P.S.

Days later:

The idea that some people are cultural creatives I can't square away. How did the researcher determine there were 50million of us living in America? Will anything we do actually change the world for the better when the old way of life is seductive to most people? Can we set climate protocols?

One thing: true cultural creatives do not lean to the left or to the right politically. We espouse new solutions that require a different kind of government that is neither right-wing nor totally left. That is not to say we would always be centrist.

Days later I muse on this because it seems a fuzzy concept: the idea that people can be cultural creatives. How does that translate into real life? There's an expression: "If you name it, you can claim it" and possibly that applies here too. Yet I'm uncomfortable with this label, as if I've been found out.

Maybe I'm just too ambitious to want to concede that I use my talents to better the world. I want to be recognized for my own efforts and not lumped into a category. Where does the individual and his or her accomplishments fit into the cultural creative milieu?

I understand that the ethic of "service above self" is a noble one however each of us has a self and I'm not able to subjugate my self or take a back seat, like a Traditional would or someone who is content to lie on the couch all day watching TV. I covet recognition for the efforts I give to certain organizations. This is a two-way street.

So as I type this it's hard for me to understand that I could be a cultural creative. I abhor doing things in a vacuum: I want to be heard when I communicate my message. I realize not everyone is going to want to hear what I have to say and others will not be receptive to it. That's why I can't sell my book as if I wrote it to de-stigmatize people living with schizophrenia because I did not. Indirectly it does that-true. Yet I don't allow stigma to dictate how I feel about myself or whether or not I'm going to seek to set goals and achieve them. Stigma carries no weight with me.

Funny: it feels like a stigma to be outed as a cultural creative even though we do good things and there should be no shame in living a life of service to others. I'm going to check out of the library The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing The World because I don't have the money to buy the book.

A life of volunteerism is the hallmark of a cultural creative. When I read the book I'll be better able to sift through this knowledge and come to a conclusion I can live with.

For now I'll leave you with this:

The reason I don't buy this lifestyle is because I'm not certain we can actually change the world, as the usual way of doing things is so entrenched in most people. I would like to think our actions can have a lasting impact yet who am I kidding? I need to see concrete, tangible results to believe the tide has actually turned. Give me the numbers: tell me how many people's lives have been changed and what the results of our efforts have been. The fuzziness of it and the feel-good aspect doesn't sit well with me.

Though the truth is it's possibly not an ethic that can be defined in words or accounted for with bottom-line principles, so maybe language comes in a poor second to describe the impact of a cultural creative's actions.

Days later I'm mixed about this because I wonder if to be a cultural creative I have to live an ascetic life and the truth is I don't deny myself trinkets like the necklace.

I'm searching now. I'm searching for my own words to describe my life ethic that won't be co-opted by a researcher or a sociologist. I've been sifting through this knowledge all weekend. I will let you know more after I've finished reading the Cultural Creatives book.

You think. I'm obsessed. With this. Now.

So I'll go sign off and leave you to enjoy your day.

Cheers.