Happiness
This weekend, I’m supposed to be here:
I was supposed to leave home at 7 this morning and drive for 6 hours out to Nat and Brian’s farm for a weekend of relaxation and pollution-free air.
Instead, I’m sat on my couch, curled up under a blanket and getting very close and personal with a box of tissues while my body deals with the flu. My only saving grace is knowing that my flu isn’t as bad as it could be, courtesy of my flu shot last month.
In between blowing my nose and complaining about being sick on the ANZAC Day long weekend, I’ve been catching up on the TED talks we have on our media server. We have so many of these videos, I’ve been watching them on and off for about 6 weeks, and I’m only up to E. Some of the talks have been inspiring, some so detailed and technical that they go completely over my head. Some have even just left me sitting here thinking “WTF?”.
I just watched Eve Ensler’s TED talk, on her experiences as the creator of the Vagina Monologues. She recounted the stories of determined women and her own challanges as a woman who’s been a victim of violence.
At the very end, she summed up her learnings:
“Happiness exists in action. It exists in telling the truth and saying what your truth is. And it exists in giving away what you want most.”
How could you not be inspired by that? Imagine what the world could be like if more of us could turn that into practice?
Watch Eve’s talk and decide for yourself.
Differentiate or Die
As I look for more interesting twitterers to follow, I’ve discovered that the man behind PSDTuts is a twitterer. Checking out his timeline, I found this:
“Differentiate or Die. Why build a website that does exactly what someone else already does? It’s just not a winning strategy.“
AMEN TO THAT!
My other site has been a hobby for almost nine years. It has a very niche market, although my site’s popularity is directly linked to how active MiG Ayesa’s career is. At one point, MiGCentral was getting 10,000+ unique visitors a month. Not bad a for a niche.
In recent years, I’ve seen “competing” sites start up, in varying formats. Some have worked, some haven’t. Some sites have achieved a lot, and impressively so. More than I have ever been capable or willing to do.
But what bugs me more than anything in the world, is that while there are 3 active and independent web sites remaining for the very same niche market, two of them are, for all intents and purposes, identical. I don’t know if it’s dedication or desperation – selflessness or selfishness.
And if you’re looking for content, you can be assured that good-intentioned members are cross-posting news and information on all 3 sites. So we can all be the same. So that we aren’t differentiating.
It doesn’t help that I witness infighting, bitching, gossiping, bullying, chinese whispers and complete and utter immaturity, even today. Just because I disagree with management styles differing from my own, doesn’t mean that these qualities should be deemed acceptable by anyone’s standards.
But regardless, none of us offer anything unique or exceptionally different to our community. Differentiate or die.
And this is why I struggle every day, to find a reason to not just shut down my site after nine years. Wouldn’t it be easier than to deal with this?
Yes, but you forget that I’m an Aussie, and Aussie’s are battlers. I’ll hang on like shit on velcro.
Sleepy
Things are going relatively well with our Litter Kwitter training. We’re still on the red stage, but without complaint or accidents. Okay, some complaining. But no accidents since a couple of weeks ago. YESSS!
Compared to a month ago, things are pretty relaxed in our house this week:
Way to go, MTV
If you’re a normal person and you get done for DUI, you’re shamed amongst your friends, family and co-workers.
If you’re a celebrity, you get paid a shitload of money to come to the “arse-end of the of the world” (Copyright, Paul Keating) and look pretty.
Admittedly, Mischa Barton has some talent (when compared to Paris Hilton) but for celebrities who behave badly to be rewarded for their efforts (if, by “rewarded”, you mean “put up with an Australian b-grade attempt at an awards show”), it’s no surprise that teenage girls (and younger) have image and behaviour issues.
Post Secret home truths
Usually when I sit down to read Sunday’s Post Secrets, I get a kick out of reading real secrets, but it’s not very often when one gets me right there; where I feel like I’m reading my own secret:
I remember the times when I wished I could go to the liquor store across the road and hand them a sign with my mother’s picture and “DO NOT ALLOW TO BUY ALCOHOL” in size 38 Arial Bold across the bottom. I remember fantasising that it would be able to actually help.
I still wish it could.
I also wish I could tell my family and her friends to do the same; that they are allowing her to kill herself. They won’t listen. I’ve been fighting this for over half of my life now, so I’ve run out of the anger I need to keep fighting.
I hope the anger comes back soon.
