Day 4.94 Meaning

Meaning.

Meaning well.

Meaning to.

As you may have deduced by now (going on 2,500 posts) I am big on meaning. As one of my artist friends was fond of saying, "It HAS to have meaning." The first time I heard him say that, it was in response to a giant outdoor mural we were pitching to Nike. As we negotiated a price for his immense talents, I thought, 'Wow, 100 square feet of color, energy and emotion painted on the side of a skyscraper in downtown Seattle, should be meaning enough.'

Wrong.

He didn't care about the commerce, he didn't want to negotiate a price and he definitely did NOT want to be attached with anything remotely resembling what he called, 'traditional, boring, patronizing and sanctimonious quasi-art as commercial endorsement.'

Gotcha.

Do I need to tell you how much I liked this guy?

I had no idea of how it was to play out. Meaning? Meaning what? Meaning how? Meaning who? We create the campaign, find the space, assemble the team and get the sponsor to write us a check. Meaning 101.

(sound of the 'wrong' buzzer)

Somewhere deep down close to the cellar of my soul I wanted to know what this meaning stuff was all about. I wanted to see it, smell it and taste it. I had an idea but its germination was still many moons away.

But it was a start. Being in the presence of someone who has the knowledge to excel and the wisdom to motivate is outrageously inspirational.

And I was.

Fast forward thirty years. Now it is ALL ABOUT MEANING. Everything. Every act, every day, every decision, every choice is predicated by asking that simple question, 'Does it have meaning?'

Before every session I have a little chat with myself. Should there come a time or a day where my energy, focus or mission is in doubt or running short of optimum, the question that gets me back to the power of the present and fills my sails with a gale of hope is the one where I go brutally honest to ensure that there is big meaning attached to the chore. Otherwise, guess what? Your meaning to may be meaning well, but it ain't the proper definition.

IT HAS TO HAVE MEANING.