creativity

Create. Share. Yield.

A Meaningful Life

Derek Sivers said “Die Empty” (which is actually a book by Todd Henry).^1
Bill Perkins has a book named “Die with Zero”.^2
Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf coined the motto “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten,” a pietist way of living for missionaries. ^3

Todd aimed to live fully and create everything possible with his lifetime, being productive. Perkins’ book aims to help people enjoy their earnings rather than let them sit idle as useless cash. However, Nikolaus’ message was to live for a cause that extends beyond one’s life.

What can we achieve if we combine all of them? A meaningful life. Maybe a bit of what Viktor Frankl’s^4 work was about, but it’s really what the Bible has been preaching all along.

Let’s do a mental exercise. For example:

1. Die Empty – Living Fully & Using Your Gifts

These verses encourage pouring out your talents, energy, and life for God’s purposes:

2 Timothy 4:6-7 – “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Matthew 25:14-30 (Parable of the Talents) – calls us to invest what’s entrusted to us, not to bury it.
John 9:4 – “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”

2. Die with Zero – Enjoying & Sharing God’s Provision

Scripture teaches that blessings are meant to be enjoyed and shared generously, not hoarded:

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 – “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”
1 Timothy 6:17-18 – “Command those who are rich…to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”
Luke 12:33-34 – “Sell your possessions and give to the poor…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Proverbs 11:24-25 – “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”

3. Be Forgotten – Living for God’s Glory, Not Our Fame

These verses remind us that the goal is to glorify God, not ourselves:

John 3:30 – “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Galatians 6:14 – “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Matthew 6:1-4 – “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them…your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Psalm 115:1 – “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”
Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

What if we blended these three ideas into a single vision for living?

Die Empty – exhaust your gifts, leave nothing undone that your heart calls you to create.
Die with Zero – savor your resources while you’re alive; don’t hoard what could have been joy or generosity.
Be Forgotten – don’t cling to legacy or fame; let your life point to something larger than yourself.

Together, they outline a counter-cultural but liberating path:
Live fully, give fully, and release the need to be remembered.
You pour out your talents and your wealth for meaningful work and for people you love, and you do it in service of something transcendent—whether that’s your faith, humanity, or the next generation.

This aligns with Viktor Frankl’s insight that humans thrive when a purpose beyond pleasure or power guides their lives. It’s also ancient wisdom echoed in Scripture: “Whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

A possible summary mantra could be:

Create what only you can create.
Share what you have while you can.
Then step aside so the story isn’t about you.

That’s a life well-spent—productive, joyful, and meaningful, all at once.

Marcelo Baldin In AESTHETICS

Ideation in the AI-era

Years ago, I embarked on a music project called Omega Code. We made modest progress as a group, but the project ultimately stalled. The primary reason was pragmatic: I realized that advancing to the next stage would require a disproportionate investment of time and energy—one that would threaten my livelihood. To turn it into a sustainable primary source of income, I would have had to make it the center of my professional life. I chose not to. Instead, I brought the project to a close, leaving it as a vivid memory rather than a career. I focused on Combustion Studio instead.

Despite its brevity, Omega Code became an unexpected apprenticeship. It taught me valuable lessons about the music industry, including the importance of collaboration and leadership, as well as the interplay between aesthetics and creativity. Much of our sonic experimentation was driven by visual inputs, a synesthetic approach where imagery shaped sound. Being deeply immersed in the creative field, I benefited from the contributions of many collaborators who subtly shaped the project.

One of the most surreal aspects was the global reach of our visual campaign. Before we released a single track, a series of poster designs sparked international attention. The project existed as an MVP (minimum viable product), yet people engaged as if it were a cultural artifact. We received over 500 illustrations from around the world; designers used our template to generate their own variations. The triangular motif we used triggered a brief design trend in 2009—a slight fever that seemed disproportionate to our scale.

The triangle puzzled many: Why a triangle if the name was Omega Code? Our symbol, inspired by the Christian Trinity, was less a literal reference to “omega” than an emblem of the project’s philosophical roots. As Jungian psychology might suggest, symbols carry meaning beyond logic, surfacing archetypes that resonate collectively with others.

A decade after closing Omega Code, we now find ourselves in the midst of the AI surge. Its influence reaches across disciplines. While many express concern over potential disruptions, I regard this era as an unprecedented opportunity. For the first time, ideas themselves—not just final products—are becoming effortless to manifest.

Back then, many of my conceptual ideas remained unfulfilled because they demanded budgets I didn’t have. Today, a well-crafted prompt can breathe life into concepts that once seemed unattainable. When ideas are grounded in coherent principles, aesthetics, and personal vision, AI becomes a tool to overcome what Jung called the “archetypes of the collective unconscious.”

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Prototyping—once a luxury—is now accessible to anyone with curiosity. Since the early 2000s, the internet democratized creativity; today’s AI tools amplify that democratization exponentially. This is neither optimism nor pessimism; it is simply an acknowledgment of historical momentum.

Even brief engagement with old Omega Code concepts recently yielded results that were unimaginable at the time—3D experiments, photographic mock-ups, and even musical sketches. Yet there remains a danger in assuming that AI will deliver finished work. As the painter Chuck Close once said, “Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” Technology offers tools, not miracles; the art still requires discipline, hard work, and human intention.

Were Omega Code to arise today, it would sound and look entirely different, shaped by new tools and cultural currents. My intention in revisiting it is not nostalgia but an invitation: to emphasize ideation and hands-on creation—to remind us that tools alone do not make the artist.

”“Inspiration is for amateurs;
the rest of us just show up and get to work.”
Chuck Close

We achieved amazing results with the Omega Code project, particularly through the collaboration of talented artists who contributed to the posters. Notable individuals involved included Joshua Davis, Mike Cina, Nelson Balaban, Tom Muller, Robert Lindström, Michael Paul Young, and Motomichi Nakamura, among others. Gabriel Wickbold took the final photograph for the album cover, while Brendan Duffey, known for his work with Bruce Dickinson, Sheryl Crow, and Kendrick Lamar, handled the album’s mastering. Still, the effort required to bring this project to life was significantly greater than what is typically needed today.

One should take advantage of the zeitgeist rather than be overwhelmed by it.
There are no excuses for being idle.