Innovation is measured in the positive impact it has on our lives, on the lives of those around us, and on the world at large.
If it is to be of value, it needs to positively affect people’s lives in some way, shape, or form.
Innovation purely for innovation’s sake is not really all that useful.
Innovation without a purposeful function, without some kind of positive and meaningful change, is more novel than it is necessary.
If we are driven to innovate, we must do our best to avoid novelty.
An audience attracted to novelty will soon move on when something new and more novel arises.
They will have no loyalty to us or our ideas because what we have to offer is not what they are looking for.
They want something new, but we want to make a difference.
Our audience, the people we should be seeking out and who we hope will seek us out as well, are the people who are looking for the change that we are trying to make, whether they know it now or not.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Bodyand Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
“What audiences like is something good. So your real obligation [as an] artist is to make a thing you really love.” —T-Bone Burnett
If we are not happy with the creative work we are doing, no matter how large our audience may be, it will ultimately prove to be unsustainable. That is because, even if what we create sustains us financially, if it does not actually please us, it is nothing more than a job.
There are already an infinite number jobs in the world we do not want to do or will not enjoy doing. There is simply no justifiable need for us to create a new one for ourselves. Consciously or unconsciously, we know this, and, if we continue to do creative work we do not enjoy, this knowledge will eat at us until we either quit or it kills us from the inside out.
Even less than we do, the world at large does not need more creative work that we do not enjoy. The world needs to see, to feel, and to experience more joy, more passion, and more active engagement, and, if the creative work we do does not come from or lead us to that place, it is adding to the problem.
This does not mean we must love everything we create, but it does mean that we should try to create that which we love from a place of love. If we do this consistently enough for ourselves and we share what we create with the world, our audience will find us and, more importantly, they will find us loving what we are doing.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Bodyand Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
“You can build whatever you want, as long as it’s what I want.”
—My daughter
‘Mess Book Cover’ by Ana
When you are creating something, thinking about how it will be received only hinders the process. It is impossible to hear your muse or to follow your inspiration with thoughts of potential praise or criticism cluttering up your mind. That said, once you put your work into the world, once it finds an audience, the value of what you created is largely determined by the value others give it.
“As in life, so too it is in budo. As in budo, so too it is in life.”
Meditations on God 