October 14, 2010
are you a beacon?
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Are you a beacon?
A beacon is a navigation signal that tells you where you are when you’re lost at sea.
We spend a lot of our careers being lost at sea.… paddling away, not quite sure where we are, hoping to God that a big wave won’t come along and swamp our little boat.
And we look for beacons to guide us, to give us hope, to tell us where we are, to show us where the standard is, to show us the way forward. Beacons can be people, products, businesses or even ideas.
“Life might suck right now, but one day I’ll land a kick-ass job as Creative Director for Crispin Porter!”
“Life might suck right now, but one day I’ll write as good a novel as Jonathan Franzen!”
“Life might suck right now, but one day our product will be better than SAP or Oracle!”
These are beacons…
Obviously, if you or your product is a beacon to other people in your own industry, you have a considerable advantage going for you. Not to mention, a really good reason to get up in the morning.
So in my typical way, I’ll ask you, are you beacon? If not, don’t you think you should be?
To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about you when I sat down to write this, sorry. I was actually thinking about my client, Rackspace. Are they a beacon? I know they’re certainly capable of it.
I’m just thinking outloud, here…
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Tags: Beacon, Rackspace Cartoons, rackspace.gapingvoid.com
Or, to look at it another way, there’s a kind of reverse Beacon mentality — ‘I won’t ever reach the top of my profession but I don’t mind because my life doesn’t suck right now’
Ah yes, Gemma, I remember that mentality well, from my UK days
And then there is a kind of middle of the road beacon where your life doesn’t suck, but your work does…unfortunately for most people work takes up a third to almost half of your day when you include driving, which means a third of your life! I better find out how to be a dang good beacon!
As usual, Hugh, your posts are well-timed with my current thoughts. This happens a lot with artists, have you noticed? Probably has something to do with the Unified Field.
I’ve been doing some deep thinking about my role as a beacon, and the abuses and judgments that have arisen from speaking from my truth. Standing above the crowd with a torch can light the way for a tribe, but it also makes us an easy target.
Fortunately, artists are made of stronger substance than the crowd. The ideas that fuel our truth also protect us — you can’t extinguish authenticity.
I’m thinking the key to becoming a beacon, and staying a beacon, is the simple act of standing up for your truth despite the risks to the ego. Better to have tried to guide than to float in the illusion of safety below.
…and i actually related to the last paragraph more than anything else, Mr McLeod. I’ve just re-discovered two beacons this week. they have sod all to do with bright signals, more about guiding lights. no shining, just a glow that keeps you on the path to sanity… and after the realities of yesterday and today, i know why i need to get up… thanks for the inspiration.
Beacon like wolf, not sheep.
http://gapingvoid.com/2009/04/08/the-next-gapingvoid-print-wolf-vs-sheep-pre-order-at-265/
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