Once in a while I experience a brain explosion – that feeling you get when you’re so excited about something that your mind is blown at the realisation of it.

This morning was one of those moments. The wonderful folks behind Sydney’s Creative Mornings have been doing a stellar job rounding up a talented bunch of creative minds to speak at their monthly series of themed talks – from Christiaan Van Vuuren (one half of the Bondi Hipsters) talking about bravery to award-winning creative director Linda Jukic sharing stories about how her childhood and toddler son have influenced her life. It’s a great shot of inspiration before work in the morning that’s for sure.

I was particularly excited for this morning’s talk by the genius that is Jess Scully (who for me, was like a beacon of light at a time when I had lost my way). For those who don’t know her, as Vivid Idea’s festival director, Jess is a proponent of Sydney & NSW’s arts and cultural policy, promoting the importance of our creative industries in building a sustainable economy and community. She’s also done a gazillion other things in her lifetime which you can learn more about here.

Having a theme like Rebel under her belt, Jess wowed the crowd with her spunk, smarts and sass (enough to make a group of girls go giddy and start a fangirl club gang in her name):

#jscullzfangirls

J.Scullz’s top tips on how to REBEL effectively:

• On waking up to the world we live in: “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention”. Anger can be channeled into something creative and constructive.
• Creative people (designers, ad people, marketers, artists, techies & gamers) can change the world:”Humour, embarrassing people, highlighting ridiculousness are all tools for change”. Cases in point – Tatyana Iazlalizadeh & Voskhod for Ura.Ru
• There’s no sense of community anymore: “We’re all really disconnected from each other”:

• We’ve got to start valuing what we do & stop giving work away for free: “Jack those prices up people!”
• Meaningful work: Dedicate 1 day per week working on something that matters to you. “I used to work in magazines! A thing dedicated to selling other things people don’t need. Today we’re selling the best product. The future I wanna live in.”

YOU GO GIRL.

x Grandma AL