No power. No internet. No phone. No cable. Emergency-only cell phone service.
Yes silence. Yes loving up my kitty-kids. Yes crackling fire and candlelight. Yes losing myself once more in the words of Mark Helprin … in the movement, the memory, the song.
Awesomeness-only from Mother Nature.
No greater yes reward.
While walking through Target one shopping trip, I spot this vinyl lettering art on display. I’ve always admired the wall words of museum exhibits –interesting bits of information printed cleanly on the paint. And now, I see an affordable version of this art for us consumers.
What a spark of creative energy!
I start thinking about a series of printed word craft projects. During my gig covering the children’s product industry I’ve written blurbs about WallCandy Arts –removable wall decals for kids’ rooms- and go searching for an adult version of the same e-tailer. Enter Wall Words. Here, you can choose your poison, customize your message … create something. I start to visualize some of my favorite inspirational quotes and go from there.
Special Note: Ramona in the Pines is the name given to our Northwest abode. Built in the same year as Casa Ramona, our long-time Southern California home, this house is so reminiscent of my beloved sanctuary, it’s named in its honor. Translated into Spanish, French and Italian, I fit the pieces together in a couple of hours.
I like to browse the jobs section of the Cirque du Soleil website –especially the On Stage section. Right now, there’s an opening for a Skipper (Are you a rope skipper seeking a new venue for your passion?) It’s funny how the needs of such a magical employer can bring you back to your truth.
Right now, I like the sound of being a Customer Experience Architect (Are you a designer of optimal customer experiences seeking a new venue for your passion?) You’d be responsible for things like:
-creating a business strategy for the customer experience across multi-channel product
-leading the cultural transformation of internal employees
-providing intuitive Experience Designs
-ideating contextual scenario designs used to drive customer experiences
-storyboarding ideas
You’d need to be qualified in things like Human Factor Design and User Experience Design. You’d probably need to be a Thinker, a Communicator and a Writer, I expect.
It’s funny how just capitalizing these roles makes them seem worthy of a salary.
Happy New Year, everybody! Ah … after a couple of months away, I find this change refreshing and I’m inspired by it. Why?
Never underestimate the power of New. The most important words in a TV promo, for instance, are no longer time/date/station. They are New Episode. If you’re a fan, that’s what you want to know; if not, you can be with the help of some never-before-seen content. After all, you can watch a television series from all sorts of devices whenever you want to these days. Right?
I’m working on a new project –the reinvention of a brand familiar to the children’s product market. Adding the word new is an elegant, inexpensive way to get the point across instantly that you’re doing something of-the-moment; that a reader/user/fan is looking at something fresh.
Some may argue that new is an over-used concept. Really? New can have an incredibly long shelf life … as long as you’re delivering on the claim.
New is certainly not innovative. But it does deliver a topical call to action to customers that works.
One of the most absolute joys of my creative life is writing and producing television and radio promotion packages for Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Never a day went by when I didn’t thank the gods for the opportunity (pun intended) – to cut promos with one of my great creative partners, J. Churchill Morgan, and the rest of the crew at Crawford Post in Atlanta, GA, to work with a most excellent show production crew in L.A., New Zealand and Canada … and to laugh -spontaneous and pure- throughout the entire experience.
Every once in a while, I look through my box of treasures from that time and reminisce: Gabrielle’s leather journal she carried at the beginning of her adventures with Xena; a box of homemade Hercules and Xena Christmas cards we wrote that we sent to the post production crew (Happy Birthday, Jesus! From Zeus, King of the Gods); song lyrics set to the Hercules theme music that were inspired by Kevin Sorbo’s fabulous mane (Hercules, will you help me please? I’m having a bad hair day!). Hours and hours … and hours … of fun times, which amaze me still. I can never call it work.
This is why I’m sharing a video interview with Kevin Sorbo, who talks about his life and his new book, True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal–and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life.
As I was experiencing one of the most productive and enjoyable times of my career, our main character –our hero- was at a precipice. And I have to say, as part of this crazy, glorious crew headed by Rob Tapert … never did Kevin’s pain encroach on us making a promo deadline, never did it show in the raw footage we screened, never once did we suffer while he was suffering. In Atlanta, at Tribune Creative Service Group, in the halls and edit suites, his work simply gave us joy.
And I’ll always be grateful to him for that.
My sister and her daughter walking the labyrinth at Seattle Center.
I’m reading a book called The Handmaid of Desire by John L’Heureux, and in it, main character Olga Kominska pauses most days, asking anyone around her to leave, so she could be alone “to do her thoughts.” When I first read this, I laugh out loud, mostly because I totally relate to her practice –realizing I “do my own thoughts” all the time.
If you’re a thought-doer, it could be very satisfying to change your way of doing thoughts every now and again. Try solving the mystery of a labyrinth.
“A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It is a metaphor for life’s journey. It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to ‘That Which Is Within,'” quote Lessons 4 Living.
It’s a beautiful way to do your thoughts, plus it gets you off your ass and away from the computer … something I wholeheartedly support, since sitting all-day-every-day in front of one can silence your -well … your thoughts.
If you’re ever in San Francisco CA, walk the labyrinths of Grace Cathedral. Magnificent. Or visit the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator (love this) and find a labyrinth in your neck of the woods.
This way, you can do your thoughts with a new twist. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll have an aha moment.
At the end of the day, who smiles when you speak to them?
(From the meditation, Fill What is Empty, Empty What is Full, by Davidji)
Love the answer.
(From my heart.)
I worry that a true spark of imagination is as rare as a two dollar bill.
That the silence in my heart is a sure sign of a closed mind.
That inspired thinking is just beyond my grasp.
When the ebb and flow of work runs its course, it becomes auto-task. And a day full of auto-task is a day full of mediocrity.
I’m always looking for the highs and lows, the rhythm, the gentle drive of an idea whose time has come.
I’m ready to discover that two dollar bill.
My next big thing. That’s what is on my mind lately.
Do I need a reinvention or an intervention?
On a clear day, I recently enjoyed lunch high above Seattle at the Sky City Restaurant in the Space Needle. The drink cozies have a tagline printed on the front: Live the View. I brought one home with me as a reminder – if you’ve ever seen the sight of Puget Sound and the surrounding area from up there, you understand.
I’m trying to live the view, embrace the wisdom of uncertainty. It’s usually where I find my next big thing.
Sageland Creative 