Do it because it matters

When Seth Godin (http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/) speaks about “resistance” and implores creatives, thought leaders and original thinkers to overcome their doubt, it is clear he also experiences the pit in his stomach and angst that accompanies such a platform. I understand all of this. Fear is the flip side of courage. As Brene Brown has experienced and points out (http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html) we need to have the courage to express our own convictions, be vulnerable and to dare greatly. I too am petrified. Like Seth and all who create, I wrestle every day with the tensions between courage and fear playing out within me. Seth implores us to SPEAK OUT about how we can improve what is. “Do it…

About failure

Throughout my life I have known many failures. Each downfall has challenged me beyond my own imagination. Yet, I fully realize that the lessons and knowledge gained in starting anew and rebuilding have provided me with my greatest opportunities to grow.

Many voices on Reinvention

Over the past few years many articles and opinions have been written on the phenomena we call “reinvention”. I have been collecting pieces for quite some time and thought others could benefit from them, as well. My point in sharing these links is to demonstrate how diverse the perspective on reinvention really is. What are the various circumstances that drive individuals to face reinvention? How do these individuals determine what’s next? What does the reinvention process entail, etc.? As a person who has lived a life of reinvention and works with individuals to take them through the reinvention process, these articles are fuel for thought. When one decides reinvention is paramount and the goal includes…

Illiteracy reveals a writer

As an enthusiastic human communicator, I have begun to cast my net out into the stratosphere through social media. There are many points I could make about how SM is daunting (at least for me), but there is an element fundamental to the medium, which has to be mastered in one form or another, to be heard. In addition to a platform and point of view, one needs to have the ability to write! As I sit here banging away on a computer keyboard whose letters are so worn out they can’t be distinguished anymore, I marvel at life’s intention. Was it always in the cards that I would be sitting here today steeped…

Street Wise

As a young child I remember feeling giddy with fear and excitement as I secretly settled into a large appliance box that had been discarded by the curb, awaiting trash pick up. With three sides still standing tall, I stepped into the far reaches of this cavernous carton and quickly pulled the fourth flap in and folded the cover down overhead. It became darker inside with each step of this reconstruction. When the top was fully closed, I sat quietly assessing the darkness and the space. Shortly I noticed my box went from a large and exciting space, to one that suddenly felt very small. Nestled in my spot I sat silently. At first I…

Carving a pathway

This morning I carved through the great snow mountain that had buried my mailbox in our blizzard’s wake. I faced a mound five feet high and eight feet deep. Primed to tackle it, I just grabbed the shovel and began digging. Being a person under, five feet tall, I found my difficulty was in breaking through the ice crust that had formed on the top. The snow beneath this crust was relatively light. It broke onto my shovel easily in small removable bricks. Ah hah, so today’s obstacle became the day‘s challenge. Choosing the path of least resistance, I found myself digging a tunnel underneath the crust. I began to think (as I often…

Leaping from the fence

I know how fast the world moves. If I keep myself bogged down in my own fears and shortcomings I will be paralyzed. I have been straddling the fence. From one point of view, down below looks too far to jump. It appears threatening and possibly painful. While if I look at it from the other point of view, leaping down means opening up to fuller potential, and as Deepak Chopra suggests, “Endless Possibilities”. I have the choice. And once again, I will leap.

The Lantern Festival

Holding tight to my bowl of homemade potato salad, I trotted to keep up with Colleen, our group’s leader. I kept my eyes trained on the tail end of her red cooler as it zigged and zagged through the crowd. A veteran attendee of the annual Japanese Lantern Festival, Colleen could be trusted to find us a prime location. I was pleased as we steered closer to the lively rhythm of steel drums I could hear in the distance. Initially I found it hard to believe that men, women, and children would come together every year to share their losses and grief. My friend Marge had explained it to me in simple terms when she…

Keeping “Personal” in your Personal brand

I have been doing a substantial amount of media/blog reading on the topic of Personal Branding and also recently spoke on the subject to a diverse group of individuals (including three who mentioned being writers) who were all looking to establish a Personal Brand. Because there are multiple interpretations to what constitutes a Personal Brand, I speak and write on the subject to offer my insight and perspective and to help individuals with the personal branding process The most important step in developing an authentic and intelligent Personal Brand is determining your platform. I mean this in terms of where you are standing or where you are coming from. How you position yourself is what…

Reinvention anew?

When I think back to the stories my grandfather told me, the ones about his childhood in Russia are always fresh in my mind. I listened in awe whenever he described his young life, imagining a curious young boy dressed in scruffy britches exploring the rural countryside of his birth in a town called Jetoma. This image was the memory he shared from before his young life was turned upside down. My grandfather’s eyes of crystal blue had a commanding intensity and in telling this story, his eyebrows would rise up causing his forehead to ripple with rows of deep crevices. Then he described the terror he felt running home and into the family’s barn…