As I write this (on my Blackberry), I am sprawled out on a lounge chair on Laguna Beach facing the Adaman Sea in Phuket, Thailand. It’s summer vacation time and most people would tell me to unplug and put the Blackberry down. The truth is, when I’m most relaxed, I am the most productive. The main reason is that I don’t consider what I do for a living a “job.” It’s simply stuff I love to do. I don’t have a desk (though I do at the office) and I don’t keep office hours (though Twist Image certainly does). When I’m on vacation, I’m not trying to “get away,” I’m simply in another location.
So being out here, I started thinking, “why do I Blog?” When I started Blogging (it’s been 4-5 years now), I saw it as a way to keep an online journal (not as a conversation mechanism). That was my original understanding of what a Blog truly was… A place for one’s thoughts. Blogs evolved quickly and I’d like to think that this space kept pace with the opening up of a Marketing and Communications dialogue – a place to uncover this new, emerging, type of Marketing and what we – as Marketing Professionals – can do within it.
Bottom line, I Blog because I love to write. I always have. Prior to Twist Image I spent well over a decade as a Music Journalist – pumping out reviews, interviews and editorials. Writing is in my blood. The spark for this Blog posting came about because I see the changes in the Social Media landscape. With the iPhone, YouTube, Joost and more, it won’t be long before no one is really reading text. We’ll be immersed in a web browsing experience that is similar to Second Life with a virtual world feel and real time audio and video will be a streaming click away (without buffering issues). I’m feeling like text-based Blogs will be fleeting. Like we’ve used text to date because that was the most accessible, but as soon as video, audio and images are no longer bandwidth issues, the Blogger Exodus will begin.
I won’t take part.
I’ll keep Blogging because every post is a new song for me. Every word is a melody in my head that’s been humming around in there, dying to get out. I’ll keep Blogging because the ability to communicate about Marketing through these words gives me pause to reflect on the magic and changes that our industry is grinding through.
I Blog because the only way to connect is to share. The only way to grow a business is to ensure that you have a strong community. The only way to build that community is to put words out there that spark newer forms of communication, community and ideas.
And that says it all. It’s not work at all. In fact, it’s relaxing and a complete pleasure. I have zero desire to take a break from Blogging because prior to Blogging, I kept a journal and, if I were here in Phuket six years ago, I’d be doing the exact same thing. The only difference would be that you and I could not share in my thoughts or discuss them. I will never take a break from Blogging unless I simply have nothing to say (not likely if you know me), then I just won’t post. See, I don’t know when the words will flow or when they will fail me. I do know that I can’t time it because I am on vacation (or not).
I had something to share today and, if it wasn’t here on this Twist Image Blog, it would have been in a private journal somewhere. Bruce Lee used to write his thoughts all of the time. When he was done, he would take the paper, light it on fire and that was it. He wrote to get it out of his system.
That’s why I Blog and I can’t control when that will be. So while some like to take break from it all (regardless of whether or not they are on vacation) or go on vacation to get away from work (and, for many, Blogging is work), I love to Blog when I’m breaking from the work environment because new ideas come out and deeper passions about who I am and what I want to do in this world come through. The true tragedy would be if I kept those thoughts to myself. So, look at it this way: when I hit the publish button… It’s like when Bruce Lee would light his thoughts on fire.