual SCLC Convention in Atlanta, Ga. - not a book, it's a speech. And it's awesome.)

Thank you all for participating. I envision more opportunities for us to come together and collectively & easily build resources for one another. More details to come..........

I'm a dum dum, my bad! /  by Evan La Ruffa

I just realized that I wasn't receiving your responses to my emails over the past few months! My bad! Maybe I thought you guys were being quiet? Who knows! Anyway, I wanted to apologize in case anyone wondered why they never heard back from me. I like being super responsive with my list, or at least thought I did, lol.

I'll get back to you promptly from now on. The email forwarding snafu has been fixed. I promise.

Thanks for reading, please share posts on social media when you love them via the buttons below, and I look forward to what 2017 brings.

Stay up!!!

P.s. I've started scheduling time with the 5 people who reached out to take me up on my 30-minute strategy session freebie! I'm looking forward to learning more about what you guys are working on.

The student and the teacher /  by Evan La Ruffa

It's interesting thinking about the way students and teachers interact. Even though the teacher is largely the person imparting knowledge and perspective, the greatest exchange happens when both parties know there is learning to do.

I had an interaction recently where the person I was chatting with looked at me as the teacher. I was having that conversation when the thought came up, "You can learn a lot from this person even though it's clear that right now they are hoping to learn from you."

I mentioned something along those lines to my conversation partner. I reflected that even when we play the role of the teacher, that it's important to allow ourselves to be taught.

I reflected on various interactions I've had playing either role, and my main takeaway is that the natural hierarchy can blind both the student and the teacher to certain insights, if they're not careful.

If the student thinks her teacher is bulletproof, she's sure to miss important critiques, parallel ideas, or valid negations of that school of thought.

If the teacher thinks she has nothing to learn, she's sure to miss out on important takeaways their youthful counterpart might offer.

Depriving ourselves of insight by blindly protecting our chosen ideals or thinking our knowledge can't be improved are mirrored oversights.

No matter what role we think we're playing, we're always both the student and the teacher.

Hopeful haze /  by Evan La Ruffa

As the calendar flips over, many tend to think about making positive change in the year ahead. For all the focus areas of improvement one could identify, for me it's about intentionality in my relationships, focus in projects, and making time to get mentally and physically fit. For as much as we can get bogged down by the daily grind, I'm feeling good about this renewed sense of optimism. As the hopeful haze fades in the coming weeks and months, and it surely will, the question is less about how to maintain the discipline to meet and exceed every single one of our goals, and more about what we do to remain hopeful.

Pessimism is the heaviest of non-starters, immediately vanquishing possibility and leaning back on reduction.

But how do we remind ourselves that optimism is the only clear choice?

More importantly, how do you hit the energetic restart button? I'd love to know. I'm trying to build those skills.

Skills of the future /  by Evan La Ruffa

This political cycle has revived protectionist economic policies for people who feel the world is passing them by. Despite the rhetoric, anyone hocking these ideas knows damn well that the jobs people want repatriated are never coming back. The tide of a globalized economy took over long ago, yet we hear silly talking points about bringing back outmoded commodities like coal, an energy source and economic engine that anyone can see is on it's way out.

The future is digital & we should be embracing tomorrow's economy by focusing on digital skills.

Lets not mince words. I'm talking about training blue collar workers to use computers instead of machines associated with a bygone era.

Either we build an economy with workers whose skills will remain relevant or we can race China to the bottom of the manufacturing mountain while drastically reducing quality of life.

There's no going back. We might as well go forward.

Duplicate content, digital etiquette /  by Evan La Ruffa

When Facebook, Twitter and every other social network started letting you post the exact same content to other places, many of us were fooled into the more is more paradigm. I'm not saying I've never been guilty of the duplicate content error, especially in the early days of social media, but things change and it's up to us to shape digital etiquette. Toggle a few boxes and now the (beautifully taken) photo of your brunch is posted to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Tumblr, and more.

The problem with duplicate content is that if we follow someone on multiple networks, we end up seeing that brunch  photo 5 times. It feels like someone telling you the same thing repeatedly without pause.

I just posted a photo, I just posted a photo, I just posted a photo, I just posted a photo, I just posted a photo.

We really don't have to share the photo 5 times, we also don't want to subject our friends to a barrage like that. The sentence above kinda shows how ridiculous this is. If you have entirely different follower bases on each network there might be an exception to the rule but that's rarely the case.

If spaced out over weeks and months, it makes sense to post root content with new copy on multiple networks, especially if you're a brand, firm or freelancer. Another worthy exception. That said, if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Linkedin, I promise not to blast duplicate content.

Whadyasay, shall we all make that promise?

What activates you? /  by Evan La Ruffa

New York City. I was just there for 5 days and it always energizes me. It tops me up, keeps me hungry, and inspires me. The art, the food, the pace, the sounds, the smells, the vibrance, the grit, the texture. It's a multicultural, extrasensory kaleidoscope and I love it.

I walked as much as possible, listened to the new Tribe record constantly, took some fun photos, and drank enough espresso to fuel an army.

The feel that worlds are constantly colliding or perhaps more aptly, dancing together is one that moves me.

Whether it's NYC or any other place, idea, concept, community, practice, ethos or state of mind, it's essential that we find the things that activate us.

What activates you?

Does this idea suck? (A gift for you) /  by Evan La Ruffa

It can be hard to tell. We often get started on building an idea before properly taking stock of the idea's HOW. What I mean by that is, we often glaze over key portions of implementation and start making. This can lead to frustration, false starts, and stalled projects. For folks like you and I, we always know our WHY, but we can't let that passion thwart tactical implementation.

This is something I experience often. I've also talked to a bunch of you about needing a way to vet what we're doing, which prompted Levi Baer and I to create something that we hope helps many of you build your next project by thoughtfully going from idea to reality.

Does This Idea Suck: A Framework for Evaluating Ideas and Making Greater Impact was the end result.

It's free and it's for people like us, who think, care, and make.

It could also help you decide not to undertake a certain project. If we're being realistic, that has to be one of the options. To that end, we built something honest that will help you be critical about 'the how'.

If you like it, all we ask is that you share it on social media, or send the link to a few people who it might help.

Thank you for being on my list, and for giving me permission to share with you.

It's been fun. Onward.

Life pie /  by Evan La Ruffa

While I don't believe in fixed pies with respect to good will, effort, community, and connection, I do think that time is a fixed resource. While I've certainly absorbed ideas from people like Tim Ferriss and Jonathan Fields with respect to how living in alignment and focusing on value can hone one's efforts, there are still only 24 hours in each day.

That said, we have to make decisions. Some things need to happen, and thus, some things need to get cut.

Part of the inspiration behind Does This Idea Suck was needing to figure that equation out.

The pie of each day does not literally expand unless we're officially moving to longer days. (I think my sister in law, Kelly Fox, finds a way conjure up 30 hr days but I still don't know how she does it.)

To be honest, most of us could use some help discerning, strategizing, and figuring out what our top 3 priorities are for our morning, much less what activities, projects, products, and businesses deserve our time & effort day after day, and year after year.

Some of the questions might be, who else is helping or why do we think this will work?

Most importantly, what will our life pie support? How much can we give?

 

End of the year freebie /  by Evan La Ruffa

Lately I've been doing a lot of work triangulating the digital marketing buckets for IPaintMyMind, making sure we're doing everything we can to offer value to our partners, communities, supporters and artists. No matter who we serve, there's a specific way that we'll activate them, and there's always room for improvement.

The thing is, whether a nonprofit, freelancer, or small business, we have to not only be able to specialize in a high value vertical, we also have to be proficient in various other areas to rock it out and not leave important growth areas neglected - email marketing, social media, PPC, SEO, copywriting, web development and others, like digital organization tools (Slack and Trello), valuable apps & chrome extensions, and more.

That said, I've learned a lot in those areas over the past few years and am happy to offer a FREE 30-minute consultation to the first 5 people who reply to this email. When I did this 6 months ago, I had a few great chats, including a great session with James T. Green, a multidisciplinary creative who just became a podcast producer at MTV News.

He had this to say about our time together, "Thanks to Evan, I was able to properly visualize what it was I needed to focus on for the upcoming week, month, and year. Sitting down with him was essential for getting my projects in order and a great value add for my businesses. Cheers!"

If I can help you up your game in any of these areas or others, I'd be happy to.

I also have another project launching soon that I'm looking forward to sharing with you.

Be well.

Plenty of doubt for everyone (let's embrace it) /  by Evan La Ruffa

For as much as we hear about people building cool things and succeeding, there are 10x as many stories about the obstacles that created tension for people summiting their own mountain. To act as if there are plateau's where it's all figured out would be dishonest, but to act like there's no chance of getting to the top is just as unrealistic.

We're going to try things that work and others that fail, but if we surround ourselves with the right people, we have a much better chance of getting where we're going.

The reality is, easy has always been an option. It's the vocation part we're all striving for, no matter where our office is located or what yesterday looked like.

If we keep it 100 and share the less-than-certain moments, we'll achieve perspective and quite probably open ourselves up to the next good move.

After all, there's plenty of doubt for everyone (let's embrace it).