Make Room for Poetry, Art, Friends, and Wine
"In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are few." -Shunryu Suzuki
Will you do me a favor and describe the state of Texas in one sentence?
Please, go ahead, I will wait…
Thank you.
Here’s how I describe the state: Texas—along with New York and California—is one of the primary cultural and economic engines driving America forward today.
Given how Texas is portrayed in cable news programs today and online, my guess is you may have described the state differently.
No matter how you described it just now, Texas—like Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Kansas, Utah, et al—is so much more than soundbites on the news, more than horrid GOP politics, and more than the stereotypes reinforced by reruns of the TV show ‘Dallas’.
Texas is Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell, and so many other fine singer-songwriters. Texas is Brené Brown, Cecile Richards, Lina Maria Hidalgo, Naomi Shihab Nye, and millions more fierce women leading us to a better place.
Texas is the best food I’ve had in ages, long hot summers, mild winters, and an easy, natural confidence and contagious joy in the people.
Poetic Presence in the High Desert
Eileen Myles is a poet, part-time New Yorker, and part-time Marfa, Texas resident. The Big Bend Sentinel, Marfa’s most excellent smalltown newspaper is featuring her and her new book of poems, For Now. Here is a small clip from the interview with Myles:
As a young poet in my twenties, I was well aware of this thing that people had told me all my life, which was that I was a dreamer and I was absent. I think when I started to write, I kind of reversed the trend and felt like the thing that was really interesting to me, that I saw in poets and writers as people, they had very intense ways of being present and that they were trying to invoke that.
I love her observation about writers. Being heard, or read, is increasingly difficult to achieve in today’s noisy world. It takes more than concentrated effort and more than good fortune. Being heard and/or read starts with the writer having something important to say and an uncanny ability to say it.
The Land Also Expresses Itself
We are recently back from our second trip to Marfa this year. We returned to the Big Bend region to share its riches—the art, food, wine, starry nights, nice people, cooler temperatures, and wide-open, high elevation spaces—with friends.
The smoked chicken at Al Campo. Donald Judd’s epic works in concrete and aluminum. Restored vintage trailers at El Cosmico. Red blends from Blue Mountain. All this is Texas too.
The Consumer, Not the Product, Must Be the Hero
Ad legend, Lester Wunderman wrote two books, Frontiers of Direct Marketing and Being Direct: Making Advertising Pay. Being Direct has been translated into many languages, including Mandarin and Japanese. In the book, he describes 19 Things That All Successful Direct Marketing Companies Know. The second of 19 items in his list is: “The Consumer, Not the Product, Must Be the Hero.” If today’s ad makers can learn anything from Wunderman, let it be this.
Lagniappe
See this amazing list of upcoming events from Creative Mornings.
“I always tell young writers: don’t write about what you wish you could remember, but write about what you can’t forget. Those memories stay and there’s something transformational about them.” -Sandra Cisneros
According to research by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America, 45 percent of U.S. adults now say they notice OOH advertising more than before COVID-19, with particular prevalence in the 18–54 age range.
Amtrak President and CEO William Flynn recently outlined priorities for the railway, including expanding service to San Antonio and throughout the "Texas Triangle."
Use Loom to record your screen, camera, or both, and get an instantly sharable link when you're done. #ToolShed
Do you know that there are 113 urban areas in China that surpass the one million population threshold? In comparison, North America and the EU combined have 114 urban areas that surpass one million people.
We Can Work It Out
To connect with people in today’s marketplace, don’t state your offer. Cast a spell. How? Hire Bonehook and we will help you find an audience of interested buyers, voters, or supporters.
Thanks for being here now.