a short note on typologies

I’m finally done with Saul Bellow’s The Dean’s December. Took a long time because I kept it as a subway book. Enjoyed it, there are a few interesting things that sir Bellow does with his prose. His analysis is always a bit too analytical and the emotions are a bit too emotional, but all in all it takes a bit of going over the top to makes us see the difference once in a while. 

Anyway, what has been puzzling me lately is the fact that literature characters seem to not keep up with the times (not even Ryu Murakami’s or Beigbeder’s). Take dean Corde, The Dean’s December’s main character. He’s a middle aged chicagoan with mixed European origins that spends a month in communist Romania so as to be next to his wife at the moment of her mother’s death. He’s an intellectual of the old guard. Calm, moderate hard liquor drinker, with a background in philosophy and journalism that seems to understand all social intricacies by grasping them in a bookish manner. He’s a ‘ripe’ individual, the kind that has mostly already learned most relevant things of his time. 

However… the action takes place I think at some time in the 60s or 70s. It’s hard to tell really cause apparently Romania was already poor as heck but Sinatra was still hip. Now… this was a tremendous time in history. You’ve got the birth of rock’n roll, JFK, Bob Dylan, Woodstock and blow. The world was changing. And apart from reflections on the daily assumed abnormality of a suppressed people (which would be us) and on the anti-humanism apparent in a murder trial or prison life (which probably don’t seem that acute to anybody anymore), the perspective’s missing. The ‘plots’ of the different narrative strings that intertwine seem to be pieces of a different puzzle. 

And this man that’s supposed to bring it all together is neither here nor there. That’s what also makes him a good icon of cultivated people in general: he knows a heck of a lot of stuff about how things are supposed to be, dove a few times into what they are but really still has no clue what’s going on. And he’s not even trying to figure it all out. Most of the time he’s just… taking his time. Absorbing, comprehending, feeling. Things that most of us really have no time for, especially considering this age. Cause online made it all the more difficult. It’s becoming so easy to find out everything immediately that it’s turning into the only thing we do. We… find out, comment, move on, find out, comment, move on. But the necessary distance and time required for intimately acquiring what’s happening into our system seem to be long gone. 

It’s kind of like the difference between an elephant… and a ping-pong ball i.e., between a creature doomed inside a tech era and something completely worthless but on the move. 

So… what’s to be done?

Filed under: Laid about opinions , saul bellow, literature, the dean's december, character, typology

of how the choice to be escaped us

These last few days I’ve been stumbling across articles and reading books that coincidently have been dealing with the sources of human emotions and passions. And the views these subjects spur are in a sense limitless. Scientists keep trying to figure it all out, why we like the things we do, how they fit alongside Darwin so he doesn’t start turning in his grave, etc. I thought this article from The Economist was going to be much more enlightening than it turned out to. 

Aldous Huxley, in his Brave New World and Return to the Brave New World seems to think that we’re all not that hard to condition positively. That is, not through fear of retribution but through awards for precise, desirable actions. And that this availability of ours could be exploited on a large scale and lead to the implementation of an entirely uniform,

Filed under: Laid about opinions , art, brave new world, emotion, gadamer, heidegger, huxley, ipod, market share, motivation, standardization

another view of recent conclusions form neuroscience experiments

I discover all sorts of things in my RSS reader and this particular article attracted my attention due to the shocking title: “Poor Children’s Brain Activity Resembles That Of Stroke Victims, EEG Shows”. 

Makes you go ‘Oh my God, save them, I’ll donate, I promise!”. But anyway, I looked into more than just the title and this is what I found: 

“The researchers discovered a dramatic difference in the response of the prefrontal cortex not only when an unexpected image flashed on the screen, but also when children were merely watching the upright triangles waiting for a skewed triangle to appear. Those from low socioeconomic environments showed a lower response to the unexpected novel stimuli in the prefrontal cortex that was similar, Kishiyama said, to the response of people who have had a portion of their frontal lobe destroyed by a stroke.” 

Now… this may just be me, but this how I see it: a bunch of scientist flashed moving pictures at a small horde of 9-10 year-olds and the one from the poorer families didn’t exactly hurry to react to them. Which should apparently mean they have lower brain activity. Um… wrong! How about kids from underprivileged families just… don’t care about your moving triangles?! How about you show them a giant Mars bar? See if their brain activity improves there? 

I do know that these people supposedly know what they’re doing. But it just seems reasonable to assume that… sometimes lack of creativity and early response to stimuli can come from lack of motivation. Extended to a general lack of hope, even in the case of children that we’ve gotten used to see as the great optimists of the universe. Maybe they’re not doing well in school and being poor has something to do with it, but before thinking that it’s damaged their brains isn’t it in plain sight that they’ve simply been raised with and under a different perspective? One that may very well limit not speed but the will to respond to whatever people unable to really help you may ask. 

And for things that seem to not be affecting us personally, here’s what’s been going on:

Filed under: Laid about opinions, Life teaches us..., Non Daily Happenings, Of the immediate real world, The times , development, motivation, poverty, study

this is where we live

When I started this blog I wanted to keep up with it but with all that’s going on it’s probably harder than ever. But I wanted to share with you the amazing video above, that warmed me once after a very long day. 

Sometimes you give up believing that things will ever change. I’m currently enjoying Saul Bellow’s writing in his ‘The Dean’s December’. It’s a real life inspired story about a college dean that follows his native Romanian, famous astrophysicist, wife to Bucharest, to see to her dying mother. It outlines the strange things of communism with an interesting air – how they seemed to a foreigner from the utter inside. Bellow’s character, the dean, says at a certain point that facts were so prohibited here that feelings grew and spread in (tentacle-ish) ways that he could barely understand. 

In certain ways, due to the fact that those are in fact the people that brought us up, we’ve inherited part of that peculiarity. We bother with much nonsense and manage to resolve very few things altogether. Still, this is a silly example, but the most recent one that comes to mind… YouTube went wide. And in a sense, such things, that have become a part of daily life, we take for granted. I’m sure that YouTube has changed a lot since our first interaction and it has taken steps far more important than this one. However, it just seemed to always look the same. And I took it for granted that it always will look the same as well as provide the same comfort. I sank into that certainty immediately. 

Things change slow around here. Bucharest seems to just be getting dirtier and dirtier. With the, if possible, increasingly horrible traffic. But on the outside stuff is happening. On the outside it seems things have changed all the long. And theoretically I know they have here, as well. I know people couldn’t even imagine this level of comfort 15 years ago. And me writing on my white, shiny macbook complaining about this country, while affording to pay rent and enjoy a Starbucks once in a while. Things have skipped over here and changed dramatically compared to the ‘outside’. Yet we still have this habit of thinking that things are wrong and they always will be… ’cause that’s just us. We don’t see the small things. 

We don’t Twitter. I don’t Twitter. I have 2 friends that do and that’s about it. I’ll start doing it soon enough myself, once i don’t have to go from my bed to work, then to school, then to work, then back to sleep. The web hasn’t entered our lives over here as much as it seems to have done to others in the west. We’re still suspicious of it, unwilling to give in, unable to let go of keeping our lives private. And we have that right in fact, to privacy. Except that privacy’s evolving. And the concepts of work and workspace are changing. As is the one of communication. And we’re still missing out on it. Because we can’t get used to the fact that yes, most things we did were wrong and we have to let them go. Because what’s new may be awful and destructive at times, but it can be clean, if we let it. It offers novelty or, better put, novelty is offered to it. And this does not mean abandoning tradition. Not real tradition at least. But it is time to let go of all the ridiculous pretentiousness that used to be associated with well-breeding.

This is kind of what I’m talking about:

Filed under: Laid about opinions, Personals , bucharest, communism, romanian, saul bellow

de ce obosesc oamenii?

 

Am apucat sa incerc ceva lucruri si… asta vine cu doza ei de… intoleranta.

Da, am inceput sa lucrez de la 16 ani, ceea ce nu e foarte comun in tara asta. Am scris texte, facut poze si desene tehnice, printuri si o reclama tv, am construit de la 0 o retea de oameni care au avut incredere in mine si cu care inca nu mi-am incheiat toate socotelile si am ajuns abia acum la punctul in care… trebuie sa fiu disciplinata.

Am fost la inceptul saptamanii la un interviu… genul de interviu la care orice foarte tanar account viseaza, la o firma de publicitate cu nume de bestie… unde m-am simtit ca intr-o vizuina. Din fericire, daca ai cat de cat suflet, dispar repede aspiratiile “multinationale”. Exista proiecte mai mici care se pot face cu oameni mai buni, salarii mai mici care te tin mai la caldura decat ar putea s-o faca orice stat de plata umflat si asa mai departe. Cu toate astea sunt mii de indivizi in orasul asta prinsi in blocurile astea de “carbonita”. Si printesa Leia si Luke sunt nowhere in sight. 

Cred ca lucrul cel mai greu de acceptat, care inca nici de mine nu s-a lipit asa bine, desi credeam ca e unul dintre primele pe care le-am invatat… este ca uneori va trebui sa… fii activ toata ziua (sa nu obosesti si sa o iei de la capat). Termenul potrivit e sa muncesti, dar la noi are o conotatie negativa. Pentru ca pare de la sine inteles ca munca e ceva ce se face pentru altii. La drept vorbind orice nu e superficial e un fel de munca. Orice presupune un efort la fel, chiar daca vine din pasiune. 

Nu stiu voi, dar mie mi se pare ca suntem crescuti cu lene. Balteste peste tot. Oameni care asteapta sa termine ce fac sau care se cred eroi pentru ca rezista in procesul de a face mai mult decat toti ceilalti. Ori… evident ca e o problema mult mai mare cu a nu face decat cu a face. Cu singura exceptie consacrata de a face dragoste, nu razboi. 

Faptul ca oamenii sunt searbazi emontional se vede in orasul asta pentru ca oamenii nu stiu sa faca dragoste cu nimic de fapt. Da, nici intre ei. Stiu sa priveasca dragostea ca pe o drama sau ca pe o exceptie, ca pe ceva ce se-ntampla si cand se-ntampla trebuie ingherat si tinut bine pe loc. Ori… dragostea se face. Si binele… se face. Si desi poate suna foarte Woody Allen nu mi se pare neadevarat ca trebuie sa faci… dragoste cu tot ce-ti iese-n cale. Si mai ales cu… ce-ti asterni. 

Nimeni nu isi doreste de fapt sa faca bine lucruri de care nu e legat. Dar nu stam sa alegem sa ne legam de ceva. Ne trezim foarte tarziu si nu prea credem in alternative. Sau ne sperie. De-asta se si fac multe lucruri prost, pentru ca multi oameni nu stiu de fapt ce vor sa faca si cum trebuie sa aiba o activitate, pot sa corecteze ce au facut altii. Aceleasi eforturi fara rost de 2 ori, de 3 ori, de cati robotei avem. 

Disciplina nu e o rutina eficienta. Sau nu ar trebui sa fie. E doar efortul constant de a face lucruri impecabile. Ori lucruri impecabile nu prea ies din maini murdare. Maini care umbla cu foarte multe alte lucruri pentru ca nu stiu de fapt de ce ar trebui sa se tina. Disciplina ca un lucru frumos se intalneste doar in oameni care iubesc sa faca ceva mai mult chiar decat iubesc rezultatele, consecintele, etc. 

Oricum… cand incepi sa traiesti asta… sa mergi cat mai aproape de lucrurile pe care le iubesti si sa incerci sa te identifici cu ele prin toate activitatile tale… nu prea mai obosesti. Si iti si dispare din intelegerea pe care o aveai pentru restul indivizilor care accepta, culmea, plini de viata si ascultand Radiohead, sa traiasca ca si cum ar fi expusi intr-o casa de amanet si tre sa apara careva sa-i rascumpere pentru ca nu pot sa se ridice pe picioarele lor si sa plece. 

Mda… am ajuns la cu totul altceva decat ce mi-as fi propus sa scriu. Dar nu conteaza.

 

Asa, ca sa nu fie postarea asta degeaba, va las cateva linkuri cu niste prezentari destepte. 

What the f**k is social media?

What’s next in marketing/advertising

Filed under: Laid about opinions , activitate, dragoste, efort, evolutie, intoleranta, munca

opportunities may come along

… for you to turn something that exists into something that didn’t. – Robert Zimmerman on becoming a songwriter… or Robert Zimmerman on becoming Bob Dylan

I’m reading Bob’s Chronicles, Vol. I, that is, the first volume of his autobiography. And it is, of course, amazing. Like reading a Kerouak novel whose still unbelievable character has purpose. 

What puzzles me is that… the generation before us, that was young during the 70s… pretty much did it all. Got high, flew to the moon, lived through a cold war and after a world one, managed to get itself back on its feet and created models all but perishable. After Sinatra and the Rat Pack, the new wave included Johnny Cash, Bob, Baez, Ray Charles. Even the ones that got it wrong: Elvis, Hendrix or Joplin seemed to have a little more life in them than we do. 

So in a sense it’s strange, cause we’re the children of that generation. We’re supposed to be following them and be more peace-oriented, more revolutionary, more open and warm, natural-born drifters. And somehow we are… natural born-surfers. I hear kids these days (mind you, I’m only 21 and there’s a major difference between me and any 15 year old) grow up with a slightly different bone and muscle structure to their thumb, developed with video game and console remotes, that makes them do certain simple things very differently (such as switch on the light with their thumb). I know, it sound silly to think about something like that… but it’s probably what the apes said when we started putting our opposable thumbs to good use. 

There’s still, i think, anticipation in the air. Anticipation, anxiety and great excitement at what the future still holds. 

I used to critique modern communication and be an advocate of traditional methods. ‘People would remain best friends even having not met for years. It would take a month to deliver a letter across the sea, if the ship actually got there, and they would still write and tell’. Sure, they had a life expectancy of 45… 

There’s just so many of us right now, so many people to pick from that we honestly do not need friends for life anymore. We change, we evolve so rapidly and absorb so much more information than any previous generation that our psyche jumps from stage to stage and it abandons those that can’t keep up with it, or so it seems. But we’re still not cut out for all the knowledge flow available. Hell, I live in an industrial suburb of a small town. I see so many “shiny happy people” (sparkling jackets, vinyl shoes, not a care in the world) that have the IQ of an intelligent ape and could not give a damn about the changes going on in the world. This is Romania. People don’t care about online media, going green and globalization. Making a difference, finding a way, creating. (In this respect I know many well cultured people that are worth pretty much the same for having the same dreams despite the different prospects).  

It’s becoming harder and harder to hold on to the wave, even more so to ride on it and it seems unbelievable that there are few preceding it. 

Still, in Bob’s words… sometimes it’s like we’ve been pulling an empty wagon for a long time and now that we’ve began filling it up we’re going to have to pull harder. He thought that about studying poetry but it’s become true for our general livelihood. And we shouldn’t be afraid of pulling harder or going further into… what seems to be just empty open space. We’re inventing the world as we’re going and I used to think that we were doing it wrong and that we were in fact hopeless (even if in a Camusian way). Blow ourselves up or not, either the Earth gets rid of us sooner or we become better and better… I don’t find a problem with either of those.

It’s like we’re walking towards a door and as we’re getting closer the door seems to be getting bigger and bigger. So who knows what lies ahead?!

Filed under: Laid about opinions, To Dos , bob dylan, changes, chronicles, communication, evolution, future, robert zimmerman

the beginning of a beautiful affair

… with more than one thing.

I’m lately trying to get better at what I do… by simply paying attention and reading as much as I can in order to actually form good premises for know how… then the actual, professional, european standard know how will follow.

So, yes, I’ve read Martha Stewart, just the copy that you could buy along with Saptamana Financiara, Martha’s 10 rules. The book is by no means illuminating when it comes to personal improvement or radical behavioral changes. However, if your eyes are open and your mind ready to accept it, there’s definitely something to learn from it’s general attitude. Yes, it’s very, VERY american, which isn’t exactly a plus. Still, it has that… ” I went out and did this and that and look at that… it worked out. Sure, I was smart and passionate, but I could have failed”… and the next few words to that would be “… just like you.”

See… it’s not that we fail, but that we accept that we are and we resume to being… failures. Never trying to do something bigger and better than your present self… that’s failing. It’s failing all the way. Accepting what you’re doing so far and not wanting to do more… again… utter failure. It doesn’t have to be professional, or even spiritual. Hell, it can be sexual, geographical, it just means not being still in all manners. 

If you’re in your twenties and your biggest dream is to buy a house… you’re failure. If you’re in school and your only hope is to do good… you’re a failure. Self-satisfaction inside mediocrity is simple the most popular and shameful form of failure. And the saddest part is, it comes in all shapes and sizes. I know well cultured people having succumbed to the same virus, and I hear about more and more of them every day. 

You may not be Shakespeare, but write… something. Not Armstrong, but step somewhere new, sing something beautiful.

See, there’s a sort of battle between our potential of being excellent and our nearly inborn decision of giving up. It’s not about being excellent at something in particular, just about being excellent. Don’t be yourself, be yourself at your best. You’ll find out it’s not even tiresome. It’s not. Hell, do that for a few days you’ll like yourself so much you’ll never want to go back. The the ego might intervene and stop you again.

The ridiculous thing is the only people that this sounds like bullshit to are those not even willing to try.

And the reason I write it, cause I was asked how the hell I feel entitled, is that I’ve simply had enough of jaded people, of already half-menopaused women in their twenties, drama queens and spoiled brats.

Because on the other hand there can be people like the ones that helped with me writing this from my day-old MacBook. People that do, want and can achieve. 

And the panda that keeps me going.

Filed under: Laid about opinions, To Dos , excellence, failure, martha stewart, mediocrity

the inevitability of trendiness

Yes, it finally happened, like we all knew it would.

And speaking of me being an Apple buff, here’s one negative thing about what is probably the most powerful thing in the world:

“…no matter how amazing your brand message is…No matter how beautiful your product is…No matter the level of customer service…your customers will want a real say in what they purchase and even what your product should be. Don’t be shocked when it happens either. Take it as an opportunity to learn. Let it soak in for a minute. Let their voices be heard and see if what they want might actually help you the next time you engage them.” -> by Matt Binkowski of Jack Morton, after analyzing Apple’s fight to keep its software “private” for sales’ sake

And to further this opinion, take a look at this insightful piece of “now”-coherent writing.

Also, check this out:

“Given the “pro-social” mentality of younger consumers, cause marketing is likely to keep growing. The 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study found that among consumers born between 1979-2001, 61% feel personally responsible for making a difference in the world—and 78% believe that companies have a responsibility to join them in this effort.” – from an article by Liz Bigham

I’m looking into experiential marketing partly because of the day job. Yes, I do however think it’s fascinating and the reasonable step in marketing strategy for any company. Any up-to-date self-respecting brand is already using it and has a long time before it became a topic of discussion, anyway. That is, before respecting the consumer was actually a trend.

However, it all ads up to the same thing: not just companies, but everybody has to go with the flow. Of course we’ve got a soft spot for the past. Hell, I adore Bob Dylan (speaking of which, kudos to one of the world’s better people, Julie White that gave me The Bob Dylan Chronicles, volume I for my bday). And he loved folk music. It is the past that builds us, but it builds us for the sake of the future and it is ludicrous that after all our efforts of reaching and achieving that somehow target some distant time, we could, still, not give a damn about the future.

There’s no common sense towards growing steadily, proficiently, responsibly in what we do. Especially with Romania. It doesn’t happen with people or companies. We’re all just focused on meek, scanty, selfish objectives that have nothing to do with the world around us. And we are in fact the world. Not the cars, not the buildings but the spirit of the era. And we connect from trees, leaves and the rain to everything alive and more real than superficial name-tag elegance.

And, also ludicrously, marketing is probably one of the best examples out there. Because it changes, it evolves, it switches course, anything to grow and stay alive. Talented marketers should be nothing more than elegant fighters, pushing everybody else forward, telling you who to be and what to want, so long as you’re not capable of deciding. They find ways to interact and keep you connected, hook you so badly that any woman in love could take a hint. Brands are probably like women anyway, all trying to get married to the same man: the consumer.

Right… Far too late for my gibberish now. Off to doing.

Filed under: Laid about opinions, Life teaches us..., The times, To Dos , change, evolution, experience, hi5, marketing, trends

pe langa celelalte lucruri, de ce e totusi bine si cum facem sa si fie

Lucrez la o firma mica si cu multe fete unde am venit de la o firma mica si cu multi baieti.

De fapt am sarit din firma mica-n firma mica, sunt cam la a4a. Am ramas tot timpul prin advertising. La inceput imi doream, apoi mi-a disparut interesul direct dar s-a lipit cumva domeniul de mine. Sunt un bun copil al capitalismului invatat fortat, probabil. Sunt interesata de modalitati de promovare neconventionala a unor produse pe care nu am de gand sa le folosesc si de posibilitatea de a face oamenii sa-si intoarca pe trotuar capul spre ceva ce… am gandit cu mana mea.

Sunt un pasionat brand advocate pentru Apple, pro-micro-media si hotarata sa inteleg trendurile mai degraba decat sa le adopt. Sunt de fapt mult prea plictisita de ceea ce pare a fi de multe ori inovatie pretinsa, pana imi dau seama ca s-au facut totusi pasi mari in comunicare.

De ce cred asta? Pentru ca vad uneori ca adv-ul incepe sa genereze aceleasi rezultate ca si omul asta. Si iata cateva exemple:

Nu tin minte in momentul asta daca am citit vreodata sincerity in vreun text corporate despre the brand values. Cred si sper ca, dupa mult mult timp, vazuta de la distanta, evolutia domeniului va indica directia asta. Cred ca se va investi in rebrandingul advertisingului ca domeniu dintr-o industrie a sclipiciului si tandrelor mistificari la limita mintitului cras, in ce se voia a fi la inceput: cea mai estetica si clara metoda de simpla informare. Bine, asta era pe vremea cand produsele erau produse si lumea le cumpara pentru utilitatea lor. Si-asa minimalismul e pe val si probabil cateva concerne uriase vor inghiti productia “produselor” ca atare. Nu vom mai cumpara mare lucru fizic. De aceea nu va mai trebui sa advertizam lucruri practice pe post de iluzii. Vom advertiza iluzii pur si simplu. Realitati virtuale, plecate din ever-popular-ul gaming si din the movie industry.

Cat timp poti sustine ca un detergent e magic? Si cat timp se va merita sa investesti intr-un brand care iti trebuie si alte resurse in afara de resurse umane?

Productia fizica de masa trebuie sa moara. Pentru ca da, razboaie sau nu, petrol sau nu, trecerea se va petrece la un moment dat si sunt 2 variante: fie sa nu mai aiba nimeni nimic (incalzire globala, topiri, etc.), fie sa avem cu totul toti si sa cumparam… si mai mult. Drogurile au potential sa devina la fel de outdated pentru ca distributia de realitate 3d va fi legala.

Serios, cat mai e pana la traficul cu plug-in-uri?

Incetam sa fim oameni. De fapt incetam sa fim creaturi vii si asta poate sa fie bine sau rau.

Smith din The Matrix avea dreptate. Rasa umana are fix comportament de virus. Asta se poate schimba pentru ca nu TREBUIE sa consumam resurse ca sa existam. Si poate va veni un moment cand nu o vom mai face. Si atunci being eco-friendly ca fi outdated (sa reluam, ca si industria si drogurile). Partea buna e ca aproape ne vom separa de corpurile noastre – ceea ce fiecare religie de pe pamantul asta incearca sa faca din noi. Partea proasta e ca… cel mai probabil n-am sti ca facem asta, nu am sti de ce si ne-ar fi groaznic de dor de ele. Metafizic, bineinteles.

Mda… si viitorul va suna… cum?

Filed under: Laid about opinions, Life teaches us..., Words mainly , advertising, consumption, future, innovation, Resources

the power of example and the will to change

I read my last post and found I don’t like the tone of it.

There’s something to admire, about people like Nelson up here and you’ll understand if you read this article. Another way to grasp the same thing is to take an overall look at this man’s postings or at this wonderful and revolutionary piece of writing.

There’s something to moving forward without being bitter that doesn’t just push you further, but also brings up the rear. Here’s your soundtrack for this post:

Don’t stride to be alone. There’s nothing to it. Smile and get others to walk beside you. Don’t offer them anything in return. Don’t even pretend to be doing so. Be yourself SO LONG AS you know that it is YOU that builds your self. You’re not stuck in whoever you are. You can be better and you can be more positive, you can be better, do things better, love and laugh more.

It seems, it seems to not have a point and be difficult. But you may find that happiness generates happiness, in people as well in peoples. We need someone to push us from behind a great deal of time. But we do have the strength to act and be willingly, and without help.

Listen to the second one of this man’s songs and watch the happiness on his face while he plays:

You know what? Whatever you’re doing it should be making you happy. It doesn’t have to be easy, it doesn’t have to keep you warm ALL the time, but somehow you have to know deep inside that you WANT to do it, you want to be your self, acting the way you are ALL the time you are in fact your self.

It’s not really what you do so much as who you are. Do what you are!… that’s my advice to you. If you’re caring, do something that only someone who really cares could stand. Find that one thing you’re proud of and turn it into a daily activity. It doesn’t have to be pin-point. And here’s an example. I thought I loved literature and wanted to be a journalist so I could write. Then I realized I could get more into creativity by doing copywriting. And then came across that neither was in fact appropriate. There was something so artificial about it it made my guts hurt. And now I’m into… event planning?!… and I like it because I realized I didn’t like the writing as much as producing the story. I love authoring. And authoring is more than writing, more than concepts or words strewn about. It’s generating, producing, giving birth to something real, that exists outside of you. And I find that I can do that by creating… user-experience. Which coincidentally gives me a perfect place on the… professional market.

It’s not the stories, it’s what they do to people’s imaginations. Therefore, it’s not the events, or organizing them. It’s trying to generate a whole other lifestyle, a better one, for whoever is willing to adopt it for a few hours. And in their memory and in real life you’ve created something outside of yourself that has the power to reach and change.

Find out what you LOVE to do. And you’ll probably go through a lot of things you though you loved before finding one you could stick to. Don’t be afraid of rethinking and starting over. They’re the best things about life: that you can, in fact, be whoever you want to be. And having been a certain way so far is only a poor excuse to stay that way.

I just can’t make the world a better place without your help, really.

Filed under: Laid about opinions, Life teaches us..., Personals, To Dos , change, doing, life, living advice, love, Nelson Mandela, power of example, professional advice, role model, stories, writing