Running From / Running To

June's feud with the yellow push-broom  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Running From / Running To June's feud with the yellow push-broom ​ ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- Housekeeping: If you'd like to sponsor [The Process]( in 2024, please send me a note over at cole@coleschafer.com. --------------------------------------------------------------- June is in constant war with a yellow push-broom my brother and my sister-in-law keep in their home. They live in a one-level mid-century modern home in Riverside, California so pretty it'd give Frank Lloyd Wright a hard-on. It sits wide open and has tile floors throughout. The moment you attempt any activity that looks remotely like sweeping, June works herself into a playful hysteria, certain the yellow push-broom has every intention of annihilating anything with a pulse. Late last night, while defending a series of attacks on the yellow push-broom from June, I ran up a short three-stair staircase, tripped and racked my knee cap against one of the medal clad edges as sharp as blunt katanas. I howled like a banshee as I proceeded to roll around on the floor in anguish, terrified to look at my knee for fear that I would find it cracked cleanly in two. My brother yanked my jeans off to get a better look at the damage, unveiling a two-inch gash. 30-minutes later, my sister-in-law––an eye surgeon––was shooting lidocaine in my wound and stitching me up on the kitchen floor. She reminded me of a seamstress as she ran the needle and thread through each side of my splayed flesh, knitting the mess back together again. I'm thankful for Dr. Georgia Lea Schafer saving me a trip to the emergency room, I'm thankful I wasn't born in a time where I'd have to storm the beaches of Normandy and risk injury far greater than a nick and I'm thankful that I didn't land on my face. The older I get, I more I realize we're always running. It's just a matter of whether we're running from or running to. Watching June play with the yellow push-broom is like watching myself navigate my own life. When I scoot the yellow push-broom towards June, she flees like a hare at the scent of a jackal. But, when I pull the yellow push-broom back towards me, she suddenly possesses the courage to pounce on the enormous brush like a mountain lion on a caribou. I used to believe that we should never run from something; that we should always turn and duke it out with the thing pursuing us. But, I've found that if you run long enough from something, you eventually tire the thing out and, somehow, it becomes easier to to turn around and [let the tigers through the door.](=) What's most important is that we're honest with ourselves in the direction that we're running. After I collapsed yesterday, June spun around, ripped the broom from my hands and triumphantly tossed its lifeless form to the side––then she nosed the back of my neck with her wet snout, wondering aloud in her quiet dog language what the hell I was hollering on about. Hadn't I seen? The dragon was dead. By [Cole Schafer](=)​ P.S. For more pretty words, follow along on [Instagram](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Wanna write like this? Start by writing one true sentence ​ In Ernest Hemingway's memoir, A Farewell To Arms, he writes about wrestling with writer's block as a young aspiring novelist in Paris, France... “I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” My mini writing course, [One True Sentence](=), is comprised of seven lessons parsed out over seven consecutive days. It's entirely free––until next week at least––and all you need to take the course is a solid email address, a can-do attitude and 10-minutes of uninterrupted quiet time each day. [Enroll now](=) --------------------------------------------------------------- "Dad, why do you keep looking at me?" On finding presence before it's too late While on a walk this morning, my father told me a story about a friend of his who was diagnosed with stage IV brain cancer. Not long after his diagnosis, he was having breakfast with his seven-year-old son. He was completely present with him as they talked about dinosaurs and superpowers and all the topics that interest boys at that age. Ten minutes into the conversation, his son gave him a bewildered look and asked, "Dad, why do you keep looking at me?" At first, he was confused by the question––then it dawned on him that his son wasn't used to his full, uninterrupted attention. He was a very busy and successful entrepreneur and until he was faced with the reality that his life was coming to an end, his mind was always elsewhere; his eyes bouncing between his loved ones and the many demands illuminating from his phone and computer screen. He would later tell my father that his diagnosis was the best thing to ever happen to him. The greatest, most beautiful gift we can give those we love is our presence. [Be present]() --------------------------------------------------------------- Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? How to arrive at the heart of a problem ​ For Ohno Taiichi, efficiency was his religion. It was on obsession he used to develop a manufacturing process for Toyota that is lauded all around the world today for its near perfection. Ohno was a master at getting to the heart of a problem, which he did through a methodology he called the "Five Whys". When faced with a problem, Ohno would ask himself "Why?" five times. It was Ohno's belief that by the fifth why, the root cause of a problem would be unveiled. This is a technique each of us can apply to our own lives and work when we find ourselves struggling up against problems, worries, fears and insecurities that aren't necessarily clear. Why have I felt restless lately? Because I haven't been creating. Why haven't I been creating? Because I have felt uninspired. Why have I felt uninspired? Because I have felt inadequate. Why have I felt inadequate? Because I have been comparing myself to others. Why have I been comparing myself to others? Because I spend too much time on Instagram. In this hypothetical scenario, by asking ourselves "why?" five times, we eventually arrive at the conclusion that our restlessness could be a side-effect of the insecurities Instagram breeds in us. [Keep asking why]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Put it on ice How David Ogilvy never ran out of ideas ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- The story you're about to read is brought to you by [Honey Copy](=), a copywriting writing agency that writes words that are so pretty, they'll make your soon-to-be customers swoon. --------------------------------------------------------------- If business is cutthroat, running an advertising agency is the equivalent to a 1990s slasher film. Agencies get fired as quickly as they get hired and having any chance at making it depends solely on whether or not you can keep your clients happy and coming back. In Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy joked that “the seven-year itch” wasn’t just confined to matrimony but that it had a similar effect on the agency-client relationship as well, with brands filing for divorce every seven years. David Ogilvy put a few stops in place to keep clients happy, creative work superb and his agency’s neck away from the butcher’s block. One of these stops was: The Ice-Box Policy. The moment one of Ogilvy’s clients approved a new campaign, he would immediately put a team of copywriters to work, developing another campaign to test in other markets. He always had a second campaign in the “Ice-box” just in case the first campaign went awry. Creatively speaking, it’s not always such a bad thing to “juggle” creative projects. Isaac Asimov claims to have never suffered from writer’s block despite having written 355 books throughout his lifetime. His secret? He worked on multiple books at once. [Oh, honey](=) --------------------------------------------------------------- [[twitter]​]()[[instagram]​]([[linkedin]​]() ​ [Update your email preferences]( or unsubscribe [here](​ © 2023 The Process 113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205