Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
The future is uncertain… but this uncertainty
is at the very heart of human creativity.
—Ilya Prigogine, Belgian physicist and Nobel Laureate chemist
It’s not just now, folks.
The future is always uncertain.
Call this a reality check, says Brett Legree, in one of the best darned posts you’ll read about our global economic crisis. He says don’t fall prey to the uncertainty. “Get out there and create something of value.”
If your company is already creating something of value, now is not the time to hide. Shout it, creatively, while everyone else hides. You’ll sound a lot louder. And if you’ve been waiting for a quiet someday to observe the big picture, connect with your Vision, and create a plan for the future?
It’s someday. Get creative.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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15 October 2008, 7:37 am
Kelly,
Thanks for the shout, and the hard-hitting and to the point words today.
The future is always uncertain. That is so very true – whatever you are going to do in the next 5 days, 5 minutes, 5 seconds, choose wisely – and make it count.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…gone pillaging.
15 October 2008, 8:02 am
Brett,
That’s it. I could be hit by a bus tomorrow (as I could have any day!) and all these recessionary woes could be so much smoke. Might as well live and work to the fullest. Macroeconomics do not have to overtake our day-to-day living.
Thanks for writing something so blasted awesome. I felt like putting down my pen for a week—Brett said it all, what’s the point?
Being the talkative sort, I nixed that right away.
Regards,
Kelly
15 October 2008, 9:33 am
Hmmmm….it figures Ilya was a physicist. They know all about UNCERTAINTY.
Just ask HEISENBERG.
(Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!)
(Ducking and running now…!)
Friar’s last blog post…Friar’s Random Rants (Part IV)
15 October 2008, 11:05 am
Great inspiration points Kelly. What amazes me most is that people trick themselves into believing that there is ever certainty. You never know what will happen, you cannot know the length of your days or the events that will take place. While it is unwise to live in fear, you make plans and back up plans and you get on with it. Part of our current problem is that we placed our faith in all the wrong places. Today for me is like every other day an opportunity to create, impact, absorb and live. None of it depends on the Dow Jones average.
Karen Swim’s last blog post…Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty
15 October 2008, 12:14 pm
Kelly, Brett’s post was awesome, thanks for highlighting it again.
Somehow, there is comfort in being reminded that nothing is certian. We can go out there and just try…and then try again. Throw it against the wall and see what sticks. Who knows, something wonderful might happen!
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post…My Dog Missed the Memo
15 October 2008, 12:45 pm
Kelly, Wendi,
Thanks again – you know, I could write a whole series of posts like that – someone has to say it. Hmm…
(opens his text editor)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…gone pillaging.
15 October 2008, 1:42 pm
@Wendi
Thank you for thanking Kelly for reminding us of Brett’s post.
@Kelly
Thank you for mentionning Brett’s post.
@Brett
Thank YOU for your great post.
@To everyone
No, seriously…thanks to YOU ALL!
…..(Why not, eh?) After all, we just had Thanksgiving!
Friar’s last blog post…Friar’s Random Rants (Part IV)
15 October 2008, 1:44 pm
(I think Friar needs a big hug – group hug, everyone!)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…gone pillaging.
15 October 2008, 1:52 pm
Friar,
Thanks for thanking everyone…
Brett, thanks for the group hug…I do think friar needed that…I liked it too
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post…My Dog Missed the Memo
15 October 2008, 1:53 pm
(Holding my ears and running away now…)
LAH-LAH-LAH!…I can’t hear you! ….LAH-LAH-LAH-LAH!!!
Friar’s last blog post…Friar’s Random Rants (Part IV)
15 October 2008, 7:02 pm
Oh, you guys! You’re so cute!!
Kelly, I was just thinking about this today. It’s uncertainty or desperation that provokes me most to act.
steph’s last blog post…The Power of Being Open
15 October 2008, 7:09 pm
Viking hug!!!
(It’s not as painful as it sounds…)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…gone pillaging.
15 October 2008, 7:47 pm
@Brett and Steph
Kelly’s keeping a low profile today.
Did we hijack her blog and scare her off?
PS. Whatever a Viking Hug is, I’m pretty sure it involves axes and swords.
15 October 2008, 7:54 pm
Oh, I’m sure she’s around somewhere, kicking butt.
As long as the ones in the hug are wearing chainmail, they’ll be okay…
Brett Legree’s last blog post…gone pillaging.
15 October 2008, 8:15 pm
@Brett and Kelly
Did you know Professer Per BenderGorgten? He’s a famous Viking Economist, and he had this to say about the latest financial crisis:
Hårgyen Per Stoiken Vander Vyǿrgen
Husker Dŭ Dan Splorten
Aingmar Gyorkën
Hmm…Börk! Börk! Börk!
(Though I admit, something gets a bit lost in the translation).
Friar’s last blog post…Travels with the Bear: Peak Bagging in Upstate New York.
15 October 2008, 9:50 pm
Ahh! Go away for a day to kick butt, and come back to Börk!
Friar,
If I didn’t write who he was, you’d just be asking, so I figured I’d get his résumé out of the way early. I thought of you as I wrote this, of course.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving, you are a turkey.
Wendi,
I agree. There is a level of freedom and even joy in knowing that’s one thing we aren’t alone in. No matter who you are, no matter what you think you know, you don’t know. And neither does anyone.
Brett,
<3 as always.
Steph,
I have a year’s worth of various downturn quotations (I promise not to put them out all at once)… I’ve had so many down times in my life when they spoke to me. Those are the times when I do get creative, and those are often my most productive times. When things work too easily, we don’t look for the alternative answers where real growth often hides. So this quote is particularly dear to me. Glad you liked it.
Until later,
Kelly
17 October 2008, 7:51 am
>Friar, your Viking Economist sounds a lot like my Uncle, a Swedish Chef! In any case, I have been lurking around here for a while and I have to say that I remain hopeful for the economy, as so many people are talking about creating more value, more presence, and more interaction. I suspect that this “crisis” will create some interesting and tightly-knit communities. Triiibes, if you will.
17 October 2008, 10:59 am
@Stephen,
Yes, Triiibes… I missed out on the initial sign-up, sadly. Nothing says we cannot create our own though, and maybe that’s the point.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…blog action day 2008 – picking up the gauntlet.
17 October 2008, 11:36 am
I believe that creating our own is EXCATLY the point, in whatever communities we are members of. And the triiibes community will be opening up soon…
17 October 2008, 12:36 pm
@Stephen,
Really? Interesting… I’ll keep my eyes open.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…blog action day 2008 – picking up the gauntlet.
17 October 2008, 3:35 pm
Karen,
I missed you in all the Friarness up there. Sorry!
“…create, impact, absorb and live.” Words to live by. Thanks for that.
Stephen,
Thanks for delurking. Always glad to have another voice here.
I agree with Brett—I think triiibes are what we all look to gather around us, every day (maybe especially online because it’s so easy to find truly kindred spirits when you have the globe to choose from). Seth always makes you see it in a new light, though.
Brett,
The neat thing about naturally-occurring triiibes (can I call online communities “naturally-occurring”?) is that we know each other pretty well, having evolved into community over time, and we push each other to create. Like you lately. I feel like such a slacker when I read what you’ve been writing, and I just can’t live with that—so I try harder. Heck with the uncertain future. I want to be my best me *now* because of my RL and online buddies.
Later,
Kelly
17 October 2008, 10:05 pm
Kelly,
That’s true – we are building our own little triiibe aren’t we? One that has the potential to be much stronger, because we’ve grown together and to know each other. I was saying to Steph by email that if we somehow pooled all of our knowledge, even the eclectic stuff that doesn’t seem to have much marketable value to us individually, we’d be a force to be reckoned with together.
You’re certainly not a slacker, though – I think it is *you* who have been pushing *me*, I’m just trying to catch up with you, and milady, you’re fast on your feet
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…blog action day 2008 – picking up the gauntlet.
17 October 2008, 10:43 pm
Brett,
You mean knowing all the lines to Gigi, The Philadelphia Story, and Taps might finally be marketable? Cool triiibe. Get right to work on that, because I’ve got esoteric knowledge in spades. Wish I could give it away, sometimes…
Seth knows how to reinvent a term, that’s for sure. Look how he remade languishing purple cows, kept us all from forgetting our Cracker Jack days with a free prize inside… and now triiibe. You instantly get it, but it’s his now, and you can’t have it.
There’s almost a post in that thought. Hm.
Later,
Kelly
17 October 2008, 10:47 pm
Kelly,
Of course – storytelling as a profession predates a lot of the modern “bloodsucking” professions like financial advisor, investment banker, insurance salesman etc. – our triiibe needs people who can tell good stories.
Seth’s a cool cat, but I’ve got one up on him, you see, I know where his purple cow lives, and if he doesn’t send me *one million dollars* right now, I’m going to barbecue old Bessy
Seriously though, he’s a clever guy – like most of us. And an inspiration, showing that ordinary clever people who work their butts off have a chance – not a guarantee – but a chance, to be just like him, if that’s what they want to do.
Purple cow or not.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…blog action day 2008 – picking up the gauntlet.
17 October 2008, 10:53 pm
Poor Bessy. Free purple hamburgers at Harvey’s this weekend!
Seth… I’ve seen him speak. I think he already worked his butt off. It’s gone.
If I thought I could do that to my butt, I’d work like Seth.
Wait a minute, I already work my butt off, and darn it, it’s still here. Something’s wrong.
^^
. .
^
o
P.S. Sorry to hear about your diseased urchins. Hope they’re feeling better.
17 October 2008, 11:21 pm
Seth not only worked his butt off, he worked his *hair* off. Don’t work your hair off though, I like your hair.
Urchins are so-so… Owen just barfed, but he’s happy still… ick.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…blog action day 2008 – picking up the gauntlet.
18 October 2008, 9:37 am
Brett,
LOL! I hate dealing with hair. Sometimes bald looks pretty good to me.
& don’t you hate that kids can be happy and active when they’re sick? When mine was down and out lately (and so was I for a few days), I’m flat-out, eyes half lidded, and she’s painting, asking to go the playground, dancing (with a fever and vomiting)… finally, I moaned, “Would you please just look sick!”
Good luck to the urchins and their suffering parents. Wear masks.
Later,
Kelly