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Volume 7, No. 8 | Friday, August 8, 2008 |  |
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August Off
here are many advantages to living on Cape Cod, especially in August when the weather is glorious and the North Atlantic is finally warm enough that you can ride the waves on a boogie board without succumbing to hypothermia. There’s also the disadvantage the comes from living and working in a vacation community— sitting in front of a computer knowing you’re surrounded by hordes of happy tourists who are freely enjoying the sun and surf while you are working! You learn to live with it, and if you can get beyond grumbling about the traffic, you can begin to understand how much it means to people to be here for a week or two and how much you take living here for granted. Then it begins to dawn on you that it might be possible to live your life during what local businesses call the 106 day sprint between Memorial Day and Labor Day more as if you, too, are on vacation. Based on these insights, and the fact that eight of my eleven grandchildren are here for a visit, I have decided that, instead of writing the column on a new way to think about retirement I had planned for this month (look for it in September), I will play—fly a kite, beat my husband at miniature golf, chase fiddler crabs on the tidal flats, float on my back in the cool, clear water of my favorite kettle pond. Sharon Teitelbaum, a work-life balance and career coach who writes a wonderful newsletter, recently emailed me to ask if she could print one of my columns about being on vacation for a second time in her newsletter. Observing her make life easier for herself opened me up to the idea that after writing a column every month for five years it might be OK for me to take a month off. At first I thought I’d do the same as she did and re-run my vacation column in this month’s newsletter, but then it occurred to me that if I told the story of my decision to take a month off it might help legitimize summer simplification for my readers, just as Sharon had for me. I also had another peer, a highly qualified and experienced career professional from the Boston area, come to me last week for a career retreat. She came with the clear intention of spending time working with me for only a few hours each morning so that she could have the rest of the day to play because the particular life transition she was working on involved shedding her propensity for overwork. A few hours ago, before I gave myself permission to do a short column for August, writing my monthly column with a house full of company and summer in full swing was weighing heavily on me, like a term paper I had put off until the end of the semester. Once I realized, however,that the size and scope of the project, along with the grand expectations I put on myself, could be modified, I could’t wait to get to the computer and play with my new idea. By freeing myself from an “I should” message (as in “I should be working on my August column”) and giving myself a choice, I’ve completed the task in far less time than I expected, leaving the rest of the afternoon for the beach, and I’ve had fun doing it. When work becomes play and there’s still time to play, it’s all a vacation. Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Readers Write
I adored this month’s newsletter. It came at the perfect time, as I spend a summer on Cape Cod feeling guilty about what I’m not doing, thinking I should be all over my record company about marketing, and wondering what’s wrong with me that I really couldn’t be bothered. I’ve never read anything like this! It’s just wonderful. It’s not “anti” anything. It rings of rigorous honesty and truth! Thank you for your gift. Musician/Songwriter
The “heavy glazed” marketing you describe is, in the eyes of this marketing professor, not the real cupcake. Advertising is more than infomercials, PR is more than spin, and the web is more than spam. Authenticity in marketing means properly positioning and promoting your product or service by communicating with your audience in the most effective way. Authentic marketing highlights rather than “obscures” a marketplace offering. I know the distorters are out there in the marketing world,but just ignore them and hopefully they’ll go away and be replaced by the “real” cupcake. Jane Secci, Director, Suffolk University Cape Cod
Your stance on your book is most wise. I look forward to seeing it soon! Gail McMeekin, President of Creative Success
Excellent newsletter! I find that you invariably voice my own secret thoughts and reflect my own values about current issues, those puzzling eruptions in the news that actually, when you think about them, make no sense! I mean, Gourmet Cupcakes! Get a life! It’s a battle to stay “real” but being authentic is the only way to fulfillment, and I appreciate your messages that make us out here in the battlefield realize that it is possible to carve out a working life that works for us, and to have faith that we are going in the right direction, and to know that if we have the courage to do our own thing, the Universe will support us in that. Thanks for your deep intelligence, thoughtful insight and great sense of humor! Gillian Drake, Publisher, Cape Arts Review
Re your cupcake issue: soooooo glad you’re true to yourself, and I loved the Thoreau quote! Your authenticity gives me hope about how I look at work. Computer Consultant/Educator, Harwich, MA
And now the mass market pursuit of cupcakes has been reduced to a “shot” of frosting in a tiny paper cup sold for $1.00 or more at cupcake bistros. You are modeling what you teach and refusing to be reduced to the lowest common denominator which then becomes superficial which then becomes inane. Nancy Haradaway, President and CEO, Gestalt International Study Center
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The stick illustrations in this issue are by Eloise Morley.
Copyright © 2007
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Also in this issue ...
As we move forward into the 21st century it’s pretty obvious to just about everyone that work isn’t what it used to be. Whether we work for ourselves, or for someone else, or are in transition, things are changing rapidly and we’re caught in a shift of seismic proportions. Many things are being demanded of us, and it’s going to require more than just new skills to survive and thrive. We’re going to need to learn how to get serious about taking care of the business of our professional lives. Taking Care of Business We invite you to share your thoughts by
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