The Internet

This post might actually call in to question all of that "hard" work I was talking about in the post below. Maybe a better term for what I was trying to describe was consistency in ambition--or something like that. Anyway, my overall point there was that to get to a point where you have a manageable schedule doing what you enjoy, you have start at the bottom and that takes drive.


This actually leads me to another point too...I've known people who did not start at the "bottom" per se of their craft. Rather, they chose to go through the suburban route of schooling, only to find when they got out of their schooling with post-graduate degrees, they were too far up the ladder in expertise to be comfortable starting at the bottom. For example, the PhD who loves literature and aspires to be a novelist full time, but won't deign to write articles for the Internet at $20 or less a pop, just to pay the bills. And then there's any person with a J.D. or Masters degree whose graduate school friends are doing exactly what their degree was meant to do--staying on that same suburban path--but who aren't humble enough to ask if they can crash on their paid friends' designer couches while they look for a job. I got off track. And, start at the bottom, what you learn from there is the only way to prepare yourself for the top. NO, that doesn't mean skip college. Just don't assume college is your fast ticket up the ladder, espesh if you're going for a creative-type career.


ANYWAY, the Internet. Here's a piece of sage advice: do not underestimate the knowledge you can gain from the Internet--literally. Most of the time when I hear people say "you know everything about that!" or "How do you know that!?" My answer, almost embarrassingly, is that I googled it. And not only that, but this knowledge (such as some of the more esoteric grammar rules) took about 30 seconds to acquire.

Hard Work. Mother Fu**er.

Okay, so I here's the deal: I work seven days per week. Every single day. I usually wake up between 9 and 11 a.m. I dick around on the Internet for a few hours, answer emails, look at slideshows and then by around 2 p.m. I start my writing for the day. This, right now, consists of articles I write for a website in Italy about Italian fashion and lifestyle. I also write articles for a casino website in the UK. Quick little news briefs about what's happening in that world. In addition to that I work as a managing editor for a luxury lifestyle magazine that runs out of the Caribbean. And at the end of March I'll start writing copy for a new luxury lifestyle magazine that is going to be published in Switzerland. I'll write stories about yachts and fashion, etc. When I'm not doing those things, I'm scoping out the Internet for new jobs, because I love the International Luxe Mag gigs, but they don't pay the bills because they're new publications. Hence, the casino and Italian stuff--which is also not doing a whole lot for the bills situation. I apply for jobs just about every day or every other day. Most of the jobs I get offered, don't pay enough to make it worth me quitting the current jobs, which is awesome.


I also run my own fashion blog, that funny enough is the opposite of Luxe living. It's called the Lo Lo and all it's just a collection of slideshows of affordable, cute, stuff. I pepper in quotes about style and fashion. Each post takes about an hour to do because I curate it, in an effort to make it visually appealing. In addition to the posts, I've got to promote. So, I get on twitter and facebook and post my butt off. I try to post every day about the Lo Lo. I'm a member of Independent Fashion Bloggers and am using that as a promotion tool as well.


Often my work day doesn't start until 2, but doesn't finish until midnight or later. What's the point of me talking about this? Because doing what you love is work. It's getting up every day and trying again. It's sending out another resume, another form of self promotion, even when you want to cry because the job that would have solved all of your problems went to someone else, less experienced and qualified. 


No one should be fooled that following your dreams and working at what you enjoy is somehow easy. As a matter of fact, in some ways it's worse. Because it's taking a risk. It's actually quite frightening. Even when you get one or two jobs that really utilize your skills, and you tell someone "yes, I can!" You have to wonder, "Can you?" Something not necessarily the case in a data entry position. 


Why do we do it? Because life isn't safe, it's not easy, no matter what you do for a living. There are tragedies and disappointments and failures. And it literally does not make sense to play it safe 8 hours a day, only to deal with all the real world has to offer in your evenings and weekends. As they say, life is just too short not to live it. 


Oh, I forgot, I'm a business partner and creative director for an online fashion magazine in New York. And I'm bitter because we got invited to the most exclusive shows, we've ever been invited to, for fashion week and I'm not going. But, there's always September. 


7 days per week. Every day.

Is Everyone Doing What They Love?

The answer to this question is: a lot more than you think. I've talked before about growing up in the Midwest, in a suburban haven of safe productivity, of success defined by landing an "office" job. But as I keep working toward my goal, however much I'm stabbing in the dark--and I am, I'm realizing that surrounding me everywhere are the products of someone's labor of love. 


We make a huge deal about "following your dreams" because it's scary and it's hard and maybe we didn't know people growing up who followed theirs; or maybe we know someone who did and "failed." It is a risk, to be sure. It can put off personal relationships and it can destroy them, too. And every time someone goes a different way than their tribe they risk ostracism, which is horrifying. They will absolutely meet with loved ones who smile and nod and friends who "just don't understand." But you should always remember that if you choose this path you are not alone. You are surrounded by labors of love and risk-takers.


For example, the ongoing commitment to improve medical care, the thousands of years that doctors have put into experimenting (not always in the best ways) to find a cure, find a treatment were all endeavors of obsession. Every invention, every single one, involved a prototype and the commitment to research and plan and try to make it perfect and figure out a way to get it into your hands and your life. Even accidental inventions had a long way to go before they became a post-it note or a tub of Play-Doh. Every film you watch, whether fantastic or awful, was someone putting their ideas and their heart and their dreams on the line. Every book that fills every book store and every library was written and published by a risk-taker. Whether it's a biography, a work of fiction, a best seller or something that sold six copies; it doesn't matter. We take for granted the work, dedication, commitment and ability to overcome fear that makes our lives more enjoyable, more worth living. And these are just the broadest of instances. Someone invented your favorite flavor of ice cream. There's a woman in Dexter, MI who owns a store that sells nothing but buttons. Local crafters and sewers reap the benefit of her risk to open up that shop.


So is everyone doing what they love? A lot more than you think, in all sorts of ways.

What Turns You On?

I mean to ask the title question of this post in exactly the way you're thinking. What turns you on? Because I believe that love and passion and excitement, even bordering on the erotic, is one of our compasses for our life's work. 


Tonight I was watching The Next Iron Chef and one of the last contenders was working with a very expensive slab of beef. While he was cutting it up he said, "This is so beautiful...I'm having a sensual, romantic moment with this beef." I remember writing a gchat status a couple of years ago that said "I think I'm sexually attracted to clothing." At the time I wrote it, it didn't even make sense to me. And yet, write it I did. 


So ask yourself, what turns you on? What gets your dander up -- in a good way? What makes you hot and heavy? It could be a side of beef or The Theory of Everything (TOE), hell it could be a new dress. The only caveat to this question's answer is to love responsibly. Now, go get off.

What's Your Point?

I've been coming up with a lot of blog post ideas lately. And while earlier posts tended to be snarky and extremely opinionated, as of late I'm all about inspiration. Kind of like when Oprah made the announcement some time during the '90s that she was going to give up the traditional gossip/talk show format and go with shows that did nothing but share information to help people out. Yeah, kind of like that.


Anyway, I was thinking today about American culture, the American dream. I was thinking about the kind of culture I grew up in. The Midwest culture. And I was thinking that it infused me with an idea about the "point" of it all. See, where I grew up the point seemed to be, by and large, to get a job, get a family, live in a multi-bedroom house that was at least "nice" and raise your kids in it, nicely. If you did that and were paying your bills without serious struggle then you'd done it. You'd followed the point.


I remember being a kid and thinking of myself in a white house with a picket fence and some kids and a dog and for whatever reason let's say I failed to see the appeal. And though I knew that wasn't it, I didn't have any ideas what the alternative point "should be." I remember coming to the realization in late adolescence that I would never be able to read all the books I wanted to in my lifetime because work would inevitably get in the way. And so I started to fantasize about decades of retirement spent in a log cabin in Montana surrounded by books, with nothing to do but read them. Still, "the point" eluded me because retirement plans were after it.


When I moved to NYC a different kind of "point" came into view. Sexy, glamorous, moneyed lifestyles seemed to be it. Be as hot as you can be, no matter what it takes, get as much money as you can, travel as much as you can. Okay, fine, how do I do that? While New York's point seemed more appealing than Michigan's point, I still didn't quite know what to do.


And then today it hit me. Last night was a flurry of activity, I was writing my butt off, applying for more writing jobs, looking up resources for my website project and when I finally quit I was so tired, yet exhilarated, that all I could do was crash into my pillow. I woke up this morning excited about the possibility of hearing back from the jobs I applied to last night, about working today, working tomorrow, and what the future would bring with all of these balls I have up in the air. 


Last week I got my first copywriting job for a series of beauty lines and products. My writing is going to be on the packaging, sitting on store shelves. The week before that I got an opportunity to write a bio for Mary Shelley for a publisher who focuses on classical literature. They're also looking for writers to do forewords for their books. I put my name in and the contact happily assured me he liked the bio, and that he would keep my name on the foreword list. To have a foreword, I wrote, introducing a great piece of literature is almost too exciting to contemplate. To have a foreword I wrote on a book shelf in a book store, is just, the end.


And then today I heard back from a small, niche, print magazine I'd applied to over a week ago and got offered the opportunity to write a fashion article for them. My first article in print. AHHH! I felt like I'd "made" it. I felt like some of my hard work was maybe paying off. Did I mention I'm currently -330 dollars in my checking account? By paying off I meant that I seem to be making small steps toward being a real writer, a successful writer. Someday...someday...


And then something became crystal clear. It's not about someone else's point. Never that. It's about yours.

Out Of The Box

This is going to be short. All I have to say is that out of the box thinking is more than just being creative or finding a market niche. It's taking a project and idea by the balls and pursuing it. 


Some MFA students end up with successful careers as novelists. Some MBA students end up as successful executives. 


Mark Twain, as far as I know, did not attend an MFA program. His writing was based on wit, experience and life. Many of today's small business owners do not have business degrees. Many millionaires, like the guy who invented a special razor ergonomically designed to shave heads bald, did not attend Penn state or Harvard. 


The point is this: You don't always need spreadsheets, beta tests, financial models or classes that parse the minutae of great literature to be successful. 


What I think you do need is to be willing to take a stab at the dark. Maybe hit up some MBA watering holes and pick some brains : ) or even send an email to your favorite author's publisher. With every question you ask, with every article you read, you come closer to your goal. And you're out of the box.


There's nothing wrong with higher education, I LOVE education both formal and informal. But action is what counts at the end of the day. And falling on your face is part of everyone's path. Mark Twain HATED lecturing (his fans loved it) but he had to because so many of his investments failed and he needed the money. 


That might even be another point: don't take for granted what you do well.

What Did You Love To Do When You Were a Kid?

I was just watching a video on youtube, conducted by Gilt.com, with Gerard Yosca. I chose to watch it because one of my clients wants me to write a few hundred words of introduction to good old Gerard for her own interview with him. 


Something struck me toward the end of the video. The interviewer asks him "how it all started." And he goes into a beautifully succinct description of his major moments that led him to where he is. From the time he was little he loved to craft. It all started making pom-pom pets and selling them for 10 cents at his Dad's butcher shop. Then he went to Parson's school of design with the intent to study advertising, but it wasn't creative enough. Then he decided to study fashion, but didn't want to learn how to sew and drape and every outfit he sketched had a belt with it. So, he decided to try and make a belt. And he did. Eventually he became a very well-known, very successful jewelry designer, which is why people who have sites that sell jewelry clamor to interview him. At the end of his little speech he says that jewelry-making is going back to what he loved to do as a kid, which is to "make things". 


There are a couple of points about this that stuck out to me and I have always suspected are keys to a happy, successful working life. 1.) you've got to break some eggs. Your path to self-discovery and your true passion often comes in one ah-ha! moment that takes years to build up. Those years often include going down paths a little distance, realizing it's not for you and then turning around. 2.) We're born with a predilection for loving to do something. If we can recall what that is, we might be on a solid path toward what will make us happy as adults. Einstein's life turned around as a child when a family friend brought him a book about science and he fell in love. 


Not to bore anyone with my story, but in the vein of Gerard Yosca, it goes something like this: Little girl loves being read to. Though, she doesn't yet know how to read, she scribbles on pieces of paper, pretending that she's writing. Once she learns the alphabet she makes her parents buy her the sparkliest, pinkest-covered spiral bound notebooks at the drug store and with each one intends to write a novel, she's about 8. Life happens. Writing isn't practical, she tries to forget about it. Plus she never finished any of her novels anyway. At 15 it crops up and she accidentally starts writing poems. Then she stops. Aged 21, on a trip to Paris, she has a self-discovery that she's a writer. She tucks it away and knows it's true even if she never writes anything. At 24 it crops up again and she offers to write on a fashion blog b/c she loves clothes too. Goes to Business school, finishes with no clue what to do with herself. Moves back to Michigan from New York as a freelance writer. And somewhere along the way had an ah-ha! moment; it made perfect sense because this is what she loved to do, even before she knew how. 


Over the years, she went down several different employment roads, and decided never to work in a stuffy office again helping someone else make money off their widgets. Is confident she's on the right track and that someday, will have a life as fabulous as Gerard's. But for now, can be compared to him being broke, making his own jewelry in his kitchen as a 20-something with a dream.