I think it’s amazing sometimes that people in the same line of work find themselves on a similar path. Kim Doyal, aka “The WordPress Chick” recently posted her manifesto after experiencing some “creative frustration” (my interpretation). She inspired me to create my own manifesto, which I’ve added here. It doesn’t matter if you’re the creative type or not, if something resonates with you like it did with me when I read Kim’s, then I encourage you to create your own.
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My Manifesto

by Rudy Vaughn

I AM a Strong, Confident, Creative and Compassionate man. That’s who I was CREATED to be.

NO FUN, NO WAY.

I will CHOOSE the projects and clients that I want to work with.

I will CULTIVATE and DEFINE my purpose…and that’s how I will receive my income.

Being compensated for my talents is not asking too much. I am WORTH it.

I will always try to GIVE more.
It surprises people and makes them HAPPY.
LAUGHTER is much better when shared.

I ACCEPT responsibility for my circumstances.
If I don’t like it, I can CHANGE it.

My CREATIVITY increases when I share it with others.
I will SHARE more often.

I will SEEK THE GOOD in all situations, even if I have to look really, really HARD to find it.

Ambition, passion and creative fire need GASOLINE from time to time.

Alarm clocks have NO place in my life.

Exercise = energy.
I KNOW there will be days when I don’t feel like it.

There are 24 HOURS in a day.
I will NOT take that time for granted.
Nor the PEOPLE in my life.

LIFE is not a competition, I allow myself to be the BEST I can be.

I will never stop LEARNING and setting GOALS for PERSONAL GROWTH.

My COMPASSION and GENEROSITY is not a sign of weakness.

I will find the ZEN in projects I am involved in.

I will express my APPRECIATION to family and friends for who they are in my life.

It’s OKAY to cheat on the diet once in awhile. That’s why chocolate tastes good…and pizza…and ice cream.

I will keep an OPEN MIND so that new OPPORTUNITIES I have not yet DREAMED about can find me.

I will FORGIVE those that have wronged me, because SOMEDAY I may need to be forgiven.

SOMETIMES it will hurt. I will get stronger.

FAITH and TRUST will guide me on this journey.

Being “STRANGE” can be normal. It depends on your point of view. I’m OKAY with that.

I BELIEVE

In myself, in my wife, in being INSPIRED by others (thanks WordPress Chick), it’s okay to CRY, there’s no such thing as TOO MUCH Monty Python, people are generally good, MASKS are only for Halloween, without CREATIVITY I am nothing, that a COLD BEER with friends in the summer creates memories, that I WILL get better at golf, I MAY have to edit this from time to time, I will RUN a four hour marathon, letting go of fear EMPOWERS me to succeed, that I really CRACK myself up at times, I am a “10”, in reading BOOKS with PAGES that are PAPER and not on a screen, that I will watch an F1 RACE in person, FAITH carries me when nothing else will, “Big Trouble In Little China” is a CLASSIC MOVIE, in TEACHING others, leadership is defined by two words, “FOLLOW ME” and YOU should create a manifesto of your own.

Very happy to announce our working partnership with Derrick Boles and the L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. 1st for America organization. Leadership 1st’s mission is to engage, empower, educate and mobilize community based organizations through training, technical assistance and fund raising opportunities. We recently completed the first phase of their fundraising division, located at www.leadership1st.org. We’re now working on new logo designs for another division, Game Time International and hope to have those up soon for your viewing pleasure.

Proud to feature one of our latest clients: Heal-N-U Therapeutic Day Spa in Meridian, Idaho. We created this website to feature the spa services, including online booking and gift card purchasing. This spa specializes in not only the relaxing benefits of massage, it also emphasizes overall health with its caring, attentive staff. We look forward to future work on this site, when the owner expands to the next phase of her business plan. Check out the Heal-N-U site here!

Cleaning out some files for the new year, and ran across a handwritten sheet of inspirational thoughts gathered from various friends, sites and seminars. Thought I would share them with you as you plan for 2012. May it be your best year yet!

• Have a mind open to everything and closed to nothing.
• Be free of attachment.
• You’re not able to give away what you don’t have.
• There are no justified resentments.
• Send blame out of your life.
• Take responsibility for your life and situation.
• Don’t die with your best music left in you.
• You are not able to solve a problem with the same mind that created it. Change your point of view.
• Love a person or thing for what they are, not what you want them to be.
• Treat yourself as if you already are what you want to become.
• You are no accident on this planet.
• Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you. Shift your thoughts to empowering ones.

Everyone is creative – so let yourself go and express yourself!

Merry Christmas and all the seasonal greetings that come with this time of year. As we look forward to 2012, Graphic Zen will be debuting a revamped website, (work continues on it now), and some new service offerings. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the “snow” that is gently falling on our website. We thank all the clients, friends and associates for this past year, and wish you the very best for 2012.

Just finished up a website for Independent Scentsy Consultant, Lisa Nelson. This site will be used by Lisa as a marketing and lead generation tool for prospective consultants and customers. This was a great site to work on because it educated us about the fantastic products and the story of the Scentsy company. You can read more about it by visiting Lisa’s site -  check out the site here. Want us to design a site for your Scentsy business? Contact us!

New logo created for Dolan Gadoury, whose Quantum Transformation company is assisting people the world over in the areas of personal and business development. Because of Dolan’s interest in Eastern philosophy we incorporated some of those elements into the logo design, which Dolan commented on:

The logo you have come up with is awe inspiring. The orange you used is a sacred orange in the Hindu and Buddhist religions, worn by yogis and monks,  it very much resonates with me.

We are looking forward to collaborating on some other upcoming projects for Dolan and his clients, which are immensely exciting as they create value and serve to inspire others. Namaste.

Please tell us how to fix our sucky logo. Excuse me? That was how the conversation began with a potential client (who did end up hiring us to “spice up” their logo). The client wanted us to review their current logo and tell them what was wrong with it and wondered if it could be fixed. They had certain elements that they liked and wanted to retain, but were open to suggestions as well. That got us to thinking – are there other people that would like a logo review? If you would like a free logo review, feel free to contact us at info@graphiczen.com and we’ll take a look at your logo, ask you a few questions, and give you our opinion if it could be “improved”, or if it’s better to start over.

Announcing our first ever contest on our Facebook page. Simple to enter and you could win a bundle of Graphic Zen designed t-shirts. Simply click this link to enter and Like us on Facebook!

The latest logo designed by Graphic Zen for PopFury.com. PopFury is a review/opinion site dedicated to art, music, design, film, food & spirits, technology, and video games. We are also working on the website design for this project, which is scheduled to launch August 1. UPDATE: Site is now live at www.popfury.com.

Our goal was to create a logo that conveyed “anger/frustration” in a playful way, and per our usual goal, crossover to a variety of medium (print, web, t-shirts, etc.)

Note: PopFury has already created a basic CafePress store – located at www.cafepress.com/popfury.