Successful Blog

A Walk in the Zen Moonlight

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The Moon and the Lake in My Mind

the moonlight

In a week of too many things to do, it’s easy to get lost. It’s even easier not to want to be found. I see lots of folks feeling like that. Not me, no never, never me. Wouldn’t cross my mind. Wouldn’t happen like that.

I don’t get pulled. I don’t get stretched. I can handle the rush. I can handle the push. What else is strength of purpose about? It’s tied up in my need to show up, to find out, to be alive.

Does living mean we need to be strong, noble, and inspired every minute? Sometimes I do my work and think What do I do next? What do I expect of myself?

Then when I’m lucky, I hear music playing in my head. It’s an original melody. I know its movements by now. It’s a full orchestra — brilliant and breathtaking. It also means I’ll soon be going on a Zen walk.

I mentally grab my jacket. I put my wallet and keys in my jeans. It’s a quick good-bye. “Hey, I’m going outside. . . . Yeah, I know it’s raining. That’s okay, I’ve been wet before.”

I’ve no destination beyond the elevator going down. Soon enough, I’m out the glass front doors.

I walk south three city blocks. Three people jog by me on the sidewalk. Two more stroll. An old lady in a walker chair sits in the doorway of a stately building waiting for a ride, maybe her son, to pick her up. There’s a 30-something guy with a shaved head walking his big black dog with the caramel eyes. Lots of cars pass on Lakeshore Drive.

A neighborhood is where I live. I cross under the drive and come out by the lake. All civilization is left behind. Vast space, water and sky refresh my eyes. What a relief.

Sometimes I only need to change what I see.

I lay down my stress and look up at the sky.

The Zen moon in my mind enhances the symphony playing there.

Some folks say they can tell when I write at night. I bet they can.

People get more emotional when the sun has moved on.

I don’t have research to prove that it’s a fact of life.

I don’t need proof.

I have the Zen moon shining in the night sky.

Liz's Signature

SOB Business Cafe 06-01-07

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the titles to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Seth’s Blog recommends that we choose a game plan to suit the game we’re playing.

Problogger discusses donations as an income stream.

Vaspers the Grate reviews the newest specialized search engine.

Alister Cameron, Blogologist shares his dreams.

All Things Workplace wonders if 9-5 is archaic.

Good Word Editing does the math, with Einstein looking it over.

Related ala carte selections include

Design Your Writing Life is suggesting we fess up.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like. No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Successful Blog Meets Problogger! Join Us if You Can!

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The Ann-iversary

On May 4, 2006, Ann Michael, left her first comment here. In a bit of fun, two weeks later, we started planning a trip together. The first place mentioned was Australia. As it turned out, we actually took a trip — to NYC to the Seth Godin seminar. We met outside our hotel, checked in and had dinner. We walked the city at night talking about life, and the next day went to Seth’s Seminar. That was last June.

Ann Michael was the first blogger I met in person.

So when Darren said, “I’m in NYC. Are you coming?”

I called Ann and said, “It’s been a year. We have to.” Then we laughed and started plotting.

ProBlogger New York Readers Meetup

On June 9th in beautiful New York City, Ann Michael and I are meeting Darren Rowse (and, oh probably, over 100 of his best friends) in a saloon called “Speakeasy.”

One year since we met to go to Seth’s Seminar and we’re going to a meetup to enjoy the famous Australian hospitality of Darren Rowse. Talk about kicking it up a notch! Is that cool or what?

It’s the official Problogger Meetup. Are you going to be there? The folks who went last time said it was incredible.

Here are the details.

ProBlogger New York Readers Meetup
Date – Saturday 9th June
Time – 7pm – 10pm (we might go on somewhere afterwards)
Venue – The Speakeasy (a party room at 442 Amsterdam Ave between 81st and 82nd St)
Cost – Free – thanks to the generous sponsors Chitika (they are providing some finger food snacks and a free drink to the first 100 people to arrive – don’t be late). All we ask is that you tip the bar staff and ‘be merry’!

If you’re planning on attending it’d be great if you could drop by the page to RSVP. While it’s not compulsory to RSVP it’ll certainly help Darren with planning for prizes and such.

Too fun! I get to be with the first blogger I met and meet the friend — legend, star, super human being — who’s always been there for me. To think I once believed blogging was only about writing.

Rowse and Strauss — they rhyme.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The First Submissions: Your Blogging Metaphors

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The Metaphor Project: What’s Your Blogging Metaphor?

When a nonblogger asks, “What is a blog?’ How do you answer? Have you tried using a metaphor? Would you mind sharing yours? A few bloggers have.

The first submissions are in. Like the blogs they come from, each metaphor is a unique representation of the writer. We see blogs almost everywhere. They are a County Fair. They’re underwater. They’re a line of koalas. Like life, blogging seems to lend itself to metaphorical explanation — maybe more easily than it does to a straightforward definition.

These are the first submissions to The “What’s Your Blogging Metaphor?” Group Writing Project. I’ve discovered some great new blog writers and fun ways to talk about blogs. Just look at the titles! Check them out and pass them along to your readers. The more ways we look at blogging the better we’ll be able to explain it when we need to.

Let’s find some more.

Because this project spread so quickly and not all links are making their way to me, if you’ve written a metaphor and you’re not on the list, please email me a link. If you’ve already done that before noon on May 31, please forgive me and send it again. (I had dental surgery yesterday . . .)

Be a Part of the Project

So, what’s your blogging metaphor? Join the project. There’s still time to be a part – I’ll keep adding to this list until June 5th at Midnight Chicago time (GMT-6hrs.) Here’s the original post for the background — the whats and the hows.

C’mon tell us. How would you explain blogging to someone who knew nothing about it? What’s your blogging metaphor?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Questions to Get Closer to You: Question 2

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Get Closer to You

This is a series of questions, I don’t know how many. They are the ones I ask when I help folks get closer to their personal identity.

Imagine it’s an ideal world three years from now. You don’t need money, only job satisfaction. What are you doing for a living?

I’ll answer first to get things started.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related
The Finest Way to Introduce Your Brand or Live a Life
Branding: 5 Ways to Help You Find Out Who You Are
Questions to Get Closer to Your Brand: Question 1
How to Be Alive and 10 Ways to Celebrate It!

Boomers, GenY, and Changing the World

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A Circle of Our Selves

Change the World!

Recently in his discussion of authenticity, Steve Roessler shared the work of Peter Vajda. One sentence of Dr. Vajda’s echoes to my past.

The kicker for me is that everyone is born authentic.

We used to talk about that idea constantly when I was in college. We’d say that babies were born high on life, then the world slowly knocks it out of them.

Years later as the mom of a son, who was about to go to college himself, I was part of a conversation about the other end of life — how some people get crankier as they get old and others get more generous. I theorized that cranky, old people were trying to defend their right to be on the planet. A wise friend suggested that the answer was simpler — that

as people get old they become more of what they are.

Sounds like a circle doesn’t it? From authentic to authentic — it’s a circle of our selves.

Boomers, GenY, and Changing the World

I’ve read a lot and heard even more about about GenY and Boomers and how far apart we are. They say it’s a problem in the workplace that GenY employees want to IM their Boomer bosses. Magazine and newstalk is of a technology/relationship gap that exists.

The first thing people notice are differences. That doesn’t mean that’s all we’ve got.

When I look at Boomers and GenY I don’t see such a great divide. If we look at who we are below the surface, the picture changes to how much we have in common.

Boomers

I’m a Boomer. During the years that I was at my university, the organized system of fraternities and sororities was at an all time low for membership. Don’t go Greek. Go Freak! was a popular saying. Timothy Leary told us to trust no one over 30. We believed him. The Moody Blues enshrined him in a song. I still can sing it. Most Boomers still know Boomer anthems like that.

We wore jeans that looked just like the ones I see now — dirty, with holes and embroidery — my mom kept asking me to leave them home so she could “wash them” for me. We knew we were going to have an impact on the world as a group. We also invented the idea that our lives should have a soundtrack, and it was deep in our college years that the LOVE sculpture went up in Love Park in Philadelphia.

GenY

My son is GenY. They call him an Echo Boomer because his generation is the largest since the Boomers were born. Wikipedia points out the characteristics that they share.

These individuals typically share moral qualities with their grandparents (usually the G.I. or Greatest Generation). Some of these include the importance of hard work, dedication, and being an effective team member. Most political views of Echo Boomers are shared with their parents (Baby Boomers). This is due to similar presidential tension and the largely opposed war in Iraq. Many of the Echo Boomers have a closer relationship with their Baby Boomer parents and enjoy similar tastes in music and styles. It should be noted that while Echo Boomers are not as rebellious as their parents, they are not shy when it comes to speaking their minds.

When it comes to dreams, no generation seems to be more like the Boomers than this one that’s the largest generation since the Boomers descended on the planet.

The shared dreams are more than the differences. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Other folks have seen it too.

It’s true that Generation Y workers are different — but only to a degree, and not in as many ways as people think.

I recently conducted research that examines the motivations of about 3,500 people. It shows that twentysomethings are no more likely to express lifestyle concerns than workers in their 40s and 50s. In every age group, about the same number of people cite work/life balance as one of their key work motivators.

Though they are separated by age and experience, there’s not much difference today between boomers’ and Gen Y-ers’ outlooks on work/life. —Barbara Moses, Ph.D, is an international speaker, work/life expert, and author

So, the problem is one of communication, not deep-seated motivation. It’s not about differences at work. It’s about working together to make a difference in the world.

As Boomers get back to dreaming again, and GenY gets on to making things happen, isn’t there something important that we’re missing, if we don’t connect? Think of it, the two largest generations with our heads and hearts in the same place. That’s electric. That’s power. Better yet, it’s hope for the future.

What is the first little thing we might do?

We don’t have to stop at talking about changing the world.
We could actually do it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.

Change the World!.

Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.