Strawberry Service

Garth Beyer

Strawberries

I walked by the farmers market today and saw two tables filled perfectly with strawberries. As soon as they sold one (which I ony saw them sell one) they filled the empty space with another carton of strawberries.

This, to me, seems very mechanical, that they were trying to streamline the process of selling strawberries. Where’s the service?

It looked like all they had to offer me were strawberries. No advice. No story behind the berries. No way to connect. Sure, most who want strawberries, just want strawberries. However, when you have five stands to choose from, the friendly looking ones are the most gone to – even if there’s a line.

This stand still sold strawberries, but not as many as other stands. And I guarantee the people they sold the berries to won’t be returning customers.

On an aesthetic note, the table wasn’t appealing. In fact, I sort of felt bad wanting to purchase some strawberries because it would throw things out-of-order. They like everything lined up perfectly. So do I.

But I’ll sacrifice my slight perfectionist attitude if I could make a friend and get strawberries at the same time.

 

Stay Positive & Service Requires More Than Two Movements*

Garth E. Beyer

*If all you expect customers to do is hand money and grab the product. Good luck staying in business.

 

One Journalist Down

Garth Beyer

I never followed his content, but I’m sure I’ve come across an article or two from him – especially on Buzzfeed.

Thoughts go out to Michael Hastings who died yesterday. Prayers to family, friends, enemies and readers of his.

One journalist down.

 

Stay Positive & Of Course, Part Of Him Will Always Remain

The Big Things

Garth Beyer

Really aren’t the big things. And, actually, the little things don’t add up to the big things.

What makes us feel that something is big is a quick succession of noticed and understood little things.

Telling someone you love them isn’t a big thing. Simply, in that moment, you are processing the 10,000 little things that make you feel the way you do.

Finally sharing your creations, your art, is not a big thing. It’s just a realization that you feel connected with people who want your work, that you feel satisfied with what you’ve made, that you appreciate all that you have been given and are ready to give back, that you care about those whom this product will help, that… this list of little things is endless.

It’s not about the moments that take your breath away, but all the thoughts and feelings you are acquainting that moment with as your breath escapes you.

Happiness comes from noticing the little things. The richest happiness comes from noticing the most little things in the shortest period of time.

 

Stay Positive & Big Idea, Huh?

Garth E. Beyer

The Journalist Consul Conundrum

Garth Beyer

SamanthaPower

The short story of journalist diplomat, Samantha Power, is that she once (I am sure, still does) write about genocide and foreign policy. Then Power worked with the Obama administration and now is a UN Ambassador implementing change that she wrote was vital for society in her earlier works as a journalist.

Featured in an article by Jason Zengerle, he writes that,

“It’s almost as if her journalism and her advocacy were working against her. From the outside it was great, but from the inside she had to prove that she was a team player and could be trusted not to put her own template on everything.”

I couldn’t help but completely understand the predicament and responsibility that Power has. Recently I applied to an Officer Protocol position for the National Security Agency. After a few weeks, I have yet to hear anything. Naturally, I wondered why.

The simple answer: I blog.

An agency as large as the NSA (and not to mention the recent whistle blowing news surrounding the agency) wants someone invisible, someone who can follow orders, and someone who understands how the system works.

While I can connect with the last requirement, I’m a bit too… visible and opinionated to be what they are looking for. After all, I am an Op-Ed writer. Conclusively, I have to agree with Zengerle’s assumption that it is extremely difficult to be a journalist diplomat; the responsibilities, connections, habits, and overall lifestyle are completely different.

The article nearly ends by noting, “The truth is, the Power who wrote A Problem From Hell is not—and can’t be—the same Power now responsible for solving that problem.”

As a writer though, all I hope is that Power is still writing, even if it’s not seen for another 20 years.

 

Stay Positive & Sometimes It’s Better To Find Writing After The Fact

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Like Clockwork

Garth Beyer

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You can correctly assume an action some will take based on what you know about them. They have a routine, a personalized search engine, and a tight group of actual friends on Facebook that you can discover simply by looking at their activity.

[Likes, shares, and wall posts occur because one person’s status shows up on another’s feed because that person has visited the other’s profile to see what they have been up to. The system recognizes this and gives you more of what you want.]

The trouble is that it’s difficult to become part of someone’s clockwork. You have to tell a story that involves them, that excites them, and get’s them to participate in the long tale [pun intended]. You have to have something original to offer. You have to care, deeply. In fact, there’s so much you have to do to become part of someones clockwork, that I actually don’t suggest it.

People ask how many views I get on my blog, who my audience is, and if I get hurt when someone close to me doesn’t read what I write. My response is that I write to be here when they want to know something, when they need a push, when they finally have a question that their clockwork friends can’t answer. When someone interacts with a single post of mine. That’s a story that resonates more than the one I would be forcing them to want to hear.

It’s difficult analyzing and incepting people to accept you as part of their clockwork. It’s more socially profitable to keep working on your art and being available for those who are searching for you. [Just one more reason why I can’t stand when people hold back their art.]

 

Stay Positive & Tick Tock, What Have You Created Lately?

Garth E. Beyer

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A Couple Types Of Creativity

Garth Beyer

Creativity

The first is unexpected; the type that just comes to you out of nowhere; that moment when you have never been happier to have a notepad in your pocket, or a paintbrush in hand, or pieces of your art around you.  Hirschman would argue that this is the best kind of creativity.

Hirschman wrote:

Creativity always comes as a surprise to us; therefore we can never count on it and we dare not believe in it until it has happened. In other words, we would not consciously engage upon tasks whose success clearly requires that creativity be forthcoming. Hence, the only way in which we can bring our creative resources fully into play is by misjudging the nature of the task, by presenting it to ourselves as more routine, simple, undemanding.

The second kind of creativity is a lot like hitting your head against the wall in hopes you will knock out a creative idea. Or, less physically painful, you toy around with different tools and dies you have at your reach until something starts looking like a creative piece of art.

I fancy this second type of creativity. It allows for frustration, it tells whether or not a person is determined and passionate or not.

And heck, if anything, I always say that some people hit their head against the wall just because it feels good when they stop. It’s a win-win situation, whether you end up creating something or not.

 

Stay Positive & If You Don’t Try, You Fail

Garth E. Beyer

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