Alexandros Matsis

No culture or race is better than another, not in creativity and not in any other aspect, and we can find examples of smart, creative people in every single culture. The creative ideas that can lead to innovation can come from anyone, anywhere. But after I wrote the post I’ve been asking myself some questions about the role of culture tolerance in innovation.

Some societies, because of being exposed to a wide variety of cultures are more tolerant to different ways of thinking and acting. It is no mystery that censorship and intolerance are enemies of new ideas and can kill creativity, therefore also innovation opportunities. Take for example the US, and specially New York as a cultural bouillabaisse, where you can find people almost from any origin who participate in society with their own forms of value. NY is not only a good place to have a variety of food to eat, it is a place for ideas to converge. In an organization you want this multi-cultural communication, to get the best ideas out of everyone to obtain results. Racism breaks dialogue, and should be avoided at all cost.

But what happens with cultures that were actually created from the mixture of two or more other cultures as it happens in many Latin American countries? Are we more tolerant and can this be an advantage towards enhancing a creative environment? I wish I could say cultural mixture in Latin America (with European and African cultures mainly), does make us more tolerant, but I think, as in any other culture, it’s more of a personal value than a cultural trait. Some people do feel resentment towards their “madre patria” (towards Spanish or Portuguese), or feel discriminated (or have been discriminated) because of their Indian or African origin, acting with intolerance themselves. In Mexico, native indians are segregated and live in poverty.

Cultural tolerance comes from contact with other cultures that challenge our own paradigms and with whom we cooperate for common benefits. As an advice for cultural tolerance, try focusing on things you have in common and work from there. Embrace difference, hear more than you talk, and try understanding why that person thinks or acts the way he does. You can always express your points of view but always with respect and looking for a win-win relationship.
Believe that you can learn something from anyone.
And basically don't be a prick.
But tolerance for fostering creativity is not only manifested in cultural difference. Tolerance is also important in gender, sexual orientation and religion. In general, women still don’t have the same opportunities and are still not treated equal at work, and sexual orientation is a cause of mock. logies.

I once saw an “innovativeness” score-board for evaluating “how innovative can a company be”. Although I didn’t agree with most of it, and I don’t think “innovativeness” can be measured , I did find some interesting points. Here are some of its questions to ponder:
- How many different cultures are there in the company and in what percentage?
- How many women in executive levels are there in the organization compared to the total of employees?
- How many self-declared gay/lesbians are there in the organization compared to the total of employees?
- How many different self-professed religion followers are there in the company and in what percentage?

We should practice tolerance, better yet empathy, not only for creative purposes, but for personal growth.

“Life is a great big canvas. Throw all the paint you can on it.” ~Danny Kaye

I’ve had those days when I felt like my life was in the doldrums. When I felt stuck in the same-old, same-old and wondered how to get a pick me up. When I wished I had more passion or purpose or maybe just a jolt of joy to shake things up.

Sometimes there were things I thought might make me happy, but I couldn’t have them just because I wanted them. Like, I couldn’t just snap my fingers and meet the man who sweeps me off my feet or become a kazillionaire.

But there is something that’s always at my (and your) fingertips. Something we always have that will instantaneously make us happy, right now in this moment.

And that is our creativity.

Creativity is not just for artists or making art. Creativity is life making. It’s anything we do that turns us on, invigorates us, or offers a simple moment of pure merriment.

For me, I love to paint and write. I knit while watching my favorite movies. I have a blast cooking and sharing my recipes. I let myself go wild in dance class.

All of us have something we enjoy doing. Or something we think we would enjoy but don’t do because the bigger, more major things in our daily lives take priority. We just don’t make the time for it.

Or we judge it as “a little hobby” (like crafting, kickball, or learning magic tricks).

Or we think it will never become something significant or important.

Or we deem it as just plain silly. (Why pick up singing when we don’t even know how to stay in harmony?)

But the things we enjoy are far more important than we could ever realize and can make a significant impact on our lives.

Here are ten reasons why:

1. Creativity makes us present.

Because we’re doing something we like to do, we’re engaged in the moment. Time passes in an instant ‘cause we’re just having some good ol’ fun.

When I paint, write, knit, dance, or cook it’s like active meditation. Being present with myself dials up my knob of attention and wakes me up.

Creativity stimulates us to be more mindfully in tune with our overall lives. It also calms our nervous system, decreases anxiety, and helps restore balance.

2. We better our relationships.

Simply because we enjoy doing something we love, we connect to ourselves more intimately. We develop a profound relationship with our inner selves.

The more we connect to ourselves, the more we’re able to connect to others and deepen all of our relationships. This secures healthier bonds.

3. We’re playing again.

As kids we could create anything and have fun with it without worrying about what other people thought.

Creativity returns us to the innocence of our childhoods. And giving ourselves a break from the pressures of adult responsibility, we become lighter and increase our sense of humor as we delight in the pleasure of our amusements.
4. We’re led to new wonderful opportunities.

The current of creativity is like a river finding its sea. It always leads us to bigger waters. So even a small creative project might open us to whole new possibilities. We never know where it might lead.

On a whim I got this idea to make a board game. My friends loved to play it and soon, I was hosting game parties once a month at my house for up to thirty people. It became such a wonderful way to bring people together, a publisher picked it up and today everyone can play it.

But we don’t do it for product. We do it for pure joy and interest.

5. Depression is lifted.

While doing the things we enjoy, even if it seems small or easy, the self-judgments we make (like we’re not enough, or bad, or we don’t matter) are suspended. We do it just because of the sheer delight of doing it.

My mood always uplifts when I’m creating something just for my own gratification.

6. It’s always new.

Every time we make stuff we’re embarking on fresh, unknown territory. Each time we begin and as we continue, we’re traversing on a new adventure.

7. We get out of our own way.

So much of our unhappiness is bred from being fixed and consumed by our thoughts and behaviors. We tend to observe our feelings, words, and actions far too often.

But when we’re engaged creatively, we’re freed from any internal traps that say something about us, especially because it doesn’t have to be so serious.

8. We become amazed by our intuition.

We may wonder what gives us pleasure when we feel stuck. But there’s always something whispering to us.

That’s the beauty of creativity. It might be telling us to take a pottery class, or sign up for a book club, or learn a new spiritual practice because it knows this will add some sparkle and enliven us.

9. We build character.

As we attend to our creativity, we feel better about ourselves. This simple act of showing up serves our self-respect and confidence.

The more we make pleasurable, creative acts a priority, the more we rejuvenate, strengthen, and grow.

Each time I sit down to write and my fingers get moving, I feel proud of myself for meeting the blank page head on.

10. Love begets love.

The more we cultivate what we love, the more love we accumulate. Our cup flows over.

Clearly there are days we may show up to do something we enjoy and it isn’t always enjoyable. Sometimes the cake doesn’t rise, the paint spills, or my muscles are sore. But finding creative ways to solve the problems can be fun if we continue.

When we don’t worry about how it turns out and we do it simply for the wonder of exploration, our heart expands and love abounds. And this spreads out into our entire life.

So, what’s compelling you to create? What might creativity be telling you to do because it’s sure you’ll gain from it? What if you just said yes to your freedom, fun, and happiness?

Love enhances all your senses... Smell, touch ,and sight are heightened and the world takes on a new, beautiful glow. Love actually has the power to alter the very way our minds work to process information.

Historically, artists used specific people as muses: modes of artistic and poetic inspiration. Muses were often considered divine, but could also be humans and lovers.

When you're in love, the subject of your affection functions as a muse. Where once you had no source of creativity from which to draw, you're now flooded with an instinctual need to create; memorizing every angle of your lover's face and writing him or her into your every story and poem.

Beyond changing the history of art forever, Vincent is perhaps best known for two things. First, he experienced several periods of challenging mental health, ultimately leading to his life being cut short at only 37 years old. Second, he was an extraordinarily productive painter. The two are closely connected. Vincent didn’t decide to become an artist or even begin to explore his craft until he was 27.
Within 10 short years he produced several thousand artworks, including near to a thousand oil paintings. Vincent was at his most productive in his final years, when his mental health became most troubled. In 1889, he was admitted to a mental hospital, where over the course of a year he produced more than 150 paintings.

A person’s dedication to their work is therefore sometimes not an indication that they are fine; sometimes it's the opposite. Without mindful attention, we can miss when our most engaged people might need us most. Masked by prolific output, their mental health continuum dips too low and is unable to recover.
Workplace wellbeing, contrary to a lot of current practice, has little to do with yoga mats. It is about taking a genuine, attentive interest in our people and understanding their individual needs. That is inclusion in its simplest form.

I like the beginnings. I love the enthusiasm of the beginnings, the exuberance, the optimism. I started a lot of activities in my life and each one brought me new satisfactions, new friends.

It's a thrill to start a painting and finish it; more precisely to know when it is ready. If I stop too early the painting seems incomplete, if I don't stop in time I might suffocate it.

Drawing a parallel with life, I accept everything and take it from the beginning.

Filmaking always gonna depend on the people that are doing it. It's all about the personality and mentality of those in charge. For me as a filmmaker, I think that the projects themselves bring inclusion with them. One of my latest projects "The Rest of Us" is about the exclusion of artists from society itself. In making this project we created a very intimate bond between staff and actors because the theme of exclusion included all of us. In short we created a project of inclusion

First, every art related to performance is a form and a way to social inclusion, in this way and because Theatre is a type of art that can combine every other art, is one of the best ways to represent Inclusion. I think that Theatre is a safe space: there is no right and wrong in Theatre, there is just a space and opportunity where people can share everything from their lives and use their experience as a tool for creation and in that way Theatre is directly connected with Inclusion in all forms

La vida como tal puede ser representada por un callejero en sí, formada por caminos, destinos, puntos de interés y la huella dejada de "Usted está aquí", como referencia al presente.

This is a perfect example of what I believe is a representation of life. It's a portrait of a family member who passed away, drawn on a joyful moment of his life. In my opinion, we can recreate that happiness and help people feel better at the moment they stare at that portrait. To me, life in art is a way to show what it means to be alive and enjoy the little things.

In my illustration or painting, I reflect love in the way you can feel with a person, taking into account that being there, with that special someone, only exists in that environment and it is as if everything else disappeared and nothing can hurt or affect in a bad way, besides that everything is joy.

Singing and tolerance have always been concepts that go hand in hand, from the example of the acceptance of black music, to the promulgation of tolerant ideas, the performance of musical shows has evolved from our beginnings as a species to the present day and that is simply wonderful.

Love is take every word of a lyrics and create from scratch an image with movement, visuals based on rhythmically changes of the track, moods, intonation of the voice.

In your art I can see tons of self-love! Self portraits definately represent love towards art and yourself. Good job, they look awesome!

Definately a daily life art! Amazing work from an item that used to be in many people's lives on daily basis ^^

I can see in your art that you have a huge inspiration on one of the best feelings in life, love. And you definately put love on your piece so it has a cute and shiny outcome, good job! ^^

Architecture is essential to our daily lives and such as we would be nothing without our homes and without our places of leisure to bring life to a city.

Bring random subjects around a visual piece to admire and find the aesthetic beauty on it, construct o deconstruct the society standards.

Inclusion in the urban style is indispensable to fully embrace such a novel and controversial art, for the simple fact that even if we are harshly criticized for a work we are there side by side to support and improve each other as a team.

Theatre is often the mirror of society, representing real life or what we want in our deepest being.

Also has the ability to bring life to those who often cannot find a reason to live, for various reasons.

Participatory art requires of the artist that they either not be present, or that they somehow are able to recede far enough to become equal with the participants.

This is the only way that participants might be offered the agency of creation; without this detail, participants will always respond within the domain of authority of the artist; they will be subjugated in this way, and the work will fail to be participatory.

If art can save others, why can’t it save itself? In the Instagram campaign #artistsupportpledge, in which artists solicited art sales by promising to buy further art with a portion of their takings, the pyramid shape of this innocent scheme is uncannily obscured by the accessible price-tag and the democracy of social media.

Fashion designul poate influenta viata de zi cu zi a oricui si modul in care interpreteaza si intelege faptul ca poate afla lucruri interesante despre o persoana doar observand modul in care aceasta este imbracata.

Tolerance makes it possible for people to coexist peacefully. It is the basis for a fair society in which everyone can lead their lives as they wish.

Life is a Fashion Design!

Your work really caught my attention I enjoy your attention to details and it’s amazing to me that some of us are this talented. Beautiful work and I hope you will continue to impress everyone .

In the theatre world, inclusion comes from being able to relate to the character, which is extremely useful for people all over the world. That's why I think people have turned to theatre since older times.

Art is an ever-changing mixture of the intellectual and the emotional, the physical and the spiritual, which makes a virtue of subjectivity.

It offers a unique means by which we can explore ourselves and our position in the wider world and is a way to exchange with other people about what we see and feel and think and sense. Art is a way of opening dialogue within and between individuals and communities.

Life represents the inspiration needed to create any piece of art including videos as we need storytelling to make sense. Because without life there's no inspiration, and without inspiration there's no story.

Inclusion for me in the field of Graphic Design is when every person's catharsis and creative ideas are being splattered all over that white screen, all of us have something to say about the world around us and Graphic Design allows us to present it in a creative and artistic way by taking bits and pieces from that world and combining it to make something unique and moving.

Bravo. I enjoyed your work.This is realy nice. I'm happy to see you here!

There are a lot of quotes about photography or the art of photography that have gained traction on the Internet, and not only, some of which are worthy of becoming true mantras for amateurs and professionals alike. Here are some inspirational words on this topic.