Attention

All press is good press.

The key to success is to get people talking about you...and talking, and talking, and talking.

It's easy to do in a country that prioritizes convenience over self-preservation and has a seriously entitled misunderstanding of the phrase "survival of the fittest." 

Complacently fat on junk food and reality TV - talking and talking.

It doesn't matter what's being said, just that the name is incessantly repeated.

Every conversation turned that way.

Every news story's inflammatory headline.

Every morning I think, Now what?

Talking and talking and even making signs.

They're right, of course. You should be concerned.

But more than that, unplug the television and put down the device. Go outside and have a genuine conversation with someone that does not involve the obligatory topic. You might be surprised by all the things you actually have in common.

The biggest threat is people who refuse to be played against one another.

If you wonder what the attention whore will do next, the answer is: whatever it takes to keep all eyes on them.

Games

 

Retreat

All relationships have rules but...

When the rules create an unwinnable game, it's time to walk away.

Effort

The problem with trying harder

 

I was a music major in college. After two years of maximum effort and dismal results, I burned out and quit.

I walked away to save my sanity but it stung. What I perceived as my life's trajectory evaporated in an instant because I couldn't hack it. It was a relief to let it go, but I was sad. I felt like a failure.

A couple years later I went back to school for photography. Photography is not easier than music, but the same effort produced notable better results. In fact, twenty-seven years later, I'm still a professional photographer. I built a career and made a life for myself.

It's not always about trying harder. It's about finding the right thing.

A Beautiful Home in the Hills

Gene Hackman's wife died of hantavirus.

She lay on the bathroom floor. The dog was in its crate.

A few days later, Gene succumbed to the ghost in the mirror. He was stepping over and around his dead wife until his clock ran out. The dog was still in its crate.

A few days after that the dog died and no one knew.

A family mummified in their home while the sun rose and sank and the mail got delivered.

Money didn't save them.

If there's something you want to do, go do it now.

You could die tomorrow, and the neighbors across the street wouldn't know the difference.

Currency

Words have power

Information is currency.

It's easy to assume that the one talking is in control, but divulgence cripples leverage. 

Words have value as does silence.

The one listening quietly and formulating a plan knows that whoever controls the information controls the situation.

I rarely say more than I have to. It's not about being deceptive, it's about staying on point. If it's not relevant, why bring it up?