I recently wrote a post Jobs and Careers: My Journey to Happiness which prompted a friend Jonathan Phillips to write a most excellent post, and now I feel compelled to write a post inspired by it!

We’re talking about finding your own voice, finding a way to make what you do your own and simply adding personality to your work. How does one go about doing this? How can you make what you do your own? What is your own voice? I’m going to recommend some things you might not have thought about in your quest for blogging originality. There are a lot of people who, even armed with this knowledge, still have no idea where to begin in finding their own voice. Some of these ideas have nothing to do with blogging , writing or making money. However, in them you can find the essence of what I’m trying to get at and hopefully will be able to apply it to blogging.

• Learn to play a musical instrument. I recommend this idea over all others because music encompasses so much in the way of imagination and self reliance. It really doesn’t matter what instrument or what kind of music you like, just learning how to play can help you in endless ways. Singing also counts as playing an instrument though I do recommend highly that you learn how to read music. Once you get a little skill under your belt, go play with other musicians or learn to record. Most important of all, find a teacher that teaches a progressive system. You can learn classical guitar, but you don’t want a teacher that only teaches what is written in a music book. Learn to play blues, rock, jazz or anything that forces you to learn to improvise music. You want the ability to just play whatever comes to mind on the spot, much like speaking in conversation. If you are having trouble finding originality, music will help you get there and that is a fact.

• Learn a martial art or yoga. This also can help you find your own voice. I know it may sound crazy to some people, but it can surely help you. If you do study a martial art, apply the same principle as before. Find a progressive teacher who is not bound by rigid tradition but who helps students find what works for them. You want to make sure they actually fight in class also. Some schools only point fight and this will never help you understand self reliance. A few arts I’ll mention that would be good candidates are: Jeet Kune Do, free style jujitsu, Aikido, Hap Ki Do and even western boxing or wrestling. these aren’t the only arts as any art can be the right choice if you have the right teacher.

• Learn to paint, draw, or write poetry. As you can see, everything I’m recommending is an art of some sort. That’s my point. Blogging is an art. If you don’t see blogging as an art, then maybe it’s time to learn a lot more about art and apply it it to your blog!

Jonathan said in his post,
“If everybody knew how to write killer blog posts, catchy headlines, and stuff that gets massive traffic and links everytime it’s published. The blogosphere would be boring. A little creativity never hurt anyone. In fact, innovative and creative ideas are more likely to skyrocket your traffic, than the usual stuff. I believe the key is to learn everything you can, then forget about it, and try going a different route.”

Hey, these are words of wisdom. I especially like the last line. If you approach your blog artistically as well as scientifically this will become the norm. Once you have an idea under your belt, run with it and eventually it will become something ingrained in your psyche. After that you forget it and move on; that knowledge and intuitive perception you have gained will continue to serve you for as long as you blog.

Please don’t just read, leave a comment. I will respond to whatever you have to say. I will also come to your blog and leave comments. To me, comments make the blog world go ’round:)

Tags: depression, imagination, martial art, yoga, zen