Time for a change...

I’ve become quite fond of “paigesaid” as a means to launch into a new way to talk about our world. All thanks to a simple change in my Twitter ID. I like the character it brings and have decided to incorporate it into my blog. Which I also intend to pay much more attention to now that I have somewhat of a strategy for it.

I’ve been hacking away in the blog space since last year some time trying to find my voice and place. There are a lot of people all talking about the same things with mostly the same perspectives. I don’t knock any of this. It takes courage to spill your heart and soul and thoughts on to a digital page for all the world to see – and criticize. Anyone who does it is exploring new ground and is making a huge contribution to the learning curve we’re all riding. I also don’t think it’s a bad thing that a lot of folks agree on what is good, bad and ugly about what’s going on out there. (in here?) I just want to be sure that I’m not part of the “me too” crowd blogging because everyone else is.

The challenge is finding something new to say. Which means finding a new way to look at things. I’ve discovered over the past few months that, when it comes to most forms of art (and life), I am infinitely more interested in the background than the subject of the piece. I find myself looking at photos and paintings and movie scenes to see what else is going on. I find myself listening to the subtle undertones of musical pieces to find the barely audible nuances. And I wonder what happened to get people to the place in they’re in today – and where it will take us all next.

This has greater context given that in my professional life I am more focused on what gets a company to where they are than where they actually are and then, more importantly, what’s next for them.

I’ve discovered that my time is only marginally spent in “now” and more often than not I’m engaged in, and excited by, the back-story or the next story. My mindfulness instructor would tell me to learn to live more in the now than these other places that have either past or don’t even exist yet; that all we have is now. I’m not so sure I agree. We also have what’s next. And that is very exciting.

So. The Blog. It’s not so much about the technology, or the brand, or the community. It’s more about how they all behave with one another. It’s about the actions and reactions to brand behaviour in the community and the use of technology to facilitate that activity. It’s also about the over use of the technology and the under utilization of what exists in real life. It’s about the people. It’s an observation of life from the skewed perspective of someone who’s lived and worked in a branded world for almost twenty years. Yikes. Did I just say that out loud? I’m not counting the years before I started working. I’m sure they mattered and I’ll probably explore the unconscious impact of brands, technology and community during our formative years at some point. At what age do we really become cognizant of the things around us that influence our behaviour on a level we can’t even actually identify? That’s a whole other post.

I look forward to sharing my observations with you and invite you to comment and question as we go along. If there’s something you’d like me to explore please feel free to let me know. I’m always looking for new ideas and can’t possibly come up with all of them on my own.

Thanks for taking a ride on the curve with me.

Comments

[DoreenatDMS]

Hi, Paige ... nice post. I've had similar thoughts wrt tweeting and writing blog posts: am I bringing something new to the conversation?, is a "yes, I agree" tweet a waste-of-a-tweet?, are my online efforts just reaching "the converted"? etc. Your description of what's happening in the background has particular resonance -- well said. ABC. ...not "always be closing" (LOL) ... always be curious. Because I think many times, the nuances we explore/discover inevitably lead to "eureeka" moments ... the moments that can truly capture, captivate, be good for the soul... [insert scene here of Don Draper doing the Kodak Carousel pitch ;-) ]

To a great extent, I think that technology and the tools can be dangerous to many -- in that they are perceived and used as the fix, or the solution at the risk of downplaying or ignoring altogether the human factor, the human impact.

Anyway, thanks for the post ... look forward to more from "the curve."
... d :)