I’ve got a message for you

by NDK Creative Artist

Elbert Hubbard died on the Lusitania, 7 May 1915, the sinking of which brought the United States of America into the First World War. One of the works he wrote is credited with starting the entire business of trade magazine publications as we know them today, and he is associated with the establishment of the American art & craft movement of the last century.

His name is little known, but the story of A Message to Garcia (short version, longer version–includes history) is one that has been a constant inspiration to me ever since I read it. I was also fortunate enough to read one of the original Roycroft publications, which is owned by a rather amazing fine artist, whose role in the creation of Allforart, the Free Articulator and other projects will become more apparent as our tiny publication full of big ideas moves forward.

Elbert’s thinking fired me up so much Marcelle gave me a gift, my very own copy of one of his works, The Philosophy of Elbert Hubbard, lovingly dedicated to the very projects you see taking place through the Free Articulator. While it’s not an original Roycroft publication, it means much to me, though I will say that I do not agree with all of it, only much of it. The book’s first line (my version) states:

This is a book for Thinkers who are also Doers.

Some of you would be surprised to learn that many people think I am a thinker who does nothing. I find that amusing. Just how much doings I’ve been doing will become apparent over time, some of you already know how much, and others have but an inkling. But this is not about me.

So why am I placing this article here now? Why Elbert Hubbard? Well, we share a few ideas. Ideas such as this one:

“A belief in working with the head, hand and heart and mixing enough play with the work so that every task is pleasurable and makes for health and happiness”.

This describes how we at the Free Articulator like to work.

The Free Articulator is a publication for Creators who are Doers.

People start talking to me online and we’re meant ‘to be working’ and we are, but you wouldn’t notice it so much. It just seems like a lot of chatter, joking and fun is occurring to most people. but if you listen closely or review the conversations, one will discover that there are a large number of decisions being made, and more besides.

We’ll stop in the middle of a conversation with an idea for a song or a story, and just develop it, right then and there, on the spot (Creativity, it’s what we do). Then we return to what we were doing before the creative impulse fired imagination, seized, shook us, and demanded to be set free, to be communicated.

Nobody will really credit this until they actually review the transcripts of our conversations at some length and I’m sure there are some studious fellows out there somewhere who, if we but make a large enough dent in the public consciousness, will want to ply their academic trade. No doubt under the auspices of some large and generous grant.

They will find that there is not a single moment of communication that is wasted, it only appears to be wasted to those who do not recognize the value of communication. This is mostly because such people don’t communicate, they only think they communicate and there is a gulf between these two extremes that can be hard to bridge. However, the arts does manage to bridge it. First those-who-don’t-communicate have to find out that they don’t. Then they can learn how, but not before.

If you then follow the ideas we discuss in conversations, you’ll see them eventuating in tangible real things.

Ideas never become real unless they are communicated and moved forward in significant meaningful ways.

I know so many who offer to do these things, and then don’t. Such people do not know Garcia. I know more who know Garcia now; they are among the most amazing people I’ve ever met.

Keeping worthwhile ideas alive is a skill that requires a great deal of determination and they are, in a world such as we live in, today, always opposed, contradicted, disparaged and generally given only lip service to. This is one of the things that needs to change if we are to advance our civilization for some of the current ideas are taking it down a hole.

The effort to move good ideas from concept into reality is enormous.

This article is about how to do that. It’s about the article referenced above, Elbert Hubbard’s A Message to Garcia, which contains important driving principles that are part and parcel of how we work at Allforart and the Free Articulator.

We’re not hand-holders, though we are compassionate and care a lot. We’re not micro-managers, though we provide guidance, advice and assistance to help get things done, we expect those who work with us to manage themselves and even us with good quality communication, timely relevant information. We also expect them to be persistent and determined in the ability to create something from nothing, with nothing, other than our ability to communicate.

We’re artists and that’s where we start, with nothing. Create something from nothing. Well, we are doing that. Thanks for helping us.

Now, where the hell is Garcia?

Ah…no.

Carry this message.

Where do we go now?

If you can't wait for more, explore the archives sorted by month via the links in the right-hand sidebar, or use the Category links in the same place.

If you'd rather we did all the hard work, you're in luck. Here's a list of articles that are related to this one:

• Another great idea: Eliminate Corporate Criminal Liability — Robert Reich’s Package Deal
• The Free Articulator…dream to reality
• The Hollywood Writer’s Strike: Society and Sillivization Need to Mature - Fast!
• The Creative Artist as Global Activist — Applauding Trent Reznor’s Example
• News Flash: Free Articulator Catches Intellectual Property Thief Stealing NDK Article and publishing it on MySpace