Blog Action Day 2008: Giving, It not only builds what you are giving to but builds you even more.

For Blog Action Day, I have decided to re-post an article I had written a few months ago and add some more content to it. It is not because I do not have something original that I could write. This post really emphasizes the power of giving back and I believe when attacking the problem of poverty it is important to know the power that giving has.

Almost every truly successful person ( life success not just financial success) will tell you giving has supernatural abilities. Many entrepreneurs have experienced amazing success after they started to give back. When John Templeton was making $50.00 a week, he gave back half of it. He is now a billionaire. Could you see yourself doing that? When Bill Phillips started giving to the Make A Wish Foundation he saw his business skyrocket and go from $60 million a year to $200 million a year.

What if you donated 2% or more of all your businesses equity to charity? What if every business did that? We could help so many people people across the globe. So what stops the majority of us from giving what we should? Most people have heard that you “Reap what you sow” and “that if you give unto others it will be returned to you in multitudes” but, they do not truly believe these words. To them they are nothing more than cliches. I can tell you from my own personal experience that every time I have given ( even though it seemed I did not have at times) I have always gotten it back.

I think one of the hardest parts of this for most people is the uncertainty of when they will receive what they give back. My answer to that is, when you truly need it. I am not saying that if you give more money than you have that a bill might not be late. I am only saying that you will get it back. Just not on your time table. Let me ask you this, If I was to tell you that if you gave a $100 to charity. In 2 months I would give you $500. Would you do it? What if it left you with only $20.00 and you did not get paid for another 4 days? This does not only have to do with monetary giving. Time is something you can give and get back as well. Here is another scenario, say I asked you to volunteer 20 hours a month for habitat for humanity but, you were already working 60 hours a week. Would you do it? What if I told you would get another job making more money and working half the time in 3 years if you volunteered for sixth months. Would you do it then? Bottom line is their is a reason that these statements have stood the test of time. Because they are true. Many successful people will tell you they could not have gotten where they are if they first didn’t give back. Do not make excuses that you will give when you have more time or money. It is a test of character, you should give now otherwise, you may never have the time or money to give. Then when you do have the time and money it will be instilled in your character and you will be a better person because of it.

When I first published the preceding content in this post, it was before the economic bailout and all the feelings of doom and gloom that swept over our nation and other parts of the world. I know many people and businesses have problems of their own and find it hard to focus on the problem of poverty in other peoples lives. Even in this economic crisis their are so many others that are much worse off than a lot of us. It is sad that we sometimes as  Americans need a crisis to “hit home” before we see the need to give of our time, goods, or money. Whether hitting home means actual tragedy in our families or in our country. Let us use this day to forget about our problems and focus on others that are less fortunate whether they are are our neighbors, strangers, or foreigners. Poverty is a global problem let’s unite and battle it together. It is not always money that you have to give. An even better gift to give someone is to teach them a skill that will help them find employment or you can volunteer with an organization like Habitat For Humanity to help those in need of housing. If you attend a church, many have programs in place already that you can volunteer with. If you want to take it a step further, start your own movement or charity.  Even if it seems like you do not have much to give there is always something you can do. You are only powerless if you truly believe you are. If that is the case I urge you to change your mind set and change your belief structure and tap into the power that is in you. Let us not only blog or talk about the problem, Let us take action!

Personal Development: You Gotta have faith

Faith. It is a vey powerful word no matter your beliefs. How many of us truly possess this trait all the time ? Most of us probably aquire it sporadicly over the course of our lives. Whether it be faith in our religion, ourselves, others, or any number of things. I believe faith to be the basis of so many things in life. If you do not have faith in yourself? How can you ever succeed ? If you do not have faith in others how can you build meaningful relationships? If you do not have faith in what you can not see, how could you ever achieve your goals? So keep this in mind when you are developing yourself in to the person you want to become. Faith is the foundation on what all of your success will be built. Faith gives you the ability to see through what ever storms you encounter in your life. So do not let faith be a characteristic that comes and goes, make it a part of who you are.

Artists unite on deviant Art

Being a new discoverer of the website www.deviantart.com, I am here to sing its praises. The site features  work from graphic artists, photographers, poets and writers. It is an awesome place to meet other artists, showcase your work and be inspired by the works of others. It is great to have a place to band together with other creative types.  The site has a feature that is much like Twitter (another great resource if you are a creative with a blog), were Twitter lets you follow bloggers you like, deviant Art lets you do the same with artists. deviant Art also gives artists another portal to make some money. You can sell prints of your work through the website. The nice thing about this is that you are marketing to people that already have a deep appreciation for art.
I highly recommend at least checking it out if you are a graphic artist or just a fan of art. I make it a point to visit deviant art at least once a day for inspiration, if nothing else. Arcimedia already has a profile on deviant Art. We have not uploaded any of our own designs yet, but will do so soon.  So join up and give a shout out on our profile.

Banksy: Art with a message

In recent months I have been researching an artist known as Banksy. He is in my opinion one of the greatest street artists of all time. His art has appeared around the globe.He is considered controversial by many for the strong social messages he conveys in his work. I say it is about time. Though  everyone may not agree  with what he is saying with his art, atleast he is saying something. We have become a very “politically correct” society and in that have in some aspects lost our ability to stand for things that we believe in because we fear standing out in our P.C world.  He even had the guts (or audacity depending on your point of view) to walk  into the Louve in Paris and hang his own version of the Mona Lisa and was qouted as saying   “To actually [have to] go through the process of having a painting selected must be quite boring, It’s a lot more fun to go and put your own one up.” I for one appreciatte his art and the fact that he wants to bring social issues to our attention. He is in danger of being no longer an “underground” artist as celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and companies like Nike have shown intrest. You can check out some of his work in our Inspiring Art And Design Section on the home page of Arcimedia The Blog. You can also check out his website at http://www.banksy.co.uk/menu.html