i feel the love

one of the absolute best things about the Net community is the (overall) willingness to share. sure, there’s some selfish folks out there, but overall, the brilliant ones are showing others how they did it. they enrich the whole world, adding to the library of articles and tutorials.

>steps onto the tangent train<

i admire that.

i admire people who are unafraid to show others how they did their “magic”. they share a technique for a special effect they use in their art, knowing that this does not lessen or dilute their value. these people realize a great secret of all art:

nobody else can truly compete with your art.

you are unique.
nobody, and i mean nobody can tell the stories that are in you exactly the way you can tell them. nobody can draw or paint exactly the way you will, if you follow the whispers of that creative Genius who wants to guide you into your true calling.

and the world is big enough to need all the creative people that exist.

i hope i remember this. when i start posting my work and someone asks me, “how did you do that?” it’s the perfect time to start a beautiful cycle.

some call it karma, but i believe it’s a lot older than that.
i think it’s the same thing that brings a 60-foot tree from a seed smaller than my fingernail. i think it’s the same power behind so-called “self-fulfilling prophecies”.

i think everything is a seed.
words. actions. even thoughts. decisions.
and you reap what you sow.

and the Net is one great, big field of rich soil. and the ones who are getting the best harvest are the ones planting the most good seed.

>toot-toot! now offloading the tangent train. all aboard the clue train!<

for example, this tutorial on Vector Polishing at Nick La’s WebDesignerWall.

the guy does nice work. beautiful.
someone asked him, “how did you do such-and-such? did you use Photoshop or Illustrator?” so he writes this tutorial, and right in the first paragraph he says,

“Here I will unveil all my secret techniques.”

it’s a good way to get people to read.
everybody wants to know a secret!
then he shares nine of his coolest Photoshop techniques. and suddenly i want to spend the day fiddling in Photoshop.

i love to learn. always have.
and i love to learn on my own, at my own pace.
the Net is my playground.
it’s my university.
abundant in mentors.
whether they know it or not!

and someday, i’ll do it, too.
enrich the world. share my techniques.
first i gotta have some, though.

>leaves the train station, marching into the cool depths of the asylum<

see ya ’round the Net!