Basically, I believe everything’s included. There is no thing outside of the perfection of everything. So, when we turn our gaze upon ourselves, upon our world, and upon our lives, we must see everything to see anything worth seeing at all. In other words: we ARE truth.
If branded = what we show the world (and ourselves) and unbranded = what’s hidden/unseen, then I think unbranded + branded = wholeness. And thus, the craft and process of branding can be more than a tool for marketing a product, growing a business or spreading an idea. It can also be a tool for self-discovery, self-acceptance, wholeness and growth.
And business? Why business is the brush with which we paint the world! If money makes the world go round, then I realized my best way to influence and be of service is not merely to write a play, take the stage, or pen a poem (although I do enjoy those as well). The most effective way to make art with impact, then, is to work with money and tools of commerce.
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose” - dolly parton
Here’s the truth
about Identity and (if I may) — Life:
everything’s included.
When it comes to our identities: we are not whole if we pick and choose. If we want to fully be the magnificent creatures we are, then we must embrace everything: Your light, your shadow, your professional resume, your 10-year-old self. The fact that you’re an executive, an entrepreneur, a parent. That you’re a fuck-up, or perfectionist, or secret rockstar, or utter goofball.
If you know and own all parts of yourself (“your unbranded selves”), you can distill them down into something USEFUL: a truthful brand expressing your purpose.
This is the creative process; a process of self-actualization. It’s more than “personal branding” — this is a process of wholeness and integration.
This is existential branding.
I make art out of the process of self-inquiry using branding and business as a medium.
So who are you really?
Duh: you’re you—a unique gem made up of a multidimensional prism of many selves. But we usually only want to admit to, or maybe even know about, a fraction of our fullness. And so it takes a process to see that. To feel that. To learn how to integrate and live that. In order to be it, you DO have to be willing to self-inquire.
You don’t have to do it alone.
But why? Because it allows for:
an existential crisis you can actually use
Don’t get me wrong: Inner seeking and personal development are great. (Trust me, I’m the Queen of Introspection.) But at some point, we have to choose who we are going to be in the world
& THEN GO DO IT.
That’s how we create success for ourselves and how we are of service to others.
But your identity is going to be shallow and 2-dimensional if it doesn’t include all of you.
Your shadows are your gold.
Your truth is your greatest asset.
Your brand is the crystallization of all your unbranded parts.
There is really no division between your beautiful, branded, understandable, known self and your unbranded, messy, nonsensical, shadow self—it’s all you.
But to live in the world as an integrated, whole being and express that to the world, you have to learn how to create an integrated, whole brand.
And the secret is about including everything.
Ok, that’s nice. But I’m here looking for a) brand b) to check out my friend Shannon to see what she’s up to c) help through this existential crisis.
You’ve come to the right place!
But it’s easy to forget. And sometimes it takes being seen to see it.