Define yourself

There are so many things that define us. Your job might define you. Your family situation might define you. Your upbringing and/or childhood might define you. Your financial situation, your health, your appearance, your propensity to give and care about others…the list goes on and on.

Social media forces definition — and a very public definition, at that. I have, admittedly, struggled with how I define myself in the Twitter bio paragraph, and how much is “a little about myself” in the Facebook profile box. It is hard to define ones self in succinct words. There is so much “to” you that it seems nearly impossible to summarize in so few characters.

I challenge you to do it anyway! Don’t hide behind anything, and just put it all out there for other to see. Who are you?

You will change it 20 times before you get it the way you want it. And just when you perfect it, something in your life will change and you will change your definition. Sometimes, it is even good to include an attribute you wish defined you, and then set to achieving that definition.

Defining yourself will give you a sense of power and a sense that you know who you are or who you want to be. This is just one aspect of social media that I have found very helpful. If you have, for your own reasons, decided not to define yourself in your social media channels, then I would encourage you to take on the challenge! Go for it, and see where it takes you.

Blogging with my nine-year old

It’s amazing the varying degrees of shock and disbelief I see/hear from people when I tell them that my nine-year old son wanted a website and we agreed. It was not a decision that my husband and I entered into lightly. Nor is it one that our son is undertaking alone. He’s learning to blog, post photos and links, and just generally familiarizing himself with working on a computer. We think it’s a great experience. We understand that what he posts is public (we’re not broadcasting his URL to the world), but to the best of my knowledge we’ve taken the steps necessary to ensure his blog does not show up in Google search results. We are also funneling all the posts and comments through our email boxes. Is anyone aware of any other precautions we should take? Or is there anyone else doing this successfully with their kids? I’d love to swap ideas so let me know by posting a comment. Thanks!

@TheCr – The Community Roundtable LIVE!

Last Friday I participated in my second live lunch event sponsored by The Community Roundtable. During the lunch, Rachel Happe (@rhappe) and Jim Storer (@jimstorer) asked us what we thought the most important part of being a community manager is and to describe it. There were many thought provoking responses. In the end, I settled on sharing something I have learned recently. I share it, with the hope it will inspire you in some way (sorry to those who attended the event – this will be redundant.)

I have learned an unbelievable amount since leaving Ciena on October 13th. I know it does not make logical sense that I would learn more AFTER losing my job, but it is true. I have been spending my time speaking with brilliant people about their work and what inspires them. It has helped me articulate what I want to do next and has taught me that I will be a better person – and employee – if I take my eyes OFF the target occasionally.

That is right – I said, “take my eyes off the target.” We get caught up in processing our daily lives and work, and do not often take a moment to lift our eyes to look around and  learn and experience new things.  Taking the time out from aiming to hit our targets, allows us to take in our environment and will ensure a bulls eye, or near-bulls eye, hit.  Lift your eyes from the target to determine if perhaps, one of your colleagues produces a better bow you could use — more efficient and accurate. Lift your eyes to see if the tip of your arrow is, indeed, appropriately affixed to ensure a straight shot. Lift your eyes to check wind speed and direction. Will your arrow drift off course? I am not suggesting you lift them for long. It is not a time to admire the gorgeous cloud formations passing slowly over-head — save that for after the arrow strikes the coveted red center.

The time I am spending talking to those around me, doing new things, reading more articles and just generally being more present in my own life – has me energized and excited about my next opportunity.

A new box of crayons blog

Crayons

A new 64-count box of crayons sits on the table in front of me. I crack the lid, thinking about how I only have 64 of the 120 core Crayola ® crayon colors. I think, too, about the more than 400 colors they have introduced since 1903. For years I have been fascinated with their color and naming trends, and have even noticed that crayons color differently now then they did when I was a kid. I have surmised it is most likely due to ingredient changes and can rattle off what economic and health-related concerns have probably caused the shifts. To say I am a crayon aficionado, is putting it lightly.

Watching the way people interact with crayons is also a bit of a social experiment for me. Crayons elicit habits and emotions in people. For example, some people love the newness of an unused box of crayons and will keep a box on the shelf for years; saving them for some special coloring occasion that never arrives. Other people are not phased at all by old crayons and will color for hours with a worn-down, rounded tip. Their box of crayons has a beaten up package and when you lift the lid the crayons have ragged wrappers and are of all different heights. These two distinct groups of people would have very different opinions as to whether the sharpener on the back of the box actually works.

There are still others, who will sit with a new box of crayons and a blank piece of paper and design a masterpiece derived from their mind’s eye. Others need the direction and structure of coloring books and some feel foolish coloring without a child present.

A simple thing like a new box of crayons represents endless possibilities. They represent the smiles on my children’s faces, blooming creativity, an outlet for individuality and personal expression – and, hours of fun. You can melt them and use candy molds to make fun-shaped crayons, grind them up into shavings for confetti, peel their labels off and make leaf rubbings, and even conduct science experiments.

As a marketer fascinated by the use of color and words, the crayon naming trends and ever-evolving color list makes getting a new limited-edition box of crayons (when you are lucky enough to find one) an exciting prospect.

So I sit – with my box of crayons – and ponder my new blog. What should the title be? What should it be about? Should I focus on a particular topic? How much of myself do I weave into my posts? I have so many questions and so many possibilities. Just as with my new box of crayons.

Two kitchen items to bring your family together

In our house, cooking together is a big deal. Our kids will pass on television time to hang out at the counter with us and cook. We have encouraged it since they were little and many parents cringe as they watch the kids crack eggs, cut vegetables, stir risottos, and just generally participate in ever step of the process. Over the course of past year, there are a couple of kitchen items which – believe it or not – have brought us together in the kitchen for some quality family fun.

The first is the cookie dough scoop. That’s right — a cookie dough scoop. I used to dread the two-spoon “putting the dough on the pan” process that inevitably comes at the end of every session of making cookie dough with the kids. I, personally, never liked doing it. And now they wanted to help and my my dislike of the process was compounded because I had to clean up their mess, too. I used to hope they’d tire of making cookies by the time we were reading to spoon dough so I could pan the cookie dough in peace. Or, I even used to actually come up some lame excuse as to why they couldn’t help anymore. THEN – the scoop made a glorious entry into our house and we now have stress-free, kid-friendly cookie making sessions from start to finish. It’s not messy, it’s perfect for small hands, and the cookies all come out the same size so they cook evenly. Huzzah!

The second is a set of four mini pizza pans I got as a birthday gift last year. There is nothing better than having all four of us in the kitchen prepping toppings, rolling dough, layering on oodles of cheese, and each one of us feeling as if we have created our own little masterpiece as we slide it in the oven to bake. The pans are also great when we have company for dinner because other kids enjoy joining in the fun to make their own pizzas. The set of pans we have are made by Chicago Metallic and I purchased them at Williams-Sonoma. They are tough to find now but if you are able, it is well worth it.

If you are looking for a great way to involve your kids in family cooking, I hope these two suggestions get you there! Enjoy.