Michael Grab is an artist that has been ‘rock balancing‘ since 2008. Much of his recent work has been done around the Boulder, Colorado area. Grab finds the process both spiritual and therapeutic. On his site gravityglue.com, Grab explains...
Today BlackBerry demoed what it's calling BlackBerry Balance, a clever way of separating one's personal and work lives in one device. You don't see it as much these days but carrying two phones—one for business, one for pleasure—was commonplace not too long ago. I remember having a BlackBerry 6200 alongside my Sidekick 2; and I'm sure a lot of you remember those days as well.
But now that smartphones have been ingratiated into corporate IT infrastructures with beefed up security protocols, the need for work-issued BlackBerries has been on the decline. Not to mention the fact that it's cheaper for employers to just have you use your own phone and pay for it yourself. Now you can have both your work and personal lives live on one single device.
Rocks are among the oldest of primitive tools. Many cultures from across the globe have practiced the art of balancing rocks for several centuries. In balance, their purposes range from marking human presence to giving thanks to meditative nature art. Michael Grab has perfected this sort of art, and has many photographs to prove it.
Gravity Glue is Michael’s ongoing satellite project designed to record and share his experience and journey through the art of Stone Balancing. Gravity is the only “glue” that holds these structures in equilibrium. Be sure to check out Michael’s website to see his complete portfolio and more information about his work. Enjoy!
Before we had the Internet, the closest form of written communication we had were handwritten letters posted to family, friends and pen pals. Then there are the regular phone calls, family reunion meet-ups, parties, events etc.
As a whole, these offline social interactions had more depth than what we are experiencing online today because we could at least hear the tone of voice through phone calls or read the body language and facial expression of the new person we have just met at the party.
One of the most important things in life is having balance.
Unfortunately, it's not easy to find this balance sometimes.
We want to be productive and hard working, but we also want to be good friends, siblings, parents, and significant others.
And sometimes it's very hard to be all of those things at once.
Before I discuss my thoughts on keeping it all balanced, I first want to note that it's pretty much impossible to keep everything together all the time.
There are going to be times when we can't be at work because we have to care for a loved one or deal with a personal issue.
There are going to be times when we miss out on a fun event because we have to focus on a work deadline.
While it may be difficult to balance your career with a family, it's not impossible—especially if you run your business from home.
According to a study conducted by the Small Business Administration, the number of self-employed women is increasing. "Recent research suggests that women enter self-employment for different reasons than their male counterparts," the study reports.
As freelancers in creative fields we’re faced with a unique situation. That is, the combination of art (or creativity) and business. We need to use our left and right brains to the maximum, each with the same amount of effort and dedication every day.
There’s not a lot of average jobs in the world that require such attention to two seemingly opposing fields. But then again, we’re not average.
Having the ability to conceptualize a client’s vision and turn it into a well-crafted piece, you should have no problem bridging the gaps between the art and business realms of your freelancing career.
In website layouting, the use of grids had been used in order to achieve a design with precision and balance. This is done in different approaches like using the Rule of Thirds and the Golden Ratio. Most designers make use of this for it helps one to achieve a website that has good organization and it would also be easier for the eyes of the readers. Some websites design their sites based on the grids and it is easily determined by the manner they are arranged. Grid-based layouts are most of the time user-friendly and could establish a logical structure that would aid the audience to be easily familiar with what you have in the site.
In less than a week, the financial world is going to witness Facebook drive one of the biggest initial public offerings in history. It will make its investors stinking rich and have techies espousing the transformative power of the web and social media. But Facebook’s IPO already has skeptics calling the into question the company’s incredible valuation. Some are even wondering if it’s the start of a new bubble.
If that forecast turns out to be true — if Facebook (and the social ecosystem that grew up around it) crashes and burns like MySpace and so many dot.coms before it — privacy might play a major role in its demise. Investors want to see ad revenue grow, but users might bail in a hurry if Facebook crosses the line of how it’s acceptable to treat their very-personal data.
Balancing work and life is very important, and it is necessary to manage both sides perfectly to ensure success in the professional world. Although it sounds simple, managing both sides can be very difficult at times. This is more difficult for freelancers because they need to manage their own time between work and life.
When I read this article about how Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, leaves work at—gasp! 5:30 pm every day—I was both happy and annoyed.
I am a huge proponent for working smarter—not longer or harder. I can get done in a few hours what takes some people all day. I am lucky that I have the ability to block out everything around me and have a laser focus on the task at hand for a good amount of time. I hear that when I am doing this, I get a crazy look in my eye and I come off as utterly pissed off. I’m not—I’m just on a roll!
I make it a point to leave my office between 5 and 5:30 pm every day. Sometimes I can’t because I have an event to go to or something that must be finished. But, on the whole, I stick to my own personal deadline.
The maximum amount an individual can save in a 401(k) is $16,500 a year, or $22,000 if you're 50 or older. For 2012, it’s $17,000 or $22,500 if you're 50 or older. If that's attainable, go for it. If it sounds like a long shot, consider these smaller moves that can help get you to a bigger 401(k) balance.
The similarities between an artist and a designer are quite easy to see, in fact those unaware of the distinctive differences might even assume that they are the same occupation. However for those that understand the functions of both creative endeavors, they know that is far from the case. An artist is a creative who creates to satisfy their own aesthetic pleasure, unconcerned with the wants and needs of others. A designer is a creative who creates in hopes of satisfying the wants and needs of others with their art, casting aside their own individual creative desires.
