Glasses Of Life

It all starts because we have a vision impairment.

We get asked if we have really have vision impairments or if the glasses on our faces are a fashion statement or accessory.

No, they are a necessity.

And when we wear them:

• We have to wipe the fog off when it’s warm or wet

• We get lost behind a veil of smudge. Don’t let any sales rep tell you differently- they are not smudge proof.

• Once we wear them, we have to stay committed to them all day since they ruin our makeup.

• We suffer injury on the bridge of our nose

• We can’t lie in bed on our sides to read

• We have a constant, pinching pain behind our ears

• We feel them slide down when we bend over

• We feel them slide up when you lean back

• We learn the hard way they are not foot or butt resistant

• We are expected to let everyone try them on

• We give ourselves whiplash as soon as children are placed in our arms so they can’t grab them

• We lose them and then sometimes we have to replace them even when they aren’t lost at this little inconvenient thing called an annual check-up.

But when we wear them all these things matter not, because we can read, walk without tripping; we can stop (we may choose not to) at red lights and we can experience life with our vital fifth sense.

And so goes the same with the glasses of life.

When we wear the metaphoric glasses of life, we are enabled to see things clearly. It may be through listening to a friend, slowing down, speeding up, traveling abroad, staying at home, thinking outside the box.

The pain that comes along with it, like the smudges, are worth it when what we envision from afar is suddenly close. When what was near or far sighted suddenly becomes a tangible success.

It’s just a matter of if you’re willing to wear the glasses. You see, when a vision impaired individual slips on their glasses, they do so knowing they are being compared to the trendsetters.

When the envisioned impaired decide to challenge themselves and wear the glasses of life, they might be compared to the trendsetters of life.

Speed up, slow down, travel abroad, stay at home, think outside the box: Others may be doing the same, and you may be called a copycat. It doesn’t matter because we can all look at the same thing, but what we see won’t be the same thing.

So, no matter what people think of you or say, never let the smudge keep you from wearing your glasses. Never let a vision impairment keep you from seeing. From living.

Communication

Learning to communicate is one of the first things we learn to do as an infant. We find ways to express our wants and needs to others without using words. As adults, somehow the use of words can make communicating more difficult. You would think it would ease the process. Learning to communicate effectively with people around us is important on a professional and personal level.

There are 3 key steps to this process:

1.  Thought: It enters your brain as a potential topic for future conversation.

2. Encoding: We as the communicator have to find the most accurate and best way to convey our ideas and thoughts to the listener.

3. Decoding: The listener has to understand and absorb our information, and we hope it is a similar translation on all levels.

Most often the communication stops at the first step. There are many more thoughts that aren’t shared with others than the ones that are, which is perfectly fine. However, when those thoughts turn into worries, concerns and topics that need to be addressed to achieve inner peace, following through steps 2 and 3 are critical. These steps can easily cause anxiety and guilt. What if I upset someone else? What if I’m crazy and no one understands me? What if I’m the only one? More than likely, the thought dwelling in your mind begging to be communicated will put you at ease once you let it out of the cage of your mind.

A few things to consider when communicating with the listener (decoder):

- Timing: Is this an appropriate time to bring this up? Consider things like time of day, how busy or distracted the listener will be and is it an appropriate setting? Nobody wants to cause a scene.

- Tone: How is the tone of your voice, body language and your heart? Be sincere without being over-dramatic.

- Technique: Are you remembering to not blame others or play victim? Are you willing to have an open-minded conversation with the listener? Are you ready to accept suggestions on how to come to a solution?

- Truth: Well… is it? Sometimes if we think something long enough, our heart and mind starts to believe it’s true. If you assume something you make an…well, you know the rest.

While it’s important to communicate both good and bad topics with others, these tips might seem more applicable in certain circumstances where communication might otherwise be uncomfortable. Communicating positive ideas and exciting thoughts might come more naturally for most people, so keep up the enthusiasm! Are you ready to improve your thought process, encoding practices and decoding skills? Try to incorporate these tips slowly into your life on personal and professional levels.

I Give it a Year

I give it a year.

To many people this would seem like a negative thing; a phrase of most epically discouraging and disrespectful proportions; a cocky bet against a relationship, business – just a bad omen against any success.

To me it was five of the most encouraging words I could have heard while in my work place.

You see, being the new girl or guy is hard no matter what you know, where you are or whom you work for – even though I work for and with amazing people: Dynamic visionaries, acceptant of my quirks and qualms. Yes, I’m getting paid while I write this blog, but I’m not getting paid to write this blog. (See what I did there?)

So there I was, initiating a performance review – a stuffy, archaic choice of words compared to how Worx works, but that is how the corporate world recognizes this concept…

So I asked, how am I doing? I really wanted to know if, in over-dramatizing my resumé, was I also over promising my work? Sure, I didn’t say I could speak seven languages, was ambidextrous with my feet or I had the ability to levitate. However, I’m a writer, and that one sheet of paper was my chance to prove my creative linguistic abilities. So way back in October of 2013 I took the liberty of being creative.

Every day since Laura and I have been learning to understand and cultivate my written language, so it reflects the custom work and strategies Amber and Kassie establish. Thereafter I realized I got one thing right on my resume: A picture speaks a thousand words; a writer’s job is to find them. When I penned that I had not realized just how prophetic it would be, because now it was time to put that into effect.

I give it a year, she replied at that performance review. A year? I can do a year. I have plenty of those, I hope.

Here’s the gist of the conversation:

You’re getting there. Ask any of the girls, and they’ll tell you that it takes a good year to get to know the clients and to communicate with them, to communicate for them and to understand them and their brand. And to feel confident doing it.

According to my LinkedIn Profile, (my poor calculation capabilities are not to be trusted), I’m coming up on that year and as I look back, Laura’s right. Although I’m not surprised. I’m a self-deprecating woman, so I admit that I was hesitant to believe I’d have the gutsy (proud Green Couch product placement) to get to know the clients, communicate on their behalf and feel confident during the entire process.

Most importantly I’ve learned to refer to Worx in the first person, taking ownership of my identity among the Worx team.

Where I work, “Your big idea means as much to us as it does to you, which is why we create Visual Branding for Big Ideas…so, how can we make it Write For You?”

Well, here’s to many more years. Y’all are stuck with me now!