Good morning, Friday. It's a beautiful day in New York- the kind that makes you wonder how you are lucky enough to live in such a vital and vibrant place.
Let's get right to it. It's my birthday, y'all.
It's hard not to get a bit self-reflective, though I'd rather be laying in the sweet Summer sun.
l've been thinking much lately about how we assess value in ourselves as the world has changed so much when it comes to work and collaboration. Much has been made of that latter term- you can't turn a page in a magazine or click a link on a business blog that doesn't reference the collaborative economy in which we have found ourselves.
I for one welcome it, even though I think of myself as the type who prefers to work alone, like a spy or assassin or some other made up badass in action movies. But truly I love working with people who share an enthusiasm for ideas and inspiration. As a producer, one has to be the ultimate collaborator, by bringing all the parts together to make the magic happen. It's time for all of us to channel that spirit in this very new economy we are facing, where nothing old is new again. And new just keeps happening, and will continue to do so. Why fight that?
I bring this up because those Instagram accounts you follow and those blogs you read are becoming important for more than just fashion advice or apartment envy. With the power of social behind them, these bright young things are demanding recognition and compensation that equates with their level of influence and ability to set the pace. With many of us looking for new ways to communicate with an audience, look no further than that guy who takes pictures of dogs in Brooklyn. He's seen as a potential collaborator not just for his urban canine picture taking chops, but because he wields influence and in many ways, is the media itself. It's no longer about taking pictures or pimping out a brand or hash tagging your posts. It's so much more that that and it's all becoming one big 360 degree channel where everyone has a stake and everyone can collaborate. And I realize how much better life is when you let people in, when you work together to learn, sweat, and create. That's not to say you become a sheep, in fact, I believe it's more important than ever to have a strong and unique point of view. The more you create a strong identity, the more people want to hang with you. Fact.
But what does this all mean, anyway? It means that it's smart to figure out the best path for collaboration, and to think differently about what you have to offer. It's not enough to be an employee, worker bee, producer, writer, or insert any title any more. It's more important to think about ourselves as collaborators, particularly those of us in the freelance life have a huge opportunity to make something more of our current valuation. I feel like we recently cruised through an era of generalists, into a brave new world of holistic collaboration. A mouthful, but the more I think about it, the more I see that the best played hands include more than one deck of cards.
I may not have the equity of millions of followers on Instagram, but you never know what rethinking your talents can do for your profile. It's time for all of us to think in new ways and enjoy happy accidents and chance encounters that lead us somewhere great. Call it an educated attempt at serendipity. I get very caught up in I should be a writer, I should do trends, I should make dog clothes, etc. and etc. But really, I much prefer the idea of a little of this and a little of that and a whole lot of the common theme of not the type of work I do, but the type of people I work with- great friends and heroes and gurus and future pals I can connect with and believe in and who want to make great things. After all, we are all in this together, figuring it out as we go. Imagine how much better the world could be if only we would work together.
And although my next (ad)venture is a bit of an at the moment airball, I'm lucky to have some stable ground in my home life with the hubs and the fur face, my continued love of my favorite city in which I am fortunate to live, and my continued goal of striving for better human status- whether that's getting more involved in some causes I believe in or exploring new places or workouts or whatever it is that can teach me something new. My desire for that is a constant, and to me, that's something I can't put a valuation on, because it's priceless.
I'm talking about work because I'm trying to avoid talking about botox, midlife crises, or any of that other noise. Besides all of that, there's no time like right this very minute now. I'm lucky to be here. Cause that's what's up this well aged Thursday in the best city in the world. Yours, in one more year. Let's play. Hoping we can celebrate together very soon. Because together, we're better. XO