blog | Ashton.Gustafson

Feb 15 2013

Leadership

The $4.00 Card Author That Robbed You

Millions of Valentine’s cards were purchased yesterday and exchanged.

Pause for a second…there’s a multi-million dollar economy that writes one to ten heart-felt sentences on your behalf for you to give to someone.

This economy exists because most don’t believe in their poetry. Vulnerability was at stake and most chose the $4.00 card over exposing their gratitude and love themselves.

Knowing this, they (Hallmark, American Greetings, Target) took your moment, they took your pen, and they took your chance to give artistic meaning through written expression.

And yet this happens in various forms everyday doesn’t it?

Every day is a fight to release your poetry, art, and musings and get your pen back.

Handmade > Factory Produced

Tagged Ashton Gustafson, blog, ltmp, valentines

Feb 13 2013

Defining Moments

Chances are you cannot recall what you ate for dinner two nights ago, the bullet points of last night’s State of the Union Address, or the majority of your emails received yesterday.

Nevertheless, today we all will divinely cross paths with someone needing us in a special moment. A defining moment conducted, designed, and orchestrated via the Muse.

It could look like doctor with patient, Realtor with buyer, mother with child, cop with victim, banker with businessman, coach with player, teacher with student, pastor with church member, barista with coffee lover, leader with follower, or counselor with shaken soul.

While this moment may be an everyday experience for you, chances are it’s a frozen moment in time for your customer, user, client, or child.

Your art and music will change when you realize that the receiver of your art and music will revisit this moment often.

Really. We need awareness of just how significant our moments are.

This moment may not define you, but it most definitely will define something about the other party involved in this moment.

Tagged Ashton Gustafson, blog, ltmp, Moments

Feb 11 2013

What Great Music Does…

Great music starts conversations. We call that remarkable music.

Great music makes you want to participate in the rhythm. We call that a musical experience.

Great music is almost always shared. This looks like, “Hey…did you see Timberlake on The Grammy’s last night?”

You see when you make great music you then give the recipient the opportunity to enlighten someone else with that same greatness they experienced through you.

Or said another way, your music gives the recipient a chance to be a luminary because of your musical illumination.

Massive thought…endless implications…but it all starts with you and your instruments.

It’s Monday. Mic check.

#LTMP