Ok folks, I am going to get really geeky, mushy, and philosophical here. For my woodturning and woodworking buds this may be a side of me you haven’t seen, but then again maybe not.

I am asking you guys, the few readers of my blog to answer the question “What has Social Media or the Internet Inspired you to do?” The word inspired in this case can also be replaced with empowered or enabled. If there was ever a time where I am asking for comments, it’s in this post.

As I grew up as a child I was always the consummate dreamer, and so was my brother. In fact I think still to this day at 33 my brother thinks he can jump off the house with his cape on and fly around the world changing the rotational spin of the earth on it’s axis. As for myself I was the “Protector of the Nerds”. I was quite a bit bigger in stature than my fellow classmates and I never liked to see anyone get picked on. If you were a bully picking on the geeks in the class, you had to go through me first! As we grew older we changed our costumes from boy superhero in blue tights and red cape to that suit of reality that we all inevitably have to put on one day. Soon, we start forgetting that piece of ourselves that feels like anything at all is possible, and that the world has the ability to grab us by the throat.

I am here to say that the world has no hands people! It cannot grab you by the throat unless you enable it. My favorite way to keep my neck free and clear from wringing by outside forces is to do two things.

1. Live your life with passion and enthusiasm every day! Even if that means staying up way past your bedtime to write this blog entry

2. Help others and be selfless. This rule along with rule #1 can surely be debated. Nice guys finish last….right? If you help others they will walk on you…..right? Wrong, thats all BS! Life is what you perceive it to be, and we all have the ability to change our perceptions with our attitudes.

So getting back to the question. “What has Social Media or the Internet Inspired you to do?” For me this answer could be a long one and a series of ongoing posts that could last my lifetime, and to be honest I hope it does. For brevity though, I will sum up a few things that social media has done for me.

A. I have made lifelong friends, and real contacts that I can go to for just about anything, and that works the same way for them as well in coming to me.

B. Social Media has inspired me to begin writing a book helping other creatives and artists utilize web tools and engage in this space.

C. Social Media has enabled me to share my passion of woodturning through my live shows, my blog, and through a future video podcast.

D. Social Media has encouraged me to begin speaking publicly on my knowledge as an artist using web 2.0 tools, and to share that with others face-to-face.

E. Finally, Social Media has helped me get engaged, co-found a local tweet-up group, co-found a meet-up in Niagara on the lake, and ultimately enable me to express myself in ways not possible ten years ago.

As many of you know I was just able to purchase a new lathe with the help of some of my new media friends, selling items that I made live on my fairly regular web show. This weekend, I have a very special event coming up. I am going to be giving back to a person who I will name later, and that has helped me immensely in this space………..

Ok, I’ll tell you who. It’s Tommy Vallier. Tommy and i met at Podcamp Toronto and have become great friends since then. Tommy has not only helped me in my social media pursuits, but has also enabled me to accomplish the technical side with very little pain. Tommy, is a new media guy and wordpress genius. So this Sunday at 2PM EST on my blog TV channel I will be turning a piece inspired by Tommy Vallier. The piece will have three different elements all found in Tommy. The first element is a solid foundation. The second element is unique and one of kind. The third element is experimental.

So tune in this Sunday to see the “Tommy Vallier” inspired art work and come join the conversation.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 7:43 pm and is filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.