So Long Thanks for everything. I'll be saying farewell. It's been an honour to have shared something special with you all. I feel I'm being drawn into an argument that I'm too old for and I should know better. Honza is right when he says Opuss isn't the place and I apologise for lowering the tone. I've redacted my previous post for that reason alone. Best of luck to you all for the future and happy writing. Adam

Viva La Opuss!! It's with a lot of pride and pleasure that I can now announce that Opuss is under new management. The cool cat at the steering wheel is called @honza and is an absolute gentleman. I don't want to steal his thunder by mentioning any changes that may (or may not) be coming but I hope you'll trust me when I say I've been very careful in making sure that Opuss and the community won't be thrown to the lions and it'll be treated with the respect and care that it deserves for the long term. This is a very good day for Opuss and I can't wait to see it grow and blossom into a globally acknowledged showcase for beautiful words and inspiration. For my part I'll still hang around and be an active member of Opuss but I know I can trust @honza to take the baton and run with it! Viva La Opuss!!!

Update I can't give you the whole story right now but I'm de-listing Opuss from Flippa. Something exciting has happened. I'll shortly give an update when things have been confirmed and I'm allowed to but until then kick back, relax and get writing!

Fuck 'Em Over the course of your #life, folks are going to tell you what to do… over and over again. Color within the lines; avoid risk; be a good boy scout. Some of this will be well intentioned; many think you’ll fare better if you don’t rock the boat. Others are ass-faces who find reassurance in knowing that they’re not the only ones who chose the safe path. The plan goes like this: study hard, get good grades, attend a respected university, find a decent job, work your way up the ladder, procreate (twice), and upgrade your home every 5 – 10 years. All of which are fine, but this is just one course amongst many. What if there’s another way? What if you dropped out of school and walked across the country? What if you decided grades were sort of silly, and instead read all the interesting things you could find? What if you volunteered some time in a developing country and met someone who’d never spent a moment thinking about Chandler and Monica? What if you tasted every taste, saw every sight, faced the things that frightened you, and got a couple of scuffs along the way? You have one #life. Live it as you will, but perhaps take a moment to consider an alternative path. There is a wide chasm between the ways you could pass through existence and the lame-ass lives most choose. Besides, should you fail, you’ll at least have a couple of good stories to tell. Do whatever you want. I’m not here to prescribe #life decisions. At the same time, I feel it’s worth reminding you that within 100 years you, and everyone you love, will be gone. All the shit you’re stressing out about will be long forgotten. The swarm of convention is a tsunami that absorbs all in its way. You are powerless against it. (Until you decide you are not.) ~~ From the fantastic deliberatism.com

Ignore Everybody 1. Ignore everybody. 2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours. 3. Put the hours in. 4. If your biz plan depends on you sud­denly being “dis­co­ve­red” by some big shot, your plan will pro­bably fail. 5. You are res­pon­si­ble for your own expe­rience. 6. Ever­yone is born crea­tive; ever­yone is given a box of cra­yons in kin­der­gar­ten. 7. Keep your day job. 8. Com­pa­nies that squelch crea­ti­vity can no lon­ger com­pete with com­pa­nies that cham­pion crea­ti­vity. 9. Every­body has their own pri­vate Mount Eve­rest they were put on this earth to climb. 10. The more talen­ted some­body is, the less they need the props. 11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds alto­gether. 12. If you accept the pain, it can­not hurt you. 13. Never com­pare your inside with some­body else’s outside. 14. Dying young is ove­rra­ted. 15. The most impor­tant thing a crea­tive per­son can learn pro­fes­sio­nally is where to draw the red line that sepa­ra­tes what you are willing to do, and what you are not. 16. The world is chan­ging. 17. Merit can be bought. Pas­sion can’t. 18. Avoid the Water­coo­ler Gang. 19. Sing in your own voice. 20. The choice of media is irre­le­vant. 21. Selling out is har­der than it looks. 22. Nobody cares. Do it for your­self. 23. Worr­ying about “Com­mer­cial vs. Artis­tic” is a com­plete waste of time. 24. Don’t worry about fin­ding ins­pi­ra­tion. It comes even­tually. 25. You have to find your own sch­tick. 26. Write from the heart. 27. The best way to get appro­val is not to need it. 28. Power is never given. Power is taken. 29. Wha­te­ver choice you make, The Devil gets his due even­tually. 30. The har­dest part of being crea­tive is get­ting used to it. 31. Remain fru­gal. 32. Allow your work to age with you. 33. Being Poor Sucks. 34. Beware of tur­ning hob­bies into jobs. 35. Savor obs­cu­rity while it lasts. 36. Start blog­ging. 37. Mea­ning Sca­les, Peo­ple Don’t. 37. When your dreams become rea­lity, they are no lon­ger your dreams. via http://gapingvoid.com/ie/