Category: Personal Reflections

“We do not receive wisdom. We must discover it ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, and which no one can spare us. For our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world.”
~Marcel Proust

Our role in life, as teachers, friends and parents is not to spare our youth this journey. Rather, grant them fearless hearts able to embrace the journey, trusting themselves to come through better. Also, accept that they will change, and that we will love that person equally.

Talking with a friend, I see my writing has shifted solidly digital. I tend to create on a device, mostly my tablet, or my phone, then computer. I’ll go weeks without touching my notebook.

I love the ability to edit, and unedit. There is a zen-like impermanence to this medium.  Changing things feels powerful.

On occasion, I wonder what historical research will be like. Probably an archeological dig through our data, sifting through millions of photos, notes and stories, aggregating our lives.

Strange combination of fluidity, impermanence and ageless data shall flow together into a richer understanding of who we were, collectively and individually.

Why does our culture saddle girls with so much insecurity? Easier to manipulate and control, perhaps. I’m not buying the differential biology explanation for this. Looking at marketing directed at boys vs girls tells quite a bit of the story.

Yet I don’t see a nefarious plot. Generations upon generations of behaviors feeding back upon each choice. These dream fed mindsets, layering upon each, acting from the depths, our mind’s unaware. And here we are.

Slowly, as we bring each behavior into our awareness, we see the fallacies before us; leaving them in the dust of history. Wretched dreams of forgotten kings, dominations waving in the dusty, dry wind.

6/10 Update:

Came across this article that’s correlated: “Tips: Raising Children to have Healthy Relationships with Food & Their Body.” (~ Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld)

I shall work to keep from feeding this, destructive cycle for I adore the girls/women in my life.

I’ve been following Ms. Millman for sometime and highly recommend her podcast: Design Matters. I’m quite deliberate about making time as soon as I see the update come through on my iPhone. This week she interviews Noah Brier. I remember messing around with his project Brand Tags some time back, though after the interview I see an deeper power to the site that I really hadn’t considered before.

The most important takeaway: that we need to abandon the idea of controlling a brand’s image and identity. We, as professionals, can clearly influence and effect perception, but “control”; no. He points out that, really, it’s the fans, the public that really control, really own a brand. The interactions with customers, fans and critics all play a part in the identity. Reminds me of several discussions over the years where I say “we can’t please everyone. We need to identify who our audience is, focus on them, accept that there will be some un-detractable critics, and move forward.” Not everyone can become a superfan. The more popular a brand, or anything, becomes, the more critics rise. It’s the way of things.