“Fish Market” mixed media on canvas
I’ve always been a multi-tasker. When bathing a toddler, I’d scour the sinks, clean the mirrors, even mop the floor while my little one splashed and played in the tub. I kept a wary eye out for safety and took time to tickle a tummy or shampoo some hair while bopping back and forth between the mindless chores that normally would have bored me silly.
When I’d feel the urge to cook or bake, I’d make extra to put in the freezer or I’d prepare mixes that could later be used in an instant for cakes or cookies.
While nursing a baby or rocking a crying child, I’d read a book. Sure there are detractors of this practice, but we had plenty of giggle time and serious eye contact during play time or tuck-me-into-bed time. After all, a frazzled out mother does little good and turns impatient when her needs are always in second or third place. By taking advantage of these dove-tail moments, I kept my sanity.
When my children were teenagers, I’d bring along books and notepaper chauffeuring them from place to place. I remember spending almost two hours going from one activity to the next with different children. Had I not had those spurts in between for entertainment or study I’d have been at my screaming wits end.
Now we have technology. Imagine how easily those transport hours would have been with an I-Pad or a Kindle? But just when you think you’re on top of the latest craze, you get swept under the rug by another. I finally mastered Facebook and Twitter, posted a blog or two, and started an online art gallery in time to find out I’m passé. Currently, if you’re not animated on Tumblr or Instagram, you’re on the way out!
My head is still spinning after reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.” Not only is it entertaining, it’s a must read for anyone interested in selling product or mastering the complicated cyber highways.
According to Gary, “It takes a ton of effort to figure out how to use any social media platform to its full potential, and today we’ve got seven major ones to contend with.”
What is the key to all of these dynamic changes? Storytelling, like when we were kids! If you can tell a story in words and pictures (better yet – in animation), you’ll be ahead of the curve; as Gary says: “find out the best way to storytell in fifteen seconds of video on a platform built for pictures.” That’s where it’s at folks.
To coin the Beetles, today is a “helter-skelter” wonder world of high-tech; where “marketing is hard, and it keeps getting harder.” We must put in our sweat equity, and give our best. When we’re done (or think we’re done), we must start all over again because there’s always something bigger and better just around the corner.
Carol Anfinsen the Art of Living 