You go on holidays. You come home. You have 2937498237 emails in your inbox. Your heart sinks. True?
The funny thing about this, though, is that when you start wading through them, about 80% are actually redundant – miraculously (!!) the issue or request has either been sorted by someone else or dropped off, deemed not so critically urgent, in your absence. Or the sender of the email actually pauses for half a second and realises they can answer the issue/request themselves. Der.
I’m away for a few weeks and this time I tried a new tactic.
So, I’m here in New York. And it’s bloody hot. I woke at 5:30 am in a sweat and ran around Central Park. I’m staying right on the park – my bed overlooks it. The truly divine thing about New York is that when it’s hot everyone is out on the streets…and lots of them riding bikes, which is just lovely. The city is slowly becoming very bike friendly. My mate Bec is meeting me today in Bryant Park, riding from Brooklyn. Unreal.
Dressing for bike riding is an interesting challenge. I personally like to push the parameters. I ride mine around Bondi in heels and skirts, if required. My style and my wardrobe work around cycling. Everything I own is stretchy (in part because I don’t iron). I buy handbags that can sling over my shoulder along with my bike lock. I wear a lot of shorts. Or pants/jeans under dresses. That kind of thing.
This week I choose to not be right (and find beauty in a field beyond right and wrong).
Ever been stuck in a toxic relationship rut? I mean really stuck.
Perhaps it was with a spouse, a partner, or your boss or neighbour. An issue arises, they react aggressively, you react just as primitively to their reaction, and so on and on in a spiral of right versus wrong. Soon, you’ve both sunk into a festering quagmire of codependent hurt. You might know better than to descend like this; perhaps you’ve had therapy. But each time the scab’s knocked off the wound, you retaliate like an old lizard. You’re that stuck.
It’s rotten, this quagmire. Blame and shame turn rancid very quickly. And the detritus of old pain gets awfully sticky and suck-holey. So it’s hard to leave, or to shift the energy in a new direction.
I’m off to New York this morning. So posts will be a little thin for a bit. Perhaps.
I’m off to New York to interview a few people for my column and to start writing my book, which will all happen in the New York State Library (the one in which Carrie was meant to get married to Big in the movie; and where they filmed Ghostbusters….and countless other movies). Seems bizarre to travel all that way to sit in a library. But I reckon it’s going to work.
I love New York. It’s a place where things happen. And where you can extend yourself. Everyone tries to put their finger on why the place gels, including Alisha Keys and Jay-Z.
Earlier this week a bank ran a social experiment with a money tree (but it doesn’t grow on them, right?). It pinned thousands of dollars to a tree in the city and then filmed how people responded. In many respects it reflected what goes on internally for all of us when dealing with anything to do with money. But it also shows how assumed behaviour can be distorted when we’re faced with blatant generosity.
The PR who put on the stunt sent me a few observations which made me smile:
The below popped up on Mumbrella today. If you’re in media, or interested in media, you should definitely subscribe the newsletter. Apart from anything else, Tim Burrows, who runs the site, is one of the industry’s good guys. Knowledgeable, kind, fair, smart. He’s also a wonderful example of what I talk about in the clip … Read more
A few weeks back I posted about why I don’t drink bottled water. Happily it inspired a stack of people to reconsider their habits.
If you’re not yet convinced, watch this Story of Stuff video (it’s a little long, but fascinating) below. And then scroll down to some info on the effects of flouride, especially for anyone with thyroid issues. A number of readers highlighted that it was an issue (thanks!), so I get Angela Hywood to give her thoughts.
Here’s the thing about Tony Abbott, the man pitted as our next PM: he’s un-pin-downable. His brazen comments about lying on The 7:30 Report a week or so ago demonstrated this. My opinion in the aftermath was that they indicated he wasn’t up for the job as leader of Australia.
And, then, yesterday, I met the guy.
He was “in conversation” with the ABC’s brilliant journo Annabel Crabb at Sydney’s Writer’s Festival. He was quite restrained yesterday. No royal gaffs. Although he did mention that he subscribed to the idea of “asking for forgiveness, rather than asking for permission” . Which is a mantra Kerry Packer used to work to. When I worked for Packer, this maverick approach was certainly how things got done – you went ahead and did bold things and dealt with the fallout later. I loved working this way, because it meant you could take risks (you just weren’t allowed to f*ck up). Things got done in fresh, untainted ways… at least some of the time.
But, I ask again, is this maverick approach how the (potential) leader of a nation should operate? Shouldn’t a leader always seek permission from their constituents?
Anyway, I digress slightly. Because the THING I’m stuck on is the broader idea of AUTHENTICITY.
There’s this thing I do in cab queues at airports. I don’t find it weird. Although you might. When I get to the front of the queue I sing out to the crowd to ask if anyone would like to share a cab to Bondi (which is where I live). Or Downtown (when I visit New York). Or Rundle Mall (when I find myself that way). At first people are affronted by such an invasion of “stranger distance”. But then they soften. Especially when I offer to pay.
Of course, the practice is efficient (it shortens the cab queue for all concerned), and saves carbon emissions in it’s own modest way. But mostly I do it because it feels good. And a bit daring. And, golly, if this world doesn’t need an injection of daring from time to time!
Seth Godin does the same. Seth is one of the most prolific marketing experts in the world. He’s written 100-plus books, invented genius online businesses well ahead of the curve, has a blog following of 500,000 and is responsible for terms such as “permission marketing”, “idea viruses” and “purple cows”. And, truthfully, I think he’s the most authentically impressive person I’ve ever interviewed. And not just because he shares my penchant for cab queue bombing.
OK. Seth Godin just alerted me to this one. A gizmo that allows you to publish things on the interweb a little privately. OK, just a little. The best way for me to demonstrate it to… demonstrate it: This is who I had lunch with today http://trick.ly/2P3 Yeah, you got it? I’m clearly not that … Read more
