Thanks to Richard Reeve for supplying today’s guest post.
Richard Reeve is an administrator at the Family Foundation School, a
candidate for Analytical training at the C. G. Jung Institute of New
York. He blogs at Catskill Cottage Seed.
“And the Master said unto the silence, “In the path of our happiness
shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So
it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to
walk your own path as you please.” Richard Bach, Illusions, pg.23
Liz recommended Bach’s book to me last month when we shared a coffee
at Blogworld. The tale that emerges from the soil of that Holyland
called Indiana has much to offer folks committed to creating content
streams in the new media.
Social Media gives us ample opportunity and leeway to play. Our
activity, the specifics of our various moves (all of which can be
boiled down to this simple fourfold way: search, save, post, ignore)is
a useful way to think about our social media practice.
But what do we do, those of us who have found our commitment, if we
are looking to deepen our practice:
Identify your passion(s).
Often folks are in the ballpark of their interest, and if we take the
analogy seriously, they might even have season tickets. The goal here
is to get out of the stands, put on the “uniform” of the player, and
step up to the plate. Or perhaps one needs not to pick up a bat, but
instead the ball and walk out to the mound. The point I’m driving at
is simple. There’s a huge difference between being “around” your
interest
And going out onto the field of your passion and being a player in the game.
Consider typology within your audience.
By this, I’m picking up on the marketing technique of having a
customer profile, but trying to push it a bit further along the lines
of psychological typology. Producing different types of content for
different types of people leads to a surprising range in the content
one produces and/or shares. Thinking types have a very different
appetite for information than the feeling types. The same can be said
of intuitives and sensates. Exploring these preferences in others can
open options you might not have otherwise considered.
Avoid ruts at all cost.
Invest in rut insurance. Anytime I’m struggling with my practice I
review this imaginary policy which states: nothing will be lost if one
lessons one’s frequency of participation, takes a hiatus, or stops
using any of these tools.
Be an individual.
We add more by walking through the world in our unique way than by
copying anyone else. I dare you to live this fact through your
participation in social media (just as Liz did with me by suggesting I
read Illusions…
…and wishing you, Liz, the speediest of recoveries.
