Deadline...

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Since I began to blog, I have been able to post twice a week each Wednesday and Sunday without fail. That was until this week came along... this week is the first time I said to myself, "I'm gonna miss my Wednesday deadline!"

Why you may ask? Well... some of my reasons include the influence of Mercury in retrograde, a couple of new projects that have come my way, a school course, a long weekend that confused my routine, and various other general excuses. It was during my mental prioritization I actually said to myself, "Just miss a posting, no big deal".

 I then responded to myself, " A deadline is a deadline... so get it done". I'd like to offer some thoughts on this, if I may.

But first we should look into where the word "deadline" came from. It seems there was an infamous prisoner of war camp called Andersonville during the US Civil War, and by all accounts it was a hellish place to find yourself. The camp was surrounded by a stockade and twenty feet from the in face of the wall there was a line that was sometimes marked and sometimes not. If a prisoner crossed that line, they were summarily shot on the spot. They called it the deadline. By the 1920's, the term had evolved into a less violent form and became synonymous with a time limit or due date, particularly in the newspaper business. It has now found its way into every day life as the time something is due.

Deadlines can be man-made or created by mother-nature and influenced by many factors including those of our own making. In writing this blog, I want to focus on the deadlines we create, not necessarily deadlines that require getting off the volcano before it explores (although there is a certain motivation that comes with it). 

Let's look at the spirit of what the deadline is for a moment. In a very practical sense, deadlines are needed to get things done and are particularly important if there are a sequential number of activities that are dependent on the previous one - Deadlines are the natural check and balance to ensure that we in fact get things done. The deadline also serves another very important purpose - It develops urgency and inspires. Nolan Bushnell* happened to say, "The ultimate inspiration is the deadline" and this has become a motivational quote making its way around the Internet.

The trick with deadlines however, is to ensure that they are realistic but also set in such a way that they stretch a person or a team to complete the project as quickly as possible. Poor deadline setting, result in constantly pushing the deadline back from its original date or doesn't create an environment of urgency and inspiration to make the impossible, you know, possible. This is where the need for good leadership to strike the balance comes into play.

So if we look back to my blog situation that started these prose, I think it's fair to say that the goal of twice a week is realistic, as I have been able to do it to date. Ultimately I had to get creative by altering my process and resetting some priorities to ensure that I was able to meet the expectations of a Wednesday post. So me saying, " a deadline is a deadline... so get it done", is completely appropriate and achievable. In its simplest form, I had to get inspired to figure it out - Having a deadline achieved that.

About now, I should emphatically point something out that is very important. None of your core principles should be compromised to meet a deadline; be it quality, integrity, or anything you hold sacred. For me, at the core, I want to ensure that what I write is an improvement over what I previous wrote, be it grammar, content, or what people think.

With my deadline on the horizon, I want to mention one last thing; when you get a deadline that is End of Day (EOD) or End of Business (EOB), please remember that the business day officially ends when you fall asleep.

gpe

*Nolan Bushnell is an American engineer and entrepreneur who founded both Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theaters chain. 

Valentine's Day is coming...

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here

Courtly love... the romance of knights and princesses.

Various legends, good PR and time, has suggested that the first Valentine's Day card was written by Valentine himself. He wrote it to the daughter of his jailer, who was no longer blind due to Valentine's divine intervention and signed it, "Your Valentine." The next day they executed him. It seems back in the day there were a number of martyrs named Valentine, and through their trails and tribulations, February 14th became a special day. 

Romantic and courtly love started to take hold and by the 18th century February 14th had evolved into a day for the sharing of flowers, candies and hand written cards (called valentines) with those you loved. With the advent of the industrial revolution and the mass production of greeting cards, modern Valentine's Day was born. 

Fast forward to the 21st century and Valentine's Day has now evolved into a commercialized venture with roses at $15 a piece and overly priced restaurant meals; with this, year after year, a counter revolution to this sacred day has been growing (in light of those thrown to the lions). While part of this is the result of higher than usual pricing, there is also those who do not have a "love" at the moment or "are not a couple" and this day comes across as a condescending slap in the face. We have all known heartbreak, a love lost or a love never realized and it can be painful... quite a lot actually. We just don't need the Valentine's Day industrial complex reminding us.

So it is an interesting situation we have here, as love and the recognition of love is a very noble endeavour but it has evolved in such a way that we want to "stab it" in the proverbial heart with cupid's arrow. What are we to do? As with all problems, it requires a different perspective to help us understand the situation; and this is where wise mentors or just down right smart people come into play (this is my subtle business commentary in an obviously social, lighthearted, blog)*. In the case of this Valentine's Day situation, I turned to the master Louis Armstrong or as we like to call him, 'Satchmo". For those of you who are not familiar with Louis Armstrong, he was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and arguably the most influential figure in jazz music. It was Satchmo who introduced me to the song "What a Wonderful World" and a new perspective on Valentine's Day; the song is a bit of an anthem for me and it goes like this:

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed the day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
But they're really saying is I love you.

I hear baby's crying and I watched them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I look at Valentine's Day not in the limiting context of a couple staring into each other's eyes**, but more as to how Louis Armstrong sang of this wonderful world. It is the line, "I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do, but what they're really saying is I love you", that gives me a new perspective of what Valentine's Day should mean (and does mean). So go shake someone's hand or give them a big hug, as frankly, it's more meaningful than a $15 rose. I think it's how many of those Valentines would have wanted it.

So here's to this wonderful world, particularly on Valentine's Day.

gpe

*Do you have your "go to list" of experts and wise council that you can refer to? You should.

**Couples staring into each other's eyes, is one of the top ten things a couple can do together, maybe even the top three.

Thank you...

This post, although short, is very special as it is dedicated to the 10 people who currently subscript to my bi-weekly blog. I wanted to take the time to thank you for subscribing; it's not just that though, I also want to thank you for your feedback, your editing, your interest, the "retweets", your ideas and your comments.

In the three months (as of today) that I have been blogging, I have discovered a number of things:

1. I really, truly, like writing... wait... it's more like story telling I think.
2. The process I go through is the same, blog after blog... I start off with an idea, then words on the page which lead to this emotional roller coaster: "I like this".... "I hate this"..."grammar is stupid (and so is spelling)", and ultimately "this is pretty good" - SEND.
3. I don't know why people are afraid of punctuation? The semi colon is so much fun. Use as you see fit.
4. It seems I have an opinion on many things.

I am not "pushing" this post out to any other social media, so in a practical sense you are currently the only ones who will read these words, and for that I am very grateful. I want to share this with you with great appreciation.

"I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness ad more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind."

Neil Gaiman wrote this, who if you do not know, is the husband of Amanda Palmer... and we all know the big crush I have on her.

As they say, "all writers start with zero readers". Thank you for being my first ten.

gpe