I was packing last night for a business trip. I'm not a good packer, I tend to overpack, and I tend to multi-task as usual. It's just one of those things.
So, sitting down on my computer, uploading more music to the iPod, watching TV and checking email and IMs, I get an IM from a friend from college.
This friend is one of those that likes to IM odd pieces of news to me: hey, so and so got engaged; hey, I quit work; hey, I'm moving out of the country; hey, did you know that C-Pipe died? - I just missed his memorial.
Huh?
So, a friend in college whom I worked with at the Daily Wildcat - I was a snarky columnist, he was a funny and great photographer - was in a car accident, and killed. Charlie was a great guy, and I kept in touch a little bit post college, but it was more a newspaper type friendship.
But, it still puts things in perspective. First, the memorial page that was put together is touching to see that he touched so many people's lives. Second, he lived his life doing what he loved and being with friends, which is an admirable trait.
Makes you take stock. The 300+ PR bloggers - a list growing more and more every day - blog for various reasons. Some blog to understand, some blog for enjoyment, and there is a clique of a few that blog to be known.
That's just sad.
I hope that I am never on my deathbed thinking - oh, I coulda been blog/Internet famous if I only blogged more. I know that on my deathbed, I will be surrounded by friends and family, and will think of those in the past whom I love and loved.
And, will probably think of the movie After Life because I'll be trying to think of what memory I want to relive over and over. I have a few ideas right now, but hope to have a few more by the time I die.
Too often, I think bloggers forget to live offline, high-touch lives. There is so much out there, and you want to do it before you are too late. Because, well, you never know when it might be too late.
Thoughts on "communications, marketing, public relations and social media."
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteFirst... sorry to hear about your friend.
As to taking stock on one’s deathbed, forget the meaninglessness of “blogger fame,” imagine trying to reconcile one’s LIFE with being a PR flack. What a shameful waste. Here lies a professional lair for SMEs.
Sincerely,
- Amanda Chapel
Amanda, just because you don't like what you do, does not mean others do not. If you don't like what you are doing, leave the industry. It's really that simple.
ReplyDeleteI like PR. I like what I do. If I didn't, I'd get it.
Very well put.
ReplyDeleteJeremy, as we discussed before, your friend Charlie seems to have had his life in perspective. Good to others around him, and living the life he loved, his friends respond with love and respect.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your sentiments regarding perspective and a focus for one's life.
Your post turns prediction for some. Sad, isn't it, how some people cannot suppress their own blogger fame desires, even in comments to a simple, genuinely kind, message recalling a departed friend.
Charlie now dances with angels.
Yet, another seems destined for his own personal lair - frozen in Cocytus.
After all, when one seemingly claims the wisdom of The Rock, yet only casts stones, the Inferno seems a fitting, earned end.
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI am assuming you like to otherwise "diddle," as well. That doesn't make for a meaningful life.
- Amanda
"That doesn't make for a meaningful life."
ReplyDeleteAC/BC: It also doesn't make for a meaningful life to regularly criticize others without offering a any alternative.
There are three things one can do if you don't like a situation: Constructively work to change it, leave, or just shut up.
Please do *any* of the three.
Mike
Michael,
ReplyDeleteTell you what to do?! HELLO?! Let alone that we are not your parents, the phrase “that cement’s been dry for some time,” fits. You can’t even get our identity down right. We’ve told you time and again Michael that our authorship is plural and you cannot digest it.
No. It is not our job to tell you what to do. Our job is to get YOU plural to admit you’ve got a problem. Like the first step in reforming an alcoholic, got to get them to admit it. We’re working on it.
Regards,
- Amanda/PH/SH/BC/NS/VV/ML/JS, et al.
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your loss. I think you make a very good point here though. It seems like often times we forget that there is a life beyond this monitor. After you build an audience, it seems that there would be an unsettling desire to be religiously committed to them through your blog. The truth is that the blog should be about the experience, not THE experience. Although the circumstances surrounding your post are unfortunate, I think you have a good point.
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. It is hard when people are taken from you when you least expect it. When it happens it helps us put our lives in perspective. What if we were to go now? Would we be satisfied? Or would we be disappointed?
ReplyDeleteI had a close friend die recently in a tragic car accident as well, and I know how hard it can be. It makes you realize when you wake up in the morning to enjoy what you have, and it makes you want to do all that you can each day. Whatever you do, do not let it make you depressed, but let it make you realize what you want to make of your life. Whatever you do keep your head up.
get well ok
ReplyDeleteJeremy,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your friend. It definitely puts things into perspective. In the end, every job is just that, a job. It isn't a reason to live. While having a job is important because it allows us to contribute to the world, it doesn't give us the human relationships that give our lives meaning.
Just because blogging is exciting and innovative, doesn't mean it should become a lifestyle. I think in this age of technology, many people are spending too much time communicating through e-mail,im-ing, and blogging, and forgetting the impact of human contact.
I think your post is an important reminder to use blogging, but keep it in perspective. Some things are simply more important. Maybe people should spend less time debating blogging and social media and more time caring about each other.
I'm sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad. Why do we suddenly remember what's good about life when somebody else can no longer experience it?
We recently had a young man from our college pass away, and it made me stop and think. I'm young, I'm healthy, I have a great family, and I need to start appreciating all the things I already have and stop yearning for the things that I don't.
Blogging is great, being on the Internet is fun, but none of the things pertaining to this virtual world could ever take the place of living in reality.
Thanks for helping keep things in perspective.
I really enjoyed this post. I agree that blogging is a great tool but so is an outside life!! I think PR is a great field because you can be social and make great connections. I have to write a blog for one of my classes but forget to post most of the time. Oops. check it out anyway http://melissa-productplacement.blogspot.com/
ReplyDelete