The art to a perfect elevator pitch is making an impression in thirty seconds or less. Hopefully it’s a good, no a curious, impression in thirty seconds or less. Your ultimate goal is for the person you’re pitching to say……………..tell me more. Mission accomplished.
The question posed is usually; what do you do?
I write about all things ordinary because I believe that’s where real legacy comes from. No one likes to talk about it but everyone will leave a legacy whether they intend to or not. Why not embrace the ordinary where memories become legend and you become immortal.
Wait for it…
Tell me more….perfect.
I bet everyone can think of at least three ordinary things, smells, moments, sounds that are directly associated with someone they no longer have in their life. They don’t always have to be positive; no one said everyone would leave behind goodness and light. Not everyone made their way in the world nobly.
But everyone is making their way in the world. This week proved to me that legacies of all kinds are being forged with and without awareness. My neighbor is fighting for her life in rehab, her family is forming her legacy as we speak but it’s yet to be decided, it’s an ongoing process, one I truly hope is life affirming with an outcome of strength and resilience.
My mother is rallying in another kind of rehab with literal strength and resilience toward being home for Easter. Her release date is the 25th. She has taken the rehab center by storm with her charming personality; and while they want to see her well, they would love to keep her among them.
Spending time with friends and colleagues this week has been essential for me. I had to dig deep into the past to help someone; I had to go somewhere I hadn’t been in quite some time. Truth be told I was sure I’d never have to go there again but your history sometimes bears repeating for the sake of another poor soul. My problem is the balance of helping and hurting. I learned much about myself this time around and was able to invest only what was necessary to start a process, not so much that I became overwhelmed. I began to go too far but stopped; quite a valuable lesson in boundaries.
I’m learning to stop more and more. Through my writing I find release and cleansing. I hope others will too. I’m so fortunate to have finally found my creative outlet, one that lends itself to some measure of integrity. But I’ve got to be careful to check my motivation. I’m writing for the love of it, for the love of legacy and for the love of life. Not for the “likes” on Facebook or the site stats that I so often find myself checking. If people read, when people read I will be grateful.
Speaking of grateful, my friend Paul shared the pictures from the annual Father/Daughter dance today. They are just beautiful and his face truly tells a wonderful story. He is creating the best legacy of all, one year, and dance and picture at a time for his “father’s daughters”. Although my father and I never danced I am reminded each year, around this time of his death, just how many wonderful moments he left behind. It is a blessing to me to watch another father do the same.
Truly, what is ordinary to one may be extraordinary to another, I know like I know.