with hints of purple
flowers changing through the spring
new wonders each day
Tonight’s Haiku: April 24, 2025
Category: Personal Reflections
Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection
Don’t depend on a single social media platform for your business
I came across this YouTube short today and it reminded me of a key digital strategy that I highly value: don’t become dependent upon someone else’s service (YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, etc).
Basically, YouTube demonetized this creator with no notice of the issue at hand (oddly, after 10 days, it was returned). She also had her Twitch channel suspended for spurious reasons (watch the video for details).
So, my advice: do NOT let your business become dependent on one platform. You become at risk from frivolus and spurious decisions. You also are dependent on the fiscal management of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc. TikTok’s recent troubles showcase this. Several businesses were left scrambling to respond.
I recommend pointing people to YOUR website, and to do so from the beginning. Additionally, start a newsletter and capture email addresses. Those are powerful for your current business (when your socials are functioning as planned) and mission critical when something goes wrong.
Remember to think long-term, anticipate challenges and be proactive in engaging them.
A Morning Haiku
cherry blossoms fall
as spring's skies begin to warm
free of all our fears
Tonight’s Haiku
sunlight descending
brightening western mountains
quiet witnesses
Tonight’s Haiku
another spring day
cherry blossoms scattering
fading memories
Wrote this one early this morning. Created this image in Canva.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Early morning haiku
sleep’s evasive
the early morning darkness
hiding raindrops
Yeah, I should be asleep,
I’d prefer to be asleep
Yet that is not
My reality.
Starting the day
awakened by self-doubt
criticizing all I've done
so I face within
resisting these words
embracing all that I am
keep moving forward
“Be myself? I’d rather die.”
Substack has a feature where they serve up posts that I might like. Not all of them have been been hits, much less home runs (wait…why the hell am I serving up sports analogies?). But this one was good! “Be myself? I’d rather die“, a post by psychologist Adam Mastroianni, and it looks at many things, but the focus that spoke to me was on the evolutionary value of conformity.
TLDR: social norms are one way we communicate our learnings about survival. He references cassava, which is edible ONLY when prepared correctly. Otherwise, it’s potentially lethal. Makes me think of the Hebrew proscription about pork, as an other example.
It’s rather eye opening to consider that social norms are often survival mechanisms. And, thus, that feeling of “needing to obey them”, even when they don’t seem to match make much more sense.
I want to remind folks, though, that as valuable as those learnings are, it’s the people willing to push through the norms and challenge are the ones that change things. I’m sure, at one point, no one ate cassava as it’s rather problematic until “treated”. Yet someone, somewhere, said, “I think I can eat this”, and, for whatever reason, we stumbled through it and the world was changed.
I appreciate the insights, especially on why the urge to conform is so damn powerful. However, I intend to live my somewhat contrarian life. I’ve enjoyed most of it so far.
A morning meditation for you, my friends
I have plenty of moments when I don’t trust my gut. When my heart screams out, but I don’t believe that it can be right. I’m working on that, though.
I deeply value the arts, and have encouraged many to pursue that path. Even when it’s likely they’ll not attain wealth and privilege. So, this post sings to me.
So, I pray you find your place. Find the beautiful place within yourself. And share it boldly.
Early morning thoughts
I’m wondering at what my path forward looks like. I love technology, in all it’s variety, and blended in insanity. Yet I adore people, too. Helping guide folks, especially in terms of projects. Helping organize people into effective teams, to see the value each of us offer, and to feel the wonderful sensation of meeting goals. That’s delightful to me.
I’ve been told many times over the years that I’d be great as a manager. I wonder, though, as my values don’t align with the current “presentation” of the successful manager. I stand against the idea of people/teams simply being consumables to extract the most value from before they’re discarded.
So, I sit and ponder when I should be sleeping. It is the Way, I guess.