Gold is revered cross-culturally because it seems to build a bridge between this world and some other. The City of Gold The peninsula currently known as San Francisco has had many names, and based on the number of indigenous tribes living in the area before the Spanish arrived, many more than I’ll be able to report. […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part V: The Spirit of Cooperation Fueling Innovation
…it’s no accident that high tech arose in the Bay Area and not in the more established intellectual hotspots of the East Coast. Whereas East Coast companies such as IBM and Xerox were both secretive and insular, not wanting the secrets behind their advances to be leaked out to competing companies, the cooperative environments of […]
Release, Receive, Return Anew: The Creative Power of The Labyrinth
Want more creativity in your life? Download your FREE copy of The Creator’s Cheat Sheet today! The labyrinth at Grace Cathedral has been one of the most important portals for both creative insight and healing in my life. It seems strange that a single path winding about 11 concentric circles could be so powerful. Now, having walked them […]
How to Create a Brand Identity: Guest Blog from Business Consultant and Fellow Creator, John Van Dinther
So many new entrepreneurs get lost in creating a brand identity for their business, often putting too much money and thought into how a logo or website should look, but not focusing enough on what impact that logo or website will have on their audience. This branding exercise should help you quickly create a solid […]
Creativity Expert and Architectural Designer Austin Hill Shaw Featured on Video for New Chiropractic Clinic and Wellness Center
Here is an amazing video illustrating creativity and teamwork. Click here to watch the video http://vimeo.com/47951381 An amazing chiropractor and dear friend of mine, Dr. Matt Green is opening his own business, and he asked me and several members of my Berkeley BNI group (Business Network International), known as EBAR (East Bay Abundant Referrals) to help […]
Steve Jobs, Creativity, and His Stanford Commencement Address
In 2005, Apple founder Steve Jobs gave this raw and moving commencement address to the Stanford graduating class. Having dropped out of college himself, been fired from the famous company he started, and been diagnosed and treated for cancer, Steve Jobs’ address is extraordinary, and touches on several powerful aspects of creativity and innovation, most […]
Austin Hill Shaw Talks on The Five Essentials of Designing and Building Sacred Space, Part II
In this talk, filmed at the Lightning in a Bottle Festival on the morning of Saturday, May 26, 2012, and Part II of the hour long talk (for Part I click here), I continue building the framework, bringing sacred outlook and a profound sense of connection into the process of designing and building specifically and […]
Austin Hill Shaw Talks on The Five Essentials of Designing and Building Sacred Space, Part I
In this talk, filmed at the Lightning in a Bottle Festival on the morning of Saturday, May 26, 2012, I create a framework bringing sacred outlook and a profound sense of connection into the process of designing and building specifically and creativity in general. The framework comes from Vajrayana Buddhism, also known as Tantric Buddhism, […]
Creativity and Engineering: Last Sunday Marked the 75th Anniversary of the Opening of the Golden Gate Bridge
Last Sunday, the San Francisco Bay Area celebrated the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Both the Golden Gate and the Bridge that spans it have been very influential in my life. I moved to the Bay Area when I was 18 and seeing that grand opening left me with an […]
Creativity and Innovation: “How Outsiders Solve Problems that Stump Experts”
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” –Suzuki Roshi Here is a wonderful article that addresses the shadow side of being an expert. Since experts are those who have accumulated a body of knowledge around a given subject, that same knowledge can create filters and blind spots […]