Finding my place

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I was flipping through Google Reader’s new Play option and found a quote from Albert Einstein:

“When we all think alike, no one thinks very much.” – Albert Einstein

It got me thinking that my thinking doesn’t jive with the vibe I established here. This space has been titled Southern Athenaeum for several years now. Here is what I said the site was about:

A record of my observations about life in the South and thoughts on anything I might be reading. A mishmash of interesting quotes, pearls of wisdom, photos and observations; all served up from from my writing desk in northwest Georgia.
While my focus is on all things Southern, I’m not going to limit myself to that topic. I’ll be talking broadly about creativity, so you never know what you may find here.

Some of that holds true, a lot of it doesn’t, and the title just doesn’t seem to fit. Southern Athenaeum sounds like it should be about Southern writing (my original goal), while the content has been more about the technology associated with Apple Inc. My literary reading has been offset by books about education and leadership. Productivity. The Medici Effect and the confluence of ideas. Improving connections with those you know and reaching out to build new relationships.
These are topics of increasing interest to me.

Publish your passion

Anyone starting a project or a blog or a career should take some time to thoughtfully and honestly answer at least a couple of questions.

  • What are you passionate about?
  • What topics excite you?
  • What is that thing that everyone gets sick of hearing you talk about?

Yeah. Create art about that stuff. Write. Paint. Sculpt. Design your work around your passionate interests.
My focus has changed and it’s time for this blog to follow my lead instead of the other way around. One thing will not change here. I will write these posts. I have another blog, Stuff I Read, where I post links with limited commentary about stuff I read online. That site reflects my interests, while this site is more personal.
I’ve been reading today in search of a new title that reflects the content a little better. I enjoy writing about good design, gadgets, Macs, iPhones, and the software that runs on them. I also plan to begin writing more about building the capacity for leadership in myself and others.
In addition to helping me Get Things Done, David Allen shares inspirational ideas and other thoughts on Twitter as @gtdguy. One of his recent toots also contributed to this update.

Sanity = if you’re not exactly sure what you’re doing, view technology as a hobby & fun distraction instead of a solution.

The blog wasn’t as much fun as it used to be, so I’m going to stop worrying so much about matching the content to my highbrow idea of a title and just have fun with it.
Because the words I cobble together here are personal, it goes without saying there will be more writing about my family. My tendency has been to refrain from writing about my family, but I’m lifting that self-imposed moratorium. With a wife and four kids there is plenty to say.
Photos. Photography is a hobby that comes and goes for me. Some of my photos find their way to my Flickr photostream. I’m still trying to decide if photos are going to remain a part of this blog, but I do plan to take and post more photos on Flickr.
I’m still working through this and have taken the title down until I find something that fits, so expect a little more rambling until I find my place.