Tag Archives: courage
“What do sad people have in common? It seems they have all built a shrine to the past and often go there and do a strange Wail and Worship. What is the beginning of Happiness? It is to stop being so religious like that.” — Hafiz Human behavior fascinates me. It’s probably what attracted me to advertising in the first place. Divining and then driving behavior is a never-ending, evolving symbiotic relationship. Whether advertising is arbiter or mirror of human behavior…..
At the turn of the year, I ask you to take stock of everything that is going WELL in your life right now. If you’re having a difficult time thinking of anything, here’s one thing to consider: if you can read this, you have access to the internet and the ability to read. This isn’t my attempt to “doom shame” you, and it isn’t meant to minimize the extreme suffering experienced by millions of people this year. However, it is…..
It has been a terrible, deadly year. Every year brings its share of death, poverty and sadness, but 2021 has been a catastrophic time for almost all of us on this planet. Not only has the death and pain been so widespread, it didn’t have to be this way. It was made possible and exacerbated by the cowardice and greed of a handful of people who valued financial wealth above the lives of millions of their fellow human beings. I…..
For a few years now, I have watched in horror as my country implodes through a self-inflicted massacre. Doomscrolling on Twitter hasn’t helped. If you’re really interested in watching my brain unspool in real time, it’s all still there. Twitter is a way that I process things. As a way to stave off the negativity, positive-thinking clichés cascade through my head. I use them as mental pitons to stabilize my thoughts as they spiral downward. Stabilize they must, because at…..
We optimists sometimes get a bad rap, usually accused of being naïve, stupid, or most commonly, “unrealistic.” On the contrary; I would say that optimists are extremely realistic. They see things as they are — as they exist. • I know what it’s like to be fired. • …have a spouse cheat on me. • What it’s like to be betrayed in public—blindsided by those who I thought I could trust. There have been some seriously dark nights of the…..
Who occupies the driver’s seat in your life? Are you the pilot? Or are your outcomes determined by ceding power to others? When I consider possible mentors and role models, a cartoon character like the comic strip scamp Calvin seems like an unlikely choice. But should it be? “From now on, I’ll connect the dots my own way.” — Calvin In a rare reference to the number, quantity, interactivity with or any other reference to my social media accounts, faithful…..
You’ve probably heard of the phrase, ‘the calm before the storm,’ but there’s a calm after the storm, too. There’s a lull in energy—a drop from the frenzy of the storm—followed by the slow, methodical sifting through the wreckage it caused. Going through the pieces that were broken and altered by the storm takes time. Deciding what to keep and what needs to be thrown away is an exercise in discernment. Once you’ve taken an inventory of what’s worth saving,…..
If you’re an entrepreneur, or have an entrepreneurial spirit, you are probably driven by your vision. Even if it’s not fully formed, this vision is your focus, inspiration and fuel. But how do you transition from the imagination to the real? “First you jump off the cliff and you build wings on the way down.” —Ray Bradbury This sounds crazy, right? Conventional wisdom says that you should look before you leap, but if you have an iota of entrepreneurial essence…..
I have news for you perfectionists out there: You’re going to fail. You’re going to disappoint someone. You’re going to get something all wrong. …And you’re going to learn and move on. At these “failure junctions” in your life, you will lose friends. Your network will change. It is supposed to. Through the learning of your lesson, your polarity will change, and you will fall out of alignment with some of your friends (maybe even family). This changing polarity will…..
A common mistake that creators make is to set their asking price for their services or skill at what they think the market will bear (usually asking too little). The paradox is that when you set your value, the market meets you. As a writer and artist, I’ve been conditioned to donate my gifts or discount my rates for as long as I can remember. • Part of it is because I can tap into the well of creativity and…..