Learning to Become a Player
“We strive to always be productive, and if the activity doesn’t teach us a skill, make us money, or get on the boss’s good side, then we feel we should not be doing it. Sometimes the sheer demands of daily…
Where Are You Saying “I Won’t?”
We often use the words “I can’t” when we really mean “I won’t.” We are afraid of the vulnerability of doing something that leaves us open to failure or criticism. By pushing beyond what we feel comfortable with, it feels…
Some belated post-Valentine’s Day thoughts on love…
As we were leaving Uruguay, on the way to the airport, I sprained my ankle. Although it was sore, the swelling was minimal and I walked on it through all the airport mazes required to get home, where I promptly…
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Stepping Into Discomfort to Find Deeper Purpose
I posted very little over the seven weeks while Linda and I were traveling in Uruguay and Argentina. Because we were based outside of Montevideo, our internet connection was inconsistent and weaker than we’d been told it would be. Posting…
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Maintaining Focus Through Community
People need a sense of connection and belonging as much, if not more, than we possibly ever have. Yet, it seems that most of what we engage in each day is driving us further apart. I had a series of…
Selling Through Stories Beyond Ads
“Everyone has a story. Every person, every brand, it started for a reason. How do you then bring that into the real world, tell it in an interesting way, and something that people care about. That takes them on that…
Using Humor to Sell Your Story
“I think that humor makes us more human. Certainly there’s advertising in the world that’s emotional and heart-breaking. But if you think about everything that’s super famous in advertising, 90 percent of it’s funny.” ~ Kate Baynham For my latest…
Are You Creating a Richer Life for the People You Serve?
When Linda and I work with clients, we frequently ask as part of our communication strategy: “Who is the community you want to reach, and what are you doing to build connections that will help you best serve that community?”…
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Enhancing Storytelling Through Sound Design
The process of composing music—not just writing a song, but composing and layering all the music and audio effects that move our emotions along—involves so much more than we realize. Whether it’s in a 30-second TV commercial, video game trailer,…
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Understanding Yourself and Others Through the Enneagram
I first met Anissa Ferris at a birthday celebration for a mutual friend, but her reputation had preceded her since my wife Linda had already spent most of two Saturdays in Anissa’s workshop on the Enneagram, a powerful tool to…
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The Power of Finding Your “Onlyness” with Nilofer Merchant
I first encountered Nilofer Merchant’s work through her 2013 TED talk, “Sitting is the Smoking of Our Generation.” I then had the opportunity to meet her last year after her keynote presentation at the 3% Conference in New York where…
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Being True to Your Own Voice with Becky Buller
I first met Becky Buller at a bluegrass festival a few months ago where her band was playing. Several people had told me not to miss her performance and I’m glad I didn’t! We had just finished filming interviews with…
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Listening to Create Purpose and Impact
What will you do with the time you have left? Are you willing to start right now? Those two questions are essential to the life and work of Kirk Souder, the co-founder of enso, a mission-driven branding agency partnering with companies…
Does Your Life Need a Pause?
Over the last few months I’ve had several posts here with quotes from Rachael O’Meara’s recent book “Pause: Harnessing The Life Changing Power of Giving Yourself A Break”. It took me a long time to finish reading “Pause” because I…
Are You Willing to Be ‘Enough’?
It has occurred to me that, at some point on the road of creative growth, there is a joining in with or a merging with our path of spiritual awareness and growth. I say that because both require a deeper…
Turning Angst into Art
For creators, the dark angst in life is often fertile soil that nurtures their best creative work. As a writer and illustrator of children’s books, Deb Lucke has a strong interest in bad behavior and horribly embarrassing incidents. Having had…
In Praise of Thoughtful Minds
The wearying mental and physical toll that it takes to get to and from conferences has rubbed a bit of the luster off the excitement I once felt when I’d see another faraway learning opportunity pop up. These days, going…
Driving a Stake of Commitment
It was thirty-six years ago today. I stood, looking past the friends and family members who had gathered to witness the occasion, watching as my closest friend proceeded down the aisle towards me. Having barely a clue about what we…
A World Domination Summit Blog Round-up
Following is a batch of blog posts from this year’s WDS (#WDS2015) participants. ▪ How WDS Changed My Life (by David Ryan) ▪ The Hit List – World Domination Summit 2015 (by Theresa Reed – The Tarot Lady) ▪ Finding My…
Pause for Pregnant Thoughts – 3/3
This is the third of three summaries of the take-away thoughts I brought with me from our recent trip to the World Domination Summit (#WDA2015) in Portland OR. The excitement and follow through from the participants is amazing to me.…
Pause for Pregnant Thoughts – 2/3
Last week I posted the first of three summaries from our recent trip to the World Domination Summit (#WDS2015) in Portland OR. I’ve been to numerous conferences but the energy and engagement at WDS is indescribable. Following is my summary of…
Pause for Pregnant Thoughts – 1/3
I am a self-proclaimed knowledge whore. I call myself a ‘know ho’ for short. I am willing to spread my mind open for almost any idea in an act of consensual learning. I understand it’s risky. My mind could easily…
Don’t Over-Complicate a Simple Thing
It was a simple thing, really. Buy some coffee and freely offer it to people standing in line for an event. Just say “Good morning,” exchange a few pleasantries, and move up the line. But it was more than…
Learning to Court Your Monster
This past September, I had the pleasure of joining a couple hundred visionary thinkers and leaders at an event produced by Jonathan and Stephanie Fields and their support crew under the umbrella of their Good Life Project. On the last night…
Creating Space for Gratitude
Creating time and emotional space to be thankful in the midst of a deep struggle — or even a time of emotional darkness — does not seem either intuitive or congruent with the over-riding fear of a particular moment. However,…
A Celebration of Investment
Thirty-five years ago, we were married. United in a ceremony in which we committed to the words, “until death us do part.” Yet five years after that November day in 1979, we were in the process of planning a divorce.…
How Are You Waiting?
I’ve spent more time in waiting areas in the past several months than I’ve cumulatively spent in such spaces during the majority of my life up to this point. Most of my waiting time has been in hospitals and medical…
Backing Up the Big Idea with Hard Work
She looked “rode hard” — and well on the way to being road-hardened — as she slumped into the seat next to mine, another airport meal in tow. Because of a flight delay, she’d missed her connection and was waiting…
Regret for Time Spent in Regret
Regret occurs in our lives when the consequences of “bad” choices we make slam into the ideal we have of ourselves as good people. Three recent examples from my life: • I did not complete a written contract for a…
Is Good, Enough?
“How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” …
Are You Burning Your Fuel Wisely?
“Do not fall in love with people like me. I will take you to museums, and parks, and monuments, and kiss you in every beautiful place, so that you can never go back to them without tasting me like blood…
Returning to your “Home”
As a result of several unexpected events over the last few months, Linda and I have been entirely out of sync with our normal routine. All of the systems that guide our work and productivity have been affected. It…
Working your Fun
Because most people shoot pictures either as a hobby or just for the fun of capturing keepsakes of their lives, many assume that shooting pictures started out as, or continues to be, a pastime for me as well. Although I…
Weight of the World
Although the weight of anxiety hung from his shoulders like a logging chain, he still paced from one elevator opening to the next as if the angst alone would cause one of the doors to open. We were on the…
Are You Willing to Ask?
How much do you want it? Whatever ‘it’ is, how often have you wanted something so badly that you could taste it? But for whatever reason you were afraid to ask? Even though I’ve known forever that if I want…
Holding the Focus Still
In my previous post I talked about the struggle of sticking with new behaviors and the need for accountability from people who have some skin in the game with you. One of the primary behaviors I need to focus on…
Three Words. One Year. New Communities.
Have you ever started something and then had difficulty sticking with it for the long haul? Several years ago, after reading a blog post by Chris Brogan, I decided to give his “three words” exercise a shot. You can…
Power of Following Up
Thirty years ago as I was trying to get a significant break into the editorial market, I would visit New York a couple of times a year and schlep my portfolio around from one magazine to the next. Knowing that…
Honoring the Process of Process
Have you ever been severely constipated, your bowels aching to relieve themselves of the blockage? All you want to do is move along with your day but your intestines won’t cooperate. Writing is often like that for me. I’ve just…
Suffering a Loss in Your Narrative
We left home last Wednesday with great anticipation for the week ahead. We had two profiles to film as part of an ongoing project and a conference to attend. Both had our creative juices flowing. We were giddy with expectation.…
The Power of Stuff
Over the last few years, Linda and I have been spending way more time than I could’ve imagined going through the remaining possessions of relatives who have downsized their living space or have died (the ultimate downsizing…). What I’ve seen…
From Fear to Anger to Awareness
I have three angry, negative relationships that are impacting my life, but I don’t know how to extricate myself from any of them. Maybe you have some of those as well. I find my irritation rises not only when I…
Is Anger the Best Road to Understanding?
As I’ve watched the fevered debate over extending marriage benefits to gay couples, gun control, as well as a number of other issues, I can’t help but wonder what many people hope to accomplish by their fervor. I’ve often found…
Are You Seeking Approval or Growth?
At the end of a recent business meeting, the facilitator immediately began asking the participants for an evaluation of her efforts. How was the structure? Pacing? Content? All of her questions were driving for a quick summation of “How did…
From Perfect to Good
One of the greatest realizations that I’ve come to – and am still coming to – is that the standard for what is acceptable quality in the communications world has radically changed. Over the last decade, my bent towards perfectionism…
Using Your Potential
My personal mission in life is “to optimize the value of people’s lives by encouraging them to reach their potential.” About fifteen to twenty years ago, there were several waves of books and articles stressing the importance of having a…
Reading Pleasure Back into My Life
I’ve stumbled back into the arms of an old love. Growing up, I loved to read biographies. I’d check out a short stack of books every week or two from the library and consume them rather than doing my school…
Cultivating for Growth
“Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.” ~ Leo Tolstoy In my last post, I pointed to some thoughtful comments from a Facebook friend about cultivating a life done well. Along the way I have observed…
Sifting for Gold
I don’t come to social media looking for emotional uplift. If I’m not already “up,” I generally don’t get on the Internet at all. Most of what I scan seems to run the gamut from saccharin to cynical. I’ve started…
Fake it ‘til You Make…What?
We’ve all done it at some point. Most do it to some degree every day. We act, in front of other people, as if things are going well when we don’t ourselves have the confidence that they are. We’re hoping…
Being Responsible, Responsibly
Taking responsibility for a mistake means more than saying “I did it, but it wasn’t my fault,” when finally backed into a corner. Accepting responsibility requires not shifting blame to another party but taking the necessary steps to make amends.…
What Distinctives Make You Distinctive?
A number of years back, I ventured into the area of personal portrait work. I wanted to apply the storytelling approach I took with commercial assignments to the world of family portraits. My venture was not the raging success I…
Striving Towards Happy
For all of my adult life, I have been a “striving” person. For the most part, I still am. By striving, I mean being discontent with where I am and actively pursuing my next goal. Early in my career, I…
Are you Hoarding Fear?
Over the last couple of years, as Linda and I have moved in the direction of creating short films for companies, we’ve encountered a fair amount of underlying fear from business owners who need to be telling their stories. But…
Negotiation Starts With Value
The most important element in any negotiation process is defining the value of what is being exchanged. Without a clear understanding of what you have to offer and its value to the person you’re communicating with, the negotiation process will…
Mindfully Mindlessly Happy
Not all happiness is bliss. Or thoughtful. Or purposeful. A lot of what I see defined as happiness in people is really mindlessness. Although that seems harsh, I’m often envious of the ability of some to go along without the…
Launch and Learn
The last year or so has been a particularly exciting and, at the same time, particularly scary time. As I look back, the last ten years or so – since 9/11 – have been an ever-changing mix of scary and…
Examine Your Personal Story at Work
We all carry our personal baggage to work. Everything we do and every decision we make is based on an emotional load we’re carrying around. You may not see your baggage — or realize the weight others are carrying —…
How Happy is Your Story?
The starting point for happiness is a decision. Abe Lincoln is quoted as saying, “A man is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be.” When I catch myself dwelling on situations in our lives that are…
Corporate Policies are People Stories
Over my 30 years of shooting photographs for corporate and editorial clients, I’ve encountered numerous policies established by companies to regulate how their buyers interact with their suppliers. The policies cover the usual areas including payment, usage, rights and delivery.…
A Happiness Built on Joy
I work under the illusion every day that I can accomplish more than I can. One benefit is that I actually get a fair number of things done over time. A downside is that I’m seldom satisfied with what I…
Wanna Change Minds? Create a New Story.
“In your zeal to persuade, you will stifle the voice of the other side. Misusing art to preach, your story will become a thinly discussed sermon as you strive in a single stroke to convert the world. – Robert McKee…
Transparency in Story
For most of my career, I’ve focused most of my attention on telling the stories, through photographs, that my clients have asked me to tell. Whether it was a concept for an ad or portrait of a CEO, I took…
An Alternative to Hate
I’ve been thinking about hate a lot more than I’d like. I got a couple of emails from an old buddy of mine this past week. Herman is an atheist and one of the qualities I enjoyed about our friendship…
Are you a Neighbor or a Resident?
About two years ago, our neighbor Leroy died. A few months later his wife Carrie, facing progressive dementia, moved in with one of her daughters leaving a quiet shell of a house with no one around to share a greeting…
Where’s Your Heart?
I think I should watch more tennis on TV. Although I seldom allow myself the time to watch the sport I most enjoy, I’m always charged up afterwards. I only watched two matches from the recent Wimbledon tournament – the…
Exercise Your Gratitude
I like to think of gratitude as a muscle rather than a feeling. When I miss a few weeks of playing tennis or swimming, I now know that the muscles associated with those activities are going to be especially stiff…
Endless Re-Entry
I kind of followed my own advice from my previous blog post when I decided to shut up and do my work. I decided to drop away from most meetings that were not assignment related and almost all extracurricular activities…
Enough Talking Already, Do the Work!
My mind is on the creative process a lot as I move through my day. As an artist, I am constantly battling with where to allocate the time for creative thinking, planning and the execution of my projects. There are…
Do You Care What I Know?
I live in a dilemma of sorts. I’m an intelligent person. I like big ideas. And learning. And understanding. And I like to be around other people who like those same things. The dilemma, of sorts, is that a lot…
Do You Matter?
Do you matter? It’s a question I’ve been pondering of late as I think about the value we bring to those around us. What makes any one of us matter to other people? The value we have is basically measured…
How safe is no risk?
It is somewhat amazing to observe just how safe most people attempt to keep their lives. And how safety appears to be more important than anything else to them. Even though there is a great need in humans to grow,…
Controlling Your Controllables.
The social time we had together as friends around the table could have been enjoyable, energizing, and encouraging. Within moments, however, anxiety and enervation had their grip on the discussion. The conversation had shifted from sharing good news and victories…
Attitude Makes the Difference
Attitude is not always everything. But it sure makes a world of difference. I attended the wedding of a special friend this weekend. I don’t know that I’ve ever witnessed a couple that looked anymore delighted at the prospect of…
Judging Others by a Better Standard
I have a business colleague who judges everyone else according to his own strengths. When people don’t measure up to his standard of strengths, they are dismissed as inadequate and unworthy of his business respect. Since his particular strengths are…
Defining the Depth of “Friend”
There are many ideas and concepts that need more descriptive English words than we often have at the tip of our tongues to describe them properly. “Friend” is one of them. As I was finishing up with the small talk…
Thoughtful Impact or the Status Quo?
I had an unusually wonderful meeting with the Director of Development of a non-profit this week. The meeting was set up to discuss photography coverage for a fund-raising event this fall, but instead evolved into a broader discussion of how…
Confusing Work With ‘The Work’
When Linda and I took a sabbatical from our communications work several years ago and ventured into organic farming, I spent an inordinate amount of time doing the work of laying irrigation, preparing the soil, fencing pastures, and other necessary…
A Need for Healing
A close friend had already told me about the planning for the event, but when the invitation arrived, I was still apprehensive. A church we had been deeply involved with for many years was having a homecoming service and lunch…
Cleaning Your Heart Out
We’d decided to take our first tandem bike ride of the season and I was digging around for my riding shorts, a t-shirt and socks when it hit me that I had too much crammed in the drawers. A minute…
Are You Looking for Advice or Agreement?
You’ve probably heard the old saw – the second happiest day of a boat owner’s life is the day he buys it. The happiest day is when he sells it. A number of years ago, my brother wanted to buy…
Time for What?
I enjoy being around people who are relaxed and fun to be with. Don’t you? But similar to the axiom that to have friends you need to be a friend, to be welcome among fun people one needs to be…
Going to Play
When I go to play tennis, I go to play tennis. I don’t go to work at it. I want my play to be fun, not a chore or another task to be accomplished. That’s not to say I don’t…
Are You Committed?
A buddy and I were having breakfast this week and the discussion turned to commitments in relationships. Specifically, we were making comparisons between how people make and stand by commitments in their personal and business lives. One question that is…
Taking Initiative to Find Direction
I find it interesting that it’s when I’m not writing my blog posts that I’m most aware of what direction I want my blog to take. But because I don’t have the time to think and write as I want…
Reflections on Illness
For a little over two weeks, I’ve been getting my butt kicked. At times, literally. But more to the point, I’ve been having my pride kicked. Very hard. Because I’ve not taken ill in over nine years, I’d begun thinking…
Hardening of the Attitudes
For the last couple of years, I’ve spent a good bit of time around senior citizens in a variety of situations. Some of those have been work related and some are personal. A lot of the time has been interacting…
Gift of Giving
Rather than fighting the throngs of folks buying cards and crowding restaurants for Valentine’s Day, Linda and I prefer to fix a great meal and do something special at home. Our most enjoyable treat is to do massage. For me,…
The Great Thing about Difficulty
The great thing about difficulty is that it keeps the mediocre from attempting great things I’ve been working on the details for a class on creativity for business people that’s designed to help them unleash their right-brain thinking for business.…
Giving Credit Where it’s Due
Credit is a funny thing. When someone reaches a high point of success, it seems anyone who may have been in the vicinity of the success wants a piece of it, and a large part of the credit. But often,…
Putting My Habit Back On
After nearly two months of waiting to get done what I thought would be completed in two weeks, my new blog site is up and ready for posts. Because I expected the switch to take so little time, I quit…
Seeing the Abstract ~ Black and White
Yesterday I posted the color winners of the Capital City Camera Club “Abstracts” competition. Following are the black and white category winners. Enjoy! Charles Gupton http://www.charlesguptonphoto.com On LinkedIn On FaceBook
Seeing the Abstract ~ Color
I’ve been asked to judge a number of photography contests through the years. It is something I always feel honored to do and actually, really enjoy. What I enjoy most is having the opportunity to interact, when possible, with the…
The Power of an Apology
I had an interesting experience recently while swimming. As I was preparing to get into the pool, another swimmer was getting into the same lane at the opposite end. As is the normal etiquette, I waved to her indicating which…
Passion for Pop
When I was in the six- to eight-year-old range, one of my favorite treats was to have a Frostie brand root beer. I remember it as being especially smooth and creamy with lots of sassafras flavor. This was the real…
Supporting Local Farms – MAE Farm
MAE Farm is the third in a series of local farms I’m profiling for a project I’m working on to promote support of local farms. The project involves photographing, producing video and recording interviews with several farms about why they…
Are You Playing to Win?
What I appreciate about athletics – tennis in particular – is that sheer persistence, just keeping the ball in play, can often win the point and eventually the match. But there are times as well when one just needs to…
Thoughts on Value vs. Price
I have been tumbling a number of thoughts around in my head of late about the differences in working with men vs. women as clients. A recent corporate assignment highlighted a couple of observations for me. I had a call…
Not Without Hope – Greg Ferguson
I met Greg through my involvement with Toast Masters, an organization committed to helping people build their confidence in giving presentations and public speaking. Greg has been engaged in public speaking for over twenty years and has recently published a…
Are You a Crazymaker?
Every family has them. So it also seems with every office, church, PTA, community group or anywhere there are a handful of people gathered in real or virtual proximity. They are crazymakers. I got the term from Julia Cameron’s “The…