Letters To The Young #1

We are young. What we do with the sparks of life given to us is the question to which we must all answer. Not even death can cheat us out of the mark we leave to the living when we die. Not chain of man nor affliction of nature can exempt us from the responsibility of life. To live.

With each distraction we have adopted stranger purposes. With every concession we make we trade more of our lives out for another minute on the treadmill. Strange creatures that we are.

Men owe it to boys to show them how to live. Women owe it to girls to teach them how to lead. Because you see this struggle isn’t over by a long way. We have not put our hands on the robes of true freedom just yet. There is still a while to go, more walls to be torn down and bridges built before we can look at each other as more than equals but, brothers and sisters.

There is that light inside each of us. A voice so small science can’t find and so great it won’t be silenced. It is that dream so old, it is your first. Mine is an energy that tells me, urges and pushes me to question. And so I ask you to show your light. Shine it out so you can see how great you are.

We, the young are charged by the sinews in our muscles and the synapses in our minds to be great, right here and now. At a time when it’s still okay to plunder the poor and pad the rich we must not be afraid to speak out. At an age where we calmly class and weigh one another we must not be afraid to rage. In a world where we do nothing but wait we must not be afraid to stand up. And in this place where death is certain by act of man or nature we must not be afraid to live.

Namaste

Confessions of an Ad Mfundi 1

Having attended my very first baptism, I am moved to confess.

People & Brands

As people we tend to get attached early on in our lives to the warm and seldom fuzzy feeling of belonging. We belong with our parents and family. This cute sense of belonging grows up to be a desire to belong outside of family structures. We then belong with our friends, most of whom our guardians warn against. It’s not long after that we feel we need to belong to bigger and larger ideals and groups. We find belonging in how we praise and understand creation, belonging in how we live and measure our lives and belonging in how we define life itself. We join groups, clubs, associations and fellowships to express our values and beliefs. The collar we wear on our necks, the badges on our chests and the daggers up our sleeves shows others where we stand on certain subjects without uttering a single word.

Person branding does two things. It takes these values we associate with groups we belong to and makes it a benefit or a feature of a product or service. Next it creates shared interest communities around this branded experience.

Simply the ‘person brand’ takes human experience – classifies it, groups, arranges and organises it -  associates it with a something to be sold, and then sells it.

As a result of this consumer society we love so much we live the products we own, we breathe money and compare services as a conversation starter. All we know to do anymore is buy. Want something new. Buy it. Want something to wear. Order it. Want something delivered. Pay for it. Want something, anything? Money talks. And what a filthy mouth it has.

Namaste