Persistance is the key to ability, whether you have taste or not

Bronwen — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:12:55 +0000

Ira Glass puts perfectly a thought I had the other day when going through a stack of columns I had written in my first year of reporting at The West Australian. Being asked to write a column as a cadet journalist is a pretty big call and I can say I failed miserably (I think I got in three columns before they killed me off graciously.) Thankfully, the humiliation was shared between a few of us. Let me emphasis – reading them back was nothing short of torture, but I had a similar sense of dread at the time they were published. I knew they were bad. Ira talks about persisting past that stage where you know that what you doing is not that good – he describes it as the gap between your taste and ability. And yes, everybody goes through it. But it’s an important process and his advice is just brilliant and inspiring.

Definitely, a must watch for all aspiring journalists, but really it relates to many fields and things. Start-ups included. In fact, I feel the whole process has started over again in that regard.

Creative Salon – and idea worth sharing

Bronwen — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:08:27 +0000

Last Friday I was invited to take part in a “creative salon” for the Perth International Arts Festival staff and I was so inspired that I thought the idea was worth spreading.

The idea behind it is very simple – get a few people who are innovators in their field and bring them together in an informal setting to share their passions and stories with a group. For the inaugral event I was invited with two other guests – Caroline Wood from Amnesty International and Ian Weir (Gordon Innocent) artist/architect and photographer to come and talk to Festival staff. Rania Ghandour, who is the media relations manager at the Festival and a person of inspiration herself, put the salon together so we could all stop and think about our passions/what drives us and the contributions we make to our area of interest. It was a fantastic experience and Ian and I have already asked Rania that she invite us to the next one

I learnt a lot as well – both Caroline and Ian are amazing people with the most wonderful stories. I love the way that Ian has this bullish passion for his art and just lives and breathes his ideas. He has an exhibition coming up in Artrage soon and I hope to catch up with him then and do some stories on his projects for the Norg. Caroline has this amazing magnetism and presence and this extraordinary calm and focus that for me is always a sign of a great learnt wisdom. She holds a full time job and is also the head of Amnesty International WA and must come across the worst of our humanity everyday, but she remains hopeful and, better still, is doing her part in making a difference. But the learning didn’t stop there, because the audience was as much a part of the salon as we were. So thanks to all the staff for taking time out of your day to come and share your experiences too.

Lastly, I should mention Festival Artistic Director Shelagh Magadza, whom I could spend hours talking to. I think I may have piqued her interest in Twitter – which somemone pointed out was like an everyday Creative Salon – and I hope that she joins. She has so much to share and is definitely someone to watch and be inspired by. Our Festival is is awesome hands and I suspect it will get better every year under her.

Enough lovey dovey from me – I must resume my battle position in the media war, but really it was a great event that helped me recharge my batteries and remember why I created the Norg in the first place. Now to take aim and fire
We can’t all have TED, so can I suggest a “Creative Salon” INS-TED.

bronwen clune » Inspiration

Persistance is the key to ability, whether you have taste or not

Creative Salon – and idea worth sharing