Ever feel you can’t see more than a couple of feet in front of you?

You ever drive in a thick fog?  It’s completely disorienting, isn’t it?

If you’re driving to a familiar place, you trust your memory of how to navigate the streets.  Your surroundings, even your destination, look unfamiliar in that context, but you’re confident you can find your way because you’ve done it lots of times before.

If you’re in an unfamiliar place, though, it’s darn near impossible.  You can’t see more than a few feet in front of you.  You have no sense of where you are, what’s around you, or how close you are to arriving at your destination. 

Ever feel like that in your professional life?  Ever feel you can’t see more than a couple of feet in front of you?  Ever feel like you have no idea exactly where you are or whether you’re even headed the right direction?

Ever just want to stop and holler, “Would someone, for Pete’s sake, just tell me which way to go?!?” 

When your mind is clear, you have a sense of the larger picture.  It may look like a long way to where you want to be, but you can see it up there in the distance, and you can see all the obstacles, all the twists and turns that lie ahead.  In that confounded fog, though, you don’t see those things until you’re absolutely on top of them, and you have no idea how many of them lie between you and your goal.

It’s overwhelming, but you know what?  You can almost always see a few feet in front of you. You move as far as you can see, and when you get to the edge of what you can see, another few feet will be visible.  If you just keep moving, keep paying attention, eventually you’ll find your way through. 

Think back on your life.  How many times have you done exactly that?  You were in the fog, unsure about a bunch of things…and then you weren’

After you’ve done this a few times, you realize that when you’re in a fog, even when it’s in unfamiliar territory, you’ll find your way.  As long as you keep moving toward the edge of what you can see, as long as you pay attention to the twists and turns as they present themselves, you’ll find your way.

The Storytellers

The Storytellers, whether through words, music, or images, share things they’ve seen, heard, or experienced.  That’s what storytellers do.

I realized I was a storyteller way back in the 5th grade.  There’s something about figuring out how to tell a compelling story with just the right words (or images, or music) that fascinates me. 

As a filmmaker and writer, I guess I’m kind of a professional observer.  I see things and I wonder.  I wonder what has been, and I wonder what might be.

Sometimes I look at something or someone and think about all the parts of the story I don’t know. 

I saw this sweater the other day when I visited one of our CEO classes (thanks, Bailey, for sending photos).  Sixty-eight years ago, this sweater mattered.  Maybe it mattered a lot.  Now it’s a fashion accessory. 

When I see something like this, it makes me think.  Who owned it originally?  Was the day they received it the absolute best day of their life?  Did they say to themselves, “Life will never be better than it is this minute!”? 

I wonder when the sweater left his hands.  Was his life so successful he didn’t require evidence of his high school prowess?   Was he the kind of person who felt it wasn’t necessary to wear badges of achievement on his arm? Did he go to college and feel that it wasn’t such a big deal any more?

Did he have children?  Did he pull the sweater out and tell his kids how important the sweater was to him?

Or did he never talk about it?  Did his children come across it after his death and give it away, not realizing its significance?

How many people see this particular sweater and find themselves transported back across the years, to the moment when they received their own letter sweater?  Does the sweater evoke a memory of some big man on campus who was kind to them at an important moment?  Does it evoke a memory of the same type of guy, but thoughts of bullying and being mean?

Isn’t it interesting how a “thing” can occupy a place of such importance, but only for one person?  Isn’t it interesting how many memories and feelings can be attached to a “thing”, so meaningful to one and completely without meaning to another?

We’ll never know all of what is woven into the yarn of this particular bit of history.  We’ll probably never know whose it was, or what it meant to them.  We can wonder, though. 

6 MUST read Books in 2015

Today’s thoughts will be both brainy and snarky.  I trust you, dear readers, to have the good sense to discern which is which.

I read a lot, and generally have more than one book going at any given time.  What follows are the five best books I’ve read in a while, with no particular emphasis given to genre or subject.

1)        Things You Wish You Knew Yesterday, and absolute must read.  I’m telling you, there’s stuff in here you won’t believe.  In fact, you’ll find yourself wishing you knew it yesterday.  The author is a freakin’ genius.

www.thingsyouwishyouknewyesterday.com

2)        Worth Every Penny, by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck.  If you run a small business of any kind, or if you think you’d like to, this is essential reading.  You’ll think the authors have somehow channeled all of your inner questions, and you’ll swear they’ve heard all of your self-doubts.  This book is full of practical advice that will help give you the confidence to push forward with your work, value it appropriately, and create a business that makes you and your customer feel good about what you do.

http://www.amazon.com/Worth-Every-Penny-Business-Customers/dp/1608322777/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422396396&sr=8-1&keywords=worth+every+penny

3)        Unbroken, By Laura Hillenbrand.  I don’t often read books more than once, but this one twice, and will likely read again.  Louis Zamperini lived several lifetimes in his early years, and each one would have made for fascinating reading.  That he lived all of them stretches one’s ability to comprehend the human experience.  In the end, Unbroken is a story of redemption and forgiveness, and you’ll be a different person as you turn the last page. 

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Laura-Hillenbrand-ebook/dp/B003WUYPPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422396701&sr=8-1&keywords=unbroken+laura+hillenbrand

4)        Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull.  Working on a big creative project?  Creating something big and new in your life?  Chasing after a bold goal?  As you share Ed Catmull’s insider view of the Pixar process, you’ll find yourself thinking, “Boy, if they can do that, I can do this thing.”  There are “aha” moments in this book that will help you understand the complexity of the creativity process and the value of “intentional honesty”.  When you see a Pixar movie, it’s easy to think, “Man, that must be nice.  You have a great idea, you get a bunch of people together in a cool place like Pixar, and out pops Toy Story!!!”.  When you know what the process is really like, you’ll feel much better about your day-to-day struggles and feel more confident that things will be fine in the end.

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Laura-Hillenbrand-ebook/dp/B003WUYPPG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422396701&sr=8-1&keywords=unbroken+laura+hillenbrand

5)        11/22/63, by Stephen King.  I’m not a fan of many of Stephen King’s books-too creepy.  He is, however, one of my favorite writers.  King has a way of choosing just the right word for just the right moment, and that held me spellbound as he unwound this tale of time travel and one man’s collision with history.  Trust me, if you avoid Stephen King because you fear his books are too scary, take a flyer on this one.  I’ve read it three times, and as I’ve mentioned, I don’t often read a book more than once.  Meticulously researched, believably told, and featuring characters you’ll care about, 11/22/63 is a compelling read.

http://www.amazon.com/11-22-63-Kindle-Enhanced-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B005K0HDGE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422397197&sr=8-1&keywords=11+22+1963+stephen+king

6)        Things You Wish You Knew Yesterday.  Don’t know if you’ve heard of this modest little volume, but it’s a page-turner.  There are illustrations, too, so if reading isn’t your best thing, you can always use the pictures and just sound out enough words to understand the story.  The author must be devilishly handsome, because anyone who writes this well is no doubt a bon vivant of the highest order. 

www.thingsyouwishyouknewyesterday.com