Shifts

Let’s face it, mankind is selfish by nature. “What’s in it for me” has been the underlying theme of humanity since its conception. However, through the ages, the evolution of technology has required us to modify the way we answer this self-indulging question. Up until the Iron Age, mankind spend most of it’s time hunting and gathering. Little thought was given to preservation or material accumulation because most of their effort was spent on basic survival. Civilizations, tribes and individuals struggled with the elements of nature, diseases & illnesses, hunger, and the trials migration. Power was exhibited mostly through physical force, and leadership was mostly determined by strength and cunning.

Through the Iron Age, men began thinking differently. There was a shift. We settled, built and traded. Trade necessitated currency, and agriculture obliged the accumulation of land. The power rested with those who had amassed most of it. Although land became the new measure of wealth, it still needed to be worked manually. Crops needed to be planted, harvested and sold. Work ethics were strong, but life expectancy was low.

There was another shift in our way of thinking, and the Industrial Age brought with it some alternatives to hard labor. Invention, manufacturing and interchangeable parts became the solution for many agricultural problems. However, the ability to facilitate hard work with less physical effort began to build an entire economy of its own. Soon, the production, maintenance and replacement of machines and their parts became its own independent industry. Big businesses wielded most of the power. Men slowly started replacing themselves in the work place with smarter computers, faster machines, smaller gadgets, and more efficient systems.

In an effort to stay competitive, another shift was inevitable. We now find ourselves in the rush of the Information Age, where the world is shrinking. Whole nations are being swallowed up overnight by other nations through business deals instead of warfare. Local and national economies are weakening under the weight of a looming global economy. With virtually everything at our finger tips, and with the advent of the internet, information and ideas are the new currencies of mankind. The power lies with the clever and the creative. Anyone with a good idea can compete. Coins and paper money rarely exchanging hands anymore. These days, transactions are made with electronic credit exchanges. The digits in one account decrease while another’s digits increase. In today’s world, mankind still hunts and gathers. The difference is that, now, we hunt for profits, thrills, and shortcuts while we gather weight, debt, and storage.

I’ve made a few key observations and followed them through a bit as they relate to me. It seems that everyone and their dog has their own business. I think this is due to two things. First people are more gutsy and creative than ever before. Second, prices of everything are sky rocketing because the US dollar is collapsing, and income isn’t keeping pace. Most families have been almost forced into either 2 income situations or starting their own “side businesses.” I’m no exception, though my motives are mostly creative. I can see where the future is headed too. Social security won’t exist when I retire, and no one works for a pension anymore. No one in my generation even works for one company for more than 5 years anymore for that matter. Investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds is a gamble if you’re not an economics major. I’ve experienced by own shift in thought. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em."

I’ve examined my own business methods, services and products and have concluded that I don’t need to produce more, or work any harder. What I need to do is to work smarter. Over the past few weeks, my Word Designs have begun evolving a bit themselves. The more of them I do, the more elegant and symmetrical they get. For nearly a decade now, I’ve been designing these custom designs for friends, family and the occasional friend of a friend, or visitor to my website. Until recently, my designs have always been custom orders. Folks contact me, give me the names or words they would like to see in the design and I fill the order. Although I’ll always do the custom designs (because I love doing them), I’ve started to think a bit more…well, intelligently.

I’ve noticed that many people love Chinese and Japanese characters. They love them for their artistic appeal as well as for the words or mantras they represent. I see my designs as the English equivalent to these characters. Artistic and symbolic. So, what I’ve stared doing is utilizing my unique style to create pre-made designs that can be sold over and over again. I’ve stared designing around words such as Love, Honor, Family, Peace, and Friendship. These are all words that most everyone can identify with in some way. Combine these with my custom (but reproducible) mat and frames, and I just might have something. Design once, and sell over and over. Work less…make more.