Less is More

Ok, so I might digres from the main topic, but I promise, that in the end, it will all make sense.

Less is more.

What does it really mean?  Will we get more from life is we do less work?

I had a long drive to check out a billboard positioning yesterday and had a lot of time in my truck, so I downloaded a book called The Power of Now to listen to on my iPhone.   Basically, the main theme of the book is that in order to reach full enlightenment, you have to stop thinking.

Absurd is what I said too.  How does one stop thinking?  I have thoughts racing through my head all the time.  Did I turn off the front light?  When will I ever get my school loans paid off?  Will I ever get a BMW?

So on and so on.

What the author is really trying to convey is that we all have an inner being that is not yet identified, that we identify ourselves by what we think about ourselves.  He also goes on to state that we allow our minds to rule our lives and in order to stop this, we must step outside our mind and observe our thoughts.  Are there any continual patterns in our thinking?  Are we compulsive thinkers about something from the past?  Just observe these thoughts, don’t judge them or even question how to deal with them.

Another underlying theme through the whole book is that we are all connected, that a power higher, more complex our physical bodies, dwells within each of us.  I am not saying this is or isn’t God or a Spirit or Buddha or anything.  Just that everything is connected via one conduit of endless unity, most of us just don’t access nor use it at all.

Now, what does this have to do with this blog?

Well, 24 hours ago, I wouldn’t have ever thought I would be talking about enlightenment.  I would have never thought about driving in the middle of nowhere and stopping to just look around.  I had a GPS system going, the audiobook, texting a friend all while trying to get a hamburger down while driving down I-65.

It was all just too much.  So, once I got my task done, I pulled over on the side of the road, and old country road and just stopped.  I stopped the book, the GPS, eating and just observed.  I observed what I was thinking.  It was very difficult and it only occurred for about 3 seconds but there was a point where thoughts stopped and  I really took in everything around me.

What happened?  Creativity happened from the simplest things.  A mountain scape inspired me to paint.  A winding road ahead inspired another project in the near future.

When I put together a message in the form of an ad, outdoorboard, etc.  I think about all that needs to go into it, what it needs to do, how will it get out, how much money will it cost, getting all the messages in, blah, blah, blah.

In actuality, I need to break it down to the most simplistic form.  What is the simplest outcome you want from an advertising message?

Find that answer and go with it.  Don’t add unnecessary confusion for the reader by added information that isn’t really needed.

Less is more.  Less thought, more results.

~ by Scott on February 20, 2009.