TEDxDelft 2012 | Pim van den Akker

Pim van den Akker (1976) is one of the best floral masters in the world, teacher and designer. For the tedx introduction click here. In his Tedtalk he tells a personal story about how you can really use the child inside you to look at the world. He wants to be a child in the playground called the world. When he wakes up every day, he looks outside and thinks of what he wants to do in this big playground.

Being dyslectic has influenced his life path. Being bullied as a child and teachers telling him that he was dumb could have done two things; make him of break him.  The school system in the eighties was not capable of dealing with dyslectic children; children were put in special schools. This brought him to an education in Floristry. Pim has found his own way of learning; learning through feeling and experiencing.  Through his own way of learning he showed himself and the world that he is far from stupid. Writing his first book at the age of 21 with many books to follow he has given the world much inspiration for floral art and design. Floristry is about having fun, it helped him grow in a time that felt like a long play- time. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, they will take you to beautiful places.

What makes Pim tick is inspiring people. He travels around the world, doing shows, talking with people all over the word. In designing Pim sees a total image, he believes that as soon as you prepare too much it becomes a routine. If it’s routine you can’t challenge yourself. During a fun day is you surprise yourself. That is the reason why you shouldn’t prepare.

Life is like this; if it happens it happens. You can make a fuss about it, but without problems there are no solutions, and without solutions there is no growth. Being amazed and amaze yourself. Pim’s simple philosophy: everything I think of I can think, make or create because otherwise I wouldn’t think of it!

In floral design there is a golden rule. Look at the world as a child would, do what you like otherwise if you don’t like it, you can’t do it a full 100{95388bbb2e9df0f2b3d26445fc24fe82185b1b567dbb094bc3a45074083d0a2b}. Also towards customers he only makes what he likes, what he stands for. Maybe not commercially wise, but in the end it will pay off. This way people believe in you, they know what you stand for. “People know what I can create. It is easy to compromise, for money or a certain job that you want, but I stick to my idea which makes the road longer and more challenging, that is what I like.”

In anything you do, enjoy it and create it with a smile!