Taking Responsibility as a Creative
I read Michael Hyatt’s post today on how successful creatives think. One of his points was “successful creatives take responsibility.” He went on to say that the successful creative has to “accept responsibility for how [their work] is received by the market.” I’ve not written a book or created an album, but I do write code for my employer. They need something done and I code it.
I have seen internal projects falter and never get used and others have been successful. I could point fingers at different people. Some of the blame could legitimately be placed on others. But I have to realize that I have to shoulder some of the blame. I come up against users not fully knowing what they need. Other times the users are resistant to change. They are given a tool they don’t want to use but mandated by leadership to use it. Read more
Dragon Slayers
I was having dinner with a friend about six months ago. We worked together several years ago. We discussed our work situations and where we saw ourselves going in the future. I shared some of my frustrations at work and he made an interesting observation. He said that we were both dragon slayers. We see a problem, we solve it and then we move on to the next dragon.
So that idea has been percolating in my mind since then. I settled on the idea of a medieval dragon slayer stuck in the cubicle, corporate structure of today’s marketplace. Read more
Discipline as a Routine
I can’t put my finger on it, but through a confluence of events, I’ve found more discipline to write lately. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lazy streak, but I’m getting better. I started dissecting what happened but I couldn’t settle on any concrete reasons. Then I came across two posts this morning. One was by Chris Brogan titled Discipline and the other was by Mindy Holahan over at the Accidental Creative entitled Cultivating Deliberate Focus. These posts summarize what has been transpiring in my life. But first, let’s look at what has helped get me to this point.
One thing I started doing recently was listening to the Back to Work podcast by Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin. Merlin is all over the map during their talks but he comes up with some nuggets of truth. Sometimes he turns into the Merlin that yells at people, nicknamed “Mean Merlin.” That’s the Merlin that resonates with me most often. “Mean Merlin” will often tell you to shut up and do the thing you’re scared of. Don’t think about all the ways things might go wrong. Shut off the TV and Facebook. Stop with all the productivity hacks. Stop complaining about how you wish you had time to do the thing you want to do. Shut up and do something. Another great Merlin quote is “No one’s going to eat you.” We can think of so many things that could go wrong. All these doomsday scenarios keep us from doing what we want to do. What’s the worst that could happen. I’m not going to die if I try and write a book. I just need to shut up and do something. Read more
What is Christian Fellowship?
Image courtesy of SpirosK
I find myself coming back to the idea of Christian fellowship again and again. Some people may think of me as that crazy uncle who rants about how things should be. I have to admit that it feels like I go to extremes on this sometimes. I have come to understand that I can be counted on to find what’s wrong with a situation. And I know that I can be the downer in the room when I start working through all the flaws in an idea. But as a friend of mine observed, I can also keep pressing people from becoming complacent because I can see there’s so much more ahead.
And that is where I find myself on the topic of fellowship. I know that so many times we are making mud pies and call it fellowship when God desires to give us a weekend at the beach, to borrow an analogy from C.S. Lewis. I think some of it stems from the frantic pace of our lives that we’ve forgotten how to slow down and enjoy relationships. We get so busy with activities, even activities with people, but we miss the bigger picture. Read more
That Song Takes me Back
Attribution: minds-eye
I bought the latest album from Mercy Me this week. There’s one song that has really resonated with me. The rhythm is infectious plus the content of the song hits where I’ve been for the last year or so.
When life won’t play along, and right keeps going wrong, and I can’t seem to find my way
I know where I am found, so I won’t let it drag me down, oh, I’ll keep dancing anyway…
I might bend but I won’t break, as long as I can see your face
There are many things in my life recently that haven’t played out like I thought. There are days when the disappointment and frustrations feel overwhelming. But this song and others like it remind me of the promises of scripture. Read more
This is the Droid I’m Looking For
So about three weeks ago I broke down and bought a smartphone. I’ve been working in technology for the last ten years but have never been on the bleeding edge. Mostly because the bleeding edge is expensive and I’m cheap. So it goes without saying that it took a lot of mental pep talks to bite the bullet and buy a phone.
My friend works at AT&T and recently she bought the Samsung Infuse. She really liked it and she let me test-drive hers. I looked at the reviews on Cnet and I found it for $100 less on Amazon so that sealed the deal. Read more
The Enemy in the Darkness – Part 2
Two days later, the LT woke up in the field hospital. “LT Anderson, you’re awake.” Anderson’s eyes focused on a tall, lean man with broad shoulders decked in scrubs. He guessed it was the doctor on call. “You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that.” Anderson still groggy from the medication tried to form the question in his head. After a bit of mental effort he was able to get out, “What happened?”
“I believe Preston can fill in the details. Don’t move too much, you were really banged up.”
“Sir,” Preston squeaked out as he peeked his head around the shoulder of the doctor. “I’m glad you’re awake. I want to apologize sir. I had started dozing just before the attack. I’m awful sorry. I understand if you bring me up on charges.” Read more
The Enemy in the Darkness – Part 1
A ear-piercing scream cut through the silent, moonless night. LT Anderson awoke from a fitful sleep. His brain began processing. Was that his dream or was it part of reality? The two seemed to blur anymore. Even more so during the long, dark nights. Anderson continued to shake the cobwebs from his mind as he reached for his sword and helmet.
“Talbot! Status!” Corporal Talbot was one of Anderson’s best non-coms. Talbot was always doing his best to make his men laugh. But when it was time, he was all business. “All clear. All personnel accounted for, sir,” shouted the corporal. His voiced carried through the clear night air. If it weren’t for the threat lurking beyond the trenches, Anderson would have enjoyed this seemingly peaceful evening. Read more
Getting Away & Being Still
NPS PHOTO BY KRIS ILLENBERGER
Things have been really slow at work the last couple of weeks. Sometime last week, I started looking at places to go on vacation. I looked around Colorado and New Mexico. Doing the typical vacation thing of staying in a hotel was just going to be out of my price range. So I started looking at camping. That was a little more economical, put still more than I wanted to spend. I then looked at some national parks and learned that I can camp for a week for the $3 entrance fee. That’s more like it. Read more
Laughter and Good Friends
I’ve had the great privilege the last two nights to spend time with good friends and just laugh. There are times when friends get together and the emotional walls are there. There are conversations, but you realize they can only go so far. And then there are times when it seems like everyone drops their guards for a few minutes. The conversations flow easier and usually at some point the laughter starts. It’s even better when there is that one person in the group who has an infectious laugh. Everyone will get themselves under control and that one person will lose it again, which causes the whole group to start laughing again. Read more
