I recently made it to 50. I know, pretty cool hey, I'm told it's the new 40. Time to celebrate the milestone.
Well, whilst a milestone marks a distance - the length between two points - when and how do we measure the width of our life. Do we ever reach out and touch the sides?
We live in a fast paced, ever more automated and artificial world, rushing to reach our destiny. We make plans, we strive to reach targets, set our goals and desire to fulfill the dreams on our vision boards. Our thoughts are time travelling into our future along a hopeful path paved with success and happiness.
STOP
STOP - look now, look all around (I’m sounding like Duran Duran now - a teenager of the 80s) here is your life. As we reach out and widen our outlook, we start to connect with people, places, panoramic views unseen in our previous blur as time flew by. A vision that extends beyond life’s fast track superhighway that’s heading into tomorrow’s oblivion.
The slower you go, the wider you’ll live.
Have a nice cup of tea
“Tea Rosie” - that’s a statement said so fast, it’s meaningless and thus never made it to a question mark. (In case you didn't know, Rosie is my wonderful wife)
Tea bag,
hot water,
dip, dunk, squeeze,
add milk and . . .
mug placed on Rosie’s desk as I pass through the office. That mug of tea is void of any connection to life. It’s an empty lifeless liquid. I may have saved time, however, had little to widen or enrich either of our existences.
Let’s try again.
“Would you like me, to make you, a cup of tea Rosie?”
Tea leaves
Filtered water
Tea Pot
and the special milk jug - Rosie loves that jug, I think it’s the one we bought on our holiday in the Isle of Wight.
and as the water is boiling I lay it all out on a tray which encourages far more care and attention to detail. There is emotion and feeling in this pot of tea. It delivers a collective connection of satisfied enjoyment. We appreciate the moment of life’s value that in the pot. We are both in a moment of happiness.
Slow down, smile and connect to happy.
This is your life, enjoy its width.
Its length has a habit of taking care of itself.
Me, a perfectionist?
This may sound like I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to making tea. I’d rather frame it as taking the time to take pleasure in the attention to detail. Slowing down and taking time to reach a wider perspective. To enrich the experience. To feel more alive. It’s all about getting enough detail for today and leaving the perfection for tomorrow.
“The race to chase perfection is an infinite task.”
All this talk about making a cup of tea is fine, but life is more than just tea. So, here’s how it relates to my "Digital Alchemist" business.
“How much do you charge for a 5 page website”
This question used to deflate me and got a sarcastic reply like, "how long is a piece of string". They used to teach sarcasm when I worked in corporate world; I’m now a recovering sarcastic.
STOP, step sideways. I’d rather explore the sideways. Tell me more about your business, your hopes, fears and dreams. How is your website going to help you to help others; let’s explore the width of your website. What is it’s true purpose? What's your true purpose? We’re talking a key marketing asset with width, we are making a digital cup of tea. We're attempting to connect your business to life; let's not rush its creation.
And helping you widen the perspective on your business, and your life, helps me widen mine. We develop, we progress, we both win. We should celebrate over a nice cup of tea.
