Seth just posted a thought about the importance of relationships and how to
build/maintain them. “The experience I have with you as a customer or a friend is far more important than a few random bits flying by on the screen.”
My advice?
So, touch somebody. Do something tangible. Any questions?
My heart stopped briefly this morning. It resumed beating when I realized I had NOT written the Web copy pilloried by Seth at 6:28 a.m., Eastern.
My sympathies go to Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, an otherwise fine law firm in need of better editing. (A testament to the power of Google that I found the firm merely by pasting in the offending copy.)
So what? (more…)
Seth reminded me this morning of the creative tension I see in myself. Part of me is in a hurry to ship. I’ve been given a deadline, I want to please and impress my client and so on. Another part of me understands that I need to slow down and just be with myself in order to create.
I would be wise to remember that most readers experience the same tension. They, too, are being pulled in a million directions and are seeking balance — consciously or not.
So, what can I do to facilitate what they need to have happen? How do I make life/work easier for others? Others who have way too much on their plates.
The ones interested in a life with fewer traffic jams.
There may be one more aspect to Seth’s post about More. I’m thinking of the illusion of More that creating digital media encourages.
My teacher for this was a very talented graphic designer-photographer with whom I’ve worked on Web and print projects. Once upon a time, we were working on a Web project and getting frequent, last-minute requests for design and copy changes on the site.
Many of these requests for edits were long past whatever deadlines anybody had established. And, they stretched or exceeded the rounds of revisions to which everybody had agreed. (more…)
I wish there were some kind of predictive index for writers. Something that might answer a client’s recent question.
He asked me, “Are all of these going to be this hard?”
My client (an attorney) was referring the nugget he had just handed off to me to edit. He and I are working on a practical legal issues guide for his business clients, comprising about 50 short do’s and don’ts.
Shankar Vedantam, a science writer for the Washington Post, might reply, “no.” He might say that however we feel about a project at any particular moment is not a very reliable predictor for how we’ll always feel about it. (more…)
Carl Jung (1875-1961): "Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is."
I don’t often find myself disagreeing with Seth Godin. He and I parted ways, however, when he wrote the other day about the amygdala, that pre-rational part of our brains sometimes referred to as the lizard (or reptile) brain. Seth said, “The amygdala isn’t going away. Your lizard brain is here to stay, and your job is to figure out how to quiet it and ignore it.”
Quiet it, maybe. Ignore it? Not a chance.
In fact, I happen to agree with Dr. Jung. I agree that the parts of me that I hide, repress and deny — the Shadow parts — will have more power over me the more they stay in Shadow.
So, my work is to do my best to stay awake to my amygdala and accept its job description. The better I do this, the less it runs my life. The less I act out, fighting or fleeing instead of just being.
Or, as Seth might put it, the more willing I am to ship.
Seth Godin said it really well today. While Seth’s context was business plans, he was so right when he wrote, “In my experience, data crowds out faith.” He added, “Relying too much on proof distracts you from the real mission–which is emotional connection.”
I wish I had a nickel for every time a marketing director asked the elevator speech question: “What if someone asks, ‘What do you do?’ and you have 20 seconds to answer? What do you tell them before the doors open and one of you gets off?”
I think, therefore I am (more…)
