{"id":331,"date":"2020-01-16T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/?p=331"},"modified":"2021-01-07T13:24:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T13:24:41","slug":"humanity-needs-a-new-renaissance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/16\/humanity-needs-a-new-renaissance\/","title":{"rendered":"Humanity Needs A New Renaissance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not a renaissance in terms of invention. We need a renaissance in order for us to make the world a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world needs a new era of creativity and creative approaches apart from putting stuff on your website and sharing stuff on social media. A new ‘Belle epoque’.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need something that breaks with the \u2018old-school\u2019 way of doing business or even personal development. We need something that aligns that small part inside of us (some people call it imagination) with what we’re doing every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People need to feel fulfilled, seen, and aligned with our purposes. I don\u2019t see our purpose<\/a> as one thing. I don’t feel like a human has one purpose but several, and it\u2019s time for us to let lose the fear that lets our one purpose live in a box. Or let ourselves live in a box. It\u2019s time to stop defining stuff like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So all of those questions that you can find online where you find your passion and your purpose and make a living, be happy, have the dreamhouse, etc? Fuck them so hard because it\u2019s not gonna make you happy and fulfilled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not gonna make you get up in the morning screaming YEY! It\u2019s a new day! I need to go sit in my office for 8 hours (after 2 hours of commuting) and work the numbers because it\u2019s my passion. Because it is my purpose. It is what I live for. You’re still going to have a small voice inside of you saying ‘we can do better than this’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing the multi-purpose renaissance person<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A renaissance person is a person dedicated to finding out what multiple things they are really good at. I personally have been trying to find out what that \u2018one thing\u2019 that I do really well is. And Yes – I have more than 15 years building empires as big as the sky from gravel in the startup space. Yes, I have made concepts and business models that have changed the world. But it only gives me so much to gather people around a cause, to make them fall in love with a brand, to have them sign up to something that makes you happy, that spurs some inspiration apart from saving stuff on Pinterest.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t believe it anymore. I don\u2019t believe in a specialist approach and schooling towards one thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because it doesn\u2019t make me fulfilled. It doesn\u2019t make me go to the work I do with passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you know how many different skillsets Leonardo da Vinci practiced? Apart from being a genius, he was a painter, a sculptor, an architect, an engineer, an inventor, a botanist, an anatomist, a lifelong vegetarian and\u2026 a writer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why wasn\u2019t he just a writer? Or just a painter?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Or you could ask yourself – what wasn\u2019t he? Was there a part of himself that he didn\u2019t practice? It’s hard to believe. He created. And he created all sorts of things. He was inspired by everything in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was multi-faceted and he had multi-faceted ways of purpose and passion. And, get this, he was ignored by the scholars and the experts of Florence, because he didn\u2019t know mathematics or Latin. And it was first after his death that he really was celebrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe what you want to create is the tip of the iceberg of creativity – what everybody can see. But I believe that under the surface, that iceberg is a build-up of several different layers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not important to find one purpose. It\u2019s important to find as many of them as possible because when you find out what fuels your fire in several directions, you can keep building on your joy and happiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a \u2018find your purpose\u2019 cosmopolitan article that I used to read as a teen in the 90s. Because what is a purpose. It\u2019s like answering the questions in the amazing book \u2018Sophie’s world<\/a>\u2019 that I read as a teen. Finding your purpose is like answering the all over-shadowing question of \u2018who are you\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your true North \/ Your inner wiring<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So isn\u2019t purpose just doing the right thing for you? What you\u2019re aligned to do? I see it as much more complicated than that. It\u2019s like creating an arrow of activities that points to your own personal \u2018true north\u2019. I love writing and building concepts and carry them out in life. BUT I also love gardening, playing guitars, partying, dancing, and when I relax I do it with a game of civilization – a game that has been a standard feature on all my computers since I was 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can compare myself to Leonardo da Vinci, (even though no one is comparable to him) – we are both practicing several skillsets at the same time. We\u2019re both doing several things to reach our status quo – our own true north. He\u2019s on \u2018another world-ly\u2019 level compared to me (and most other people) – BUT the mark up is the same. If you\u2019re into woo-woo or ju-ju or what you call spiritual development these days, you\u2019re aligning all the things that \u2018spark your joy\u2019 maybe you can even talk about Marie Kondo\u2019fying your purpose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it doesn\u2019t spark your joy, it\u2019s probably not a part of your purpose. Sometimes when we have dreams and we are afraid to pursue it, it\u2019s not that we don\u2019t want to work on that dream, it\u2019s more inclined to the fact that we haven’t built the pretext yet. The more I look into this whole purpose, it can be completely daunting – you keep hearing \u2018but what if this isn\u2019t really my purpose after all in your head?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to start thinking about the new renaissance people – you have to go back to the multi-purpose renaissance person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not a renaissance in terms of invention. We need a renaissance in order for us to make the world a better place. The world needs a new era of creativity and creative approaches apart from putting stuff on your website and sharing stuff on social media. A new ‘Belle epoque’. We need something that breaks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,82],"tags":[124,123],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative-futures","category-impact","tag-humanity","tag-renaissance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":687,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/02\/embracing-the-new-renaissance-a-call-to-action\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":0},"title":"Embracing the New Renaissance: A Call to Action","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"So - I am in the proces of looking through my older content, some of it is crap - but it has GOLDEN moments here and there.. One of my older pieces (Humanity needs a new renaissance) was pretty spot on, here 5 years down the line. it strikes a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Climate and Society"","block_context":{"text":"Climate and Society","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/climate-and-society\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4382.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4382.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4382.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_4382.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":450,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/27\/scream-freedom-and-start-to-map-your-process-for-great-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":1},"title":"Scream FREEDOM and start to map your process for great work","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"June 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes in business you have to come to terms with what you're actually doing and how everybody else is doing things. We need to question what we're doing and why we are actually doing it. We need to define how we do great work, to make great work easier for\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/07\/halfway-into-the-decade-of-action\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":2},"title":"Halfway Into The Decade Of Action","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"October 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"During my work with CARE, I have recently become aware that when you start using a tone of voice that's more defining and bolder, as well as adding a visual identity that's edgier, then something happens externally for sure. But something also happens internally with the office space and your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Impact"","block_context":{"text":"Impact","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/business\/impact\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rock on","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/rock_on_henriette_transparent.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":166,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/10\/inner-business-bliss-feeling-bad-ass-much\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":3},"title":"Inner Business Bliss: Feeling Bad-Ass Much?","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"September 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I really like to measure stuff, internally and externally around my business and me as a business owner. And one of the things I often end up looking at internally is how bad-ass I feel as an entrepreneur. Bad ass, to me, is to show confidence in everything I do.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activist Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Activist Branding","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/branding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":485,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/08\/excuse-me-when-i-fight-for-wild-spirits\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":4},"title":"Excuse me when I fight for wild spirits..","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"March 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"...As well as diversity, quirkiness, and people who need tools to follow their dreams. So it's international women's day today. Already my Facebook feed is filling up with \"happy Women's day\". Google has a lovely '70s purple and flowers feel over it. Men are asking when it's people's day and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Feminism"","block_context":{"text":"Feminism","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/feminism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rock on","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/rock_on_henriette_transparent.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":497,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/17\/yes-you-can-market-on-pinterest-if-you-are-pinteresting\/","url_meta":{"origin":331,"position":5},"title":"Yes, you can market on Pinterest if you are pinteresting","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"February 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So everybody is head over heels about pinterest. So am I. Even though I normally say \"nevermind the the tools, it's about how to connect with the people+businesses that uses them\" I think pinterest is super fun. 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