Category: Uncategorized

Exterior Decorating: Not ready for Conde Nast

The renowned publisher Conde Nast has 22 brands, last I checked. Four readily come to mind: Vogue; GQ; Conde Nast Traveler and Vanity Fair. In the context of this post, those 4 magazines have been founts of creative thinking for my marketing side, editorially and commercially.

So, I took creative license to offer an ambiance of levity, a lack of seriousness if you will, because I wanted to share a distraction far from the banal and divisive intrusions that dilute attributes of hope, faith, tolerance, civility and last but not least—love.

Forever Tied


I have in previous posts referred to sentience a number of times or the fact that we are sentient beings of the highest order. These days, I tend to question, even validate “highest” as an adjective tied to humans.

When my in-the-moment connection is in synch with the outside world, I like to think that my level of sentience moves a small amount towards the positive. In other words, there comes an awareness that acts like a salve to life’s shortcomings and imperfections. This synchronous feeling, this salve of awareness if you will, helps me see—and feel—beyond the obvious. It helps identify connections.

As the baby-boomer generation ages, I hear more stories about couples who either pass away within days of each other if not months. A few articles have mentioned some couples dying within hours of each other. There’s no denying the strength of connection between these couples. And we see it in other living forms as well.

Yes there are man-made confluences [plant grafting, creating chemicals and synthetic materials, gene splicing and modifying, mixed breed dogs, etc.], but if we’re honest about all things living, there are undeniable connections that inexorably bind one to the other. Amazing.

Simplistic thinking? Sure, simply because I don’t have the urge—or even the brain power—to make this more complex.

In the First Person

Hancock Shaker Village recently held the first of 4 dinners involving noted thinkers and authors.  The Food for Thought program involves a monthly dinner May thru August, and invites folks to “feed your mind, body and soul…with an illuminating author.” The first dinner quickly sold out as 76 signed on to chat and dine with former Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick. Within an ambiance shaped by the Shakers [who established this Village in the 1700s] the evening proved intimate, friendly, and grounded. In light of our current political climate, I suppose anything could’ve happened regarding a discussion of Mr. Patrick’s life politique; politics has been a lightning rod of recent times, as we all know, attracting more negativity to the point of consternation and frustration.

That wasn’t the case here. Instead, I was reminded of the importance, indeed the significance, of seeing things in person and to hear experiences in the first person.  We are so immersed, so much more involved with our digital devices that I think we’ve lost touch on how to converse with verve, clarity, honesty, expression, sensitivity, empathy, integrity, patience, consideration, reciprocity and more.  It’s a sad state of affairs and while this is a gross generalization, therein lies a truism in my previous sentence: many of us spend too much precious time eyeball-to-eyeball, hand-to-hand with a keyboard, a touch screen and/or ear buds.

In this setting, we conversed with Mr. Patrick and listened to what he had to say. He was genuine and unpretentious in his greetings with old friends and in acknowledging the company of new faces. In a space that consisted of movers and shakers and critical thinkers from the Berkshires and beyond, it would’ve been all too easy to spot someone posturing. No, we all possessed a quality common to each in that room regardless of social or professional standing. We were–and still are–sentient beings, vessels filled with doubts about freedom of speech, decorum, political bipartisanship, populism, nationalism, etcetera ad nauseum.

Yes, having access to commentary and perspective through YouTube, Vimeo, Aeon, TED Talks and others is timely, convenient and important, but I, personally, feel that being there, of  being part of the gathering, is a different experience from those encountered online. When you’re surrounded by the event, you are indeed, part of the event. Many things become visceral and palpable, vulnerable and accessible, sensuous and profound. And while many communications can be paused or saved or added-to-my-view list, I’m reminded that with such gatherings, Life has no pause or rewind buttons. You are in the moment, beguiling a terrific gathering albeit brief.

 

 

For the Moment

A change in pace. Here’s a 5:24 video, a slide show if you will, one that could help with your insomnia [kidding]. The soundtrack is by Paradis entitled, Sur une Chanson en Francaise copyright 2014.  Please click here.