I have been contemplating the shape and tenor of this blog. There are so many perspectives to who I am and what I can offer. If you’re familiar with the poet Walt Whitman, you’ll understand what I mean when I say, ‘I contain multitudes’ (as do we all). It has been challenging for me to determine how best to assemble my various multitudes in a way that is meaningful and helpful to others.
I spent some time this week writing, talking with friends in my innermost circle, including a professional coaching call with a consultant on the East coast who specializes in helping creative people like me with framing out professional trajectories. I’m so grateful for good friends who love me enough to tell me what they’re really thinking, without being unkind.
So here’s what I’m going to try. Based on my consultant call, I’m going to start integrating stories beginning with my childhood to the present day, as they relate to the subject and content of my next book. She and I also identified a couple of common threads in my skill set that may have an application on this platform.
The themes of tour guide, gardener, nurturer and translator are represented in the through-line that connects what I do and how I help people. The other aspect of my approach focuses on perspective and reflection, which is why I chose these pictures of Pablo Picasso’s sculpture, Chicago.
Regardless of one’s differing vantage points, the sculpture is the same. Each of us sees something different in it, and each of us brings our own interpretations of it. Similarly, each of us draws people into our orbit who reflect aspects of ourselves that we wish to examine or enjoy. We each have an opportunity to contribute to a synergistic creator collaborative.
P.S. Every Sunday, I publish a free weekly newsletter called the 3 Minute Reset, which includes life lessons, life hacks and treats. To subscribe, click here.
P.P.S. Here is some information about the site and sculpture: The Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its open courtyard Daley Plaza and named after longtime mayor Richard J. Daley, is the premier civic center of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Located at 50 W Washington St., the Center’s modernist skyscraper primarily houses offices and courtrooms for the Cook County Circuit Courts.
The Chicago Picasso is an untitled monumental sculpture by Pablo Picasso in Daley Plaza. The Picasso “precipitated an aesthetic shift in civic and urban planning, broadening the idea of public art beyond the commemorative.”
The cor-ten steel sculpture, dedicated on August 15, 1967, is 50 feet (15.2 m) tall and weighs 162 short tons (147 t). The Cubist sculpture by Picasso was the first such major public artwork in downtown Chicago, and has become a well-known landmark. Publicly accessible, it is known for its inviting jungle gym-like characteristics. Visitors to Daley Plaza can often be seen climbing on and sliding down the base of the sculpture. (Source: Wikipedia)
