Finding the play in work

When I was a kid, my playtime was all about imagination. I was creating a fort in the bushes with my brother or taking Barbie on amazing adventures with my neighbor. Time not out running around was spent with my friends Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Encyclopedia Brown, Ramona and Misty romping around the world. Coloring wasn’t so much about scribbling as it was about designing a beautiful world for Strawberry Shortcake to live in.

Taking application from Kevin Carroll’s book – The Red Rubber Ball at Work – I can see where the things I loved to do as a child are still the things I love to do today – color, create, imagine, read, explore.

As I’ve looked at my career goal (again and again and again), I’ve tried to ensure that what I’ve laid out is consistent with the standard of play for me. Part of what I want to change is moving from work that is fun on a sporadic basis to a life that is full of fun. Without the fun, I might as well have just stayed where I was.

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Giving it away for free can pay off

From Shepard Fairey to Seth Godin, there are lots of examples of people who have given their works away for free in order to spread an idea. But here's proof that it works if you just want to make more money. (Paying attention, music industry?)

The boys of Monty Python, rather than take legal action against people posting their clips, decided to do the YouTube crowd one better by making their videos available in an official Monty Python channel in really high quality versions. (Since, well, they kind of had access to the sources.) The caveat, as they explain, is that they want you to go buy their stuff. And it's working. To the tune according to Fast Company, of 23,000 percent. That's a lot of sparrows and coconuts!!

And of course, their explanation video launching the channel is classic Monty Python. These guys understand the value of their brand and have always stuck to it. Kudos to them for taking a non-litigious approach that has benefited them and their fans.

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Reading along with Seth's program

I know some of you are interested in following along with this program I’m in with Seth Godin and eight other amazing people. One thing we’re doing a lot of is reading. A lot. And writing. A lot. And talking/arguing/discussing. A lot. I haven’t had this much mental exercise in a long time and, while exhausting, I’m loving that part for sure.

So here’s a list of the stack of books I have right now in my apartment. Not all of them are proscribed; some I just grabbed because Seth has copies and I’ve always wanted to read them. (It’s good to know someone who has book connections.) Links will take you Amazon where you can get your own copy and yes, you’ll be supporting my stay in New York if you buy anything once you get there. (And thanks for that!)

Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the First Time
Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Republic of Tea: The Story of the Creation of a Business, as Told Through the Personal Letters of Its Founders
The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
The Red Rubber Ball at Work: Elevate Your Game Through the Hidden Power of Play
slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations
Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself

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Taking a look at the mess inside my head

Ugh.

Should have known this was coming. It makes perfect sense really. You can’t set out on a path to change your life if you don’t know why you want to change and what you want to change to. (Self-censored comment here about emotional voting for “hope and change”.)

But being introspective has always been a struggle for me. It goes against my practical nature to ponder the whys of things. I’m usually too busy dealing with the hows to worry overly much about the whys. So here I am trying to confront the whys and be realistic about what I want out of life at this point.

• Is it bad to not want the moon?
• Is it bad to not want to be rich? (Maybe just anti-American.)
• Is it bad to be happy with much of my life?
• Is it bad to find it difficult to narrow down just what I’m unhappy with right now?
• Is it bad to not know just yet?

How much do I hate this? How much do I want to avoid it? I actually spent time exercising rather than focusing on it. Not that I wasn’t thinking about it, but I was definitely in avoidance mode. (Even writing this post is an act of avoidance.) Why? Right. Answering that question requires more introspection. You’re not catching me that easily, folks.

But it’s a valid question. My easy answer, the one that seems most logical, is that I struggle with things that don’t have a “right” answer, a “correct” response. When you start getting all touchy-feely on me, the black and white tends to go out the door and the performance-based part of me starts to panic.

I’m here to change my life, right? At least the career parts that really need to be blown up and rebuilt. So I’m back to figuring out just what it is I want, what it is I hope to get out of life going forward. Wish me luck with this particular homework assignment! (And start your own!)

Secretary of the Arts? Oh stop them now, please!!

Seems there’s an online petition out there to try to get Obama to create a new cabinet position – Secretary of Arts. When I checked it out, there were more than 140K signatures on there, and given all the publicity the “issue” has gotten recently, I’d expect we’ll see a few more.

This all started based on some comments Quincy Jones made about how he planned to beg Obama to create this position. Seems a few people agree with him.

Anyone else shuddering yet? Maybe I’m the only one. (Or maybe it’s just the cold here in New York.) Setting aside the obvious issue that this takes the federal government outside of its constitutional mandate (and I’m tired of paying for the litany of “extras” the government has taken on over the years), the idea of centralizing arts and culture leaves me a bit queasy. Not that I’m automatically expecting a cultural revolution ala China and Mao. But any time you have the government involved in what is or isn’t art and what should and shouldn’t be permitted we have a problem. Remember the Robert Maplethorpe debacle? The second public money gets involved, art is no longer defined by what an individual finds beautiful or inspiring, but by what the masses do not find offensive or profane. I find the rush to create some central agency to oversee arts in this country poorly thought out

I know, I know. This position is being pushed as one that would deal with policy – big things like copyrights and piracy and so forth. But, given our tendency toward creating a nanny state, just how long would it take before someone is calling on the Secretary of the Arts to “do something” about offensive art or dirty lyrics or erotic literature? Every single issue I’ve seen discussed as becoming part of this person’s job is already covered by another agency or department. Do we really need more bureaucracy or just more efficiency? Is this just an ego trip for Jones or artists in general? After all, if it has a cabinet position attached to it, it must be important, right?

I suppose this one time I should be happy that Obama will have so much else on his plate that this really shouldn’t rise to the level of a priority. On the other hand, it’s the kind of “feel-good” action politicians love to take to distract us from what’s really important. Where do you think this is going to end up? Am I worrying for nothing? Am I wrong that this is not a direction we should be headed?

Snow!!!!

Not quite sure I'm ready for this!! Here's my car getting covered this morning in the snow. Good thing I can walk to stuff in Hastings at least. Brrr!!!

Happy birthday, Alexa

I have a truly wonderful family. Now, we're a little weird. I mean, we're all still married, the kids are well disciplined, none of us are mooching off mom and dad. There have been many ups and downs over the years, but in all, we've led a rather charmed life, when I stop to think about it.

Saturday, Jan. 3, I got a call that no one ever wants. My parents and sister's kids had been in a wreck and my niece Alexa was killed when the car rolled over on her. This last week and a half have seen more tears in my family than I think were shed in the previous 40 years combined.

Today is Alexa's birthday. She would have been 11. And we still (and will always) mourn her leaving us. I put together pictures of her life for the memorial service and this was a girl who had lived a life. She was eager for a new adventure, did things with her own special flair and never saw strangers - just friends she hadn't met yet.

I have lots of deep thoughts about this event. They're rather jumbled in my head, though, which isn't a surprise for anyone who knows me. But the most important, which my family believes strongly, is that God is in control, he has a plan and he is good. And this is something that is unchanging. He wasn't asleep on Saturday and bad things happened. He is always large and in charge, and while we may not understand what he's doing, we take comfort in knowing that he does. I ran across a verse yesterday that gives me further peace - Job 42:2. "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." I love that not only does God have a plan, but there is nothing that can keep it from happening. Whatever and however he is planning to use this is going to happen.

We know we'll see her again some day in heaven, although it won't be the same as having her here now. It's easy to feel sad because she'll never have the joy of winning a district basketball tournament or falling in love or seeing more of the world. But if you truly believe she's in heaven, she's got the better end of the deal right now.

My Aunt Elaine left us in early December. It's so easy to think that she and Alexa are up there giving all of heaven a concert. But that's no four-number set of Broadway tunes they've cooked up. At the memorial service, my sister's musical group played the song Elaine and Alexa are singing now and forever and that we'll someday join them in - Agnus Dei.

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
For the Lord God Almighty reigns
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
For the Lord God Almighty reigns
Hallelujah
Holy, holy, is the Lord God, almighty
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
Amen