FROM THE JOURNAL: London, England. 2024
My mission at the moment is both vague and crystal clear. Make money for the company, educate, and influence, but nothing is ever quite so simple. Influence brings a parallel narrative that can be soaked in authenticity or facade. Not what you see but what you feel. “I’m here because of Shifter, not Blurb,” he says. This is no backhand swipe. This is an acknowledgment of spatial relationship. He saying to me, “I know you feel what I feel.” The same pain points, the same sting of failure, and the same feeling that you need to swim hard for the surface or you will die. Breaking free for air, gasping, as the creative fire burns like napalm even if the flames can only be seen by the individual. There is no crowd during the struggle. That comes later and only if you are lucky or perversely talented.
If you just do what is required, life could be smooth and polished like stones on the riverbed.
Liquid Teflon caressing all in its path. Effortless. But if you require more then the world requires more. People require more. A twenty-minute conversation becomes an hour and a half. The work, the images, no longer at the top of the priority chart. Now, the conversation is more about us as a species, our foibles, our shared insecurities. The talk now is a P.E.P talk. (more on this later)
The rumble of the tube travels up through my feet and into the hotel breakfast buffet. The clash of dishes and cutlery. Accents from here and there sneezes and coughs and that goddamn house music now found in hotel lobbies throughout the world. Like Vegas carpet, designed to get you to DO THINGS that are NOT here in the lobby. Move your sorry ass. London awaits. Have your double Flat White, have your cuppa, and then get out and get the experience on you.
Outside the lobby, just between the picnic tables lined with those needing nicotine, and the adjacent building, a fox trots past. Small frame, large tail. The London version of the Hollywood coyote. Entirely out of place, but not really. Were we to bow down and out, nature would return. An ancient life path altered by a temporary gag order. Unafraid. And perhaps this is the lesson. It doesn’t take much force to change a trajectory. A simple, subtle push is all that is required. This is why I am here. To provide that push. And then to step back, turn away and return to the docking station. Recharge, plug in and wait for another day. Living with the torment of knowing there is more.
Comments 14
Great piece of writing. I love how everyone who journals has their own unique way. I’ve only kept a journal since the start of the year. I’ve wanted to for a long time but it took being at my Grandma’s funeral last year to learn she kept a diary/journal. My Aunt read a few excerpts at the funeral and I just had to do it for myself too. No one in the family knew she did this. They found dozens and dozens of books in her draws and cupboards.
“Living with the torment of knowing there is more.” This is very relatable
Author
I just found out that Tim Hetherington was a avid journal keeper. Made such a huge difference in how his work was presented.
Wouldn’t this be “Creative: London Notes, Three”?
Author
Probably…
Dan, do you write in your journal and then type up the text? Or scan it?
How do you deal with bring offline writing online
Author
Write in journal and then type it up later. Typically.
RevZilla???….. London???? 🏍️🏍️🏍️
Author
Maybe not…but I’m sure there is a Euro version..
Yeah, humanity is the gag order preventing nature from is fullest expression. I remember during COVID, when all the commuter traffic stopped, and we lived our little monastic lives at home, how suddenly deer and wildlife emerged in the cities. And the air cleared. And it made me realize how much humanity complicates the natural order. I would have loved seeing that fox, a small glimpse of nature’s beauty. Thanks for sharing such lovely writing.
Author
I saw two actually…..apparently they didn’t leave after C19. Nor did the deer.
This is why I sorta love living out in the country. Lots of wildlife. Foxes, birds, bears, deer, rabbits, coyotes etc. I’m a weirdo about big cities sometimes. All that traffic gives me anxiety 😫
Author
Same. Not sure I want to go back to the city unless it was a Euro style with bike lanes.
You know what I miss? Seeing people having conversations instead of seeing them at a table with their phones out, doom scrolling. Also, I hate the house music, too.
Author
Yes, we have done such a horrible number on ourselves with those stupid phones.