I don’t believe in marriage. At least not in the way marriage is perceived by many and mainly by religious institutions. I think it’s an outdated concept which time has caught up to. Let’s just take a look at the wedding vows.
..to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.
All in all there’s nothing wrong with these, but it seems that these promises have lost their value. Because despite this spoken commitment to each other, many marriages end in divorce. So how much value has a ceremony with promises that are so easily broken?
I can understand the fiscal reasoning behind a marriage (although, when you live in my knack of the woods there are other arrangements that can be made) or when children are involved.
But the biggest gripe I have with this whole marriage thing is this: why should you need a piece of paper or huge ceremony to show someone you love them? Shouldn’t that be something they should know from your actions and how you share your life with them?
Don’t get me wrong: if people want to get married they should. By all means. I’m all for people doing the things they want to do. It’s just not something I would do, because of the above reasoning. I’ve been called unromantic, a chauvinistic male and cynic because of my stands. But the thing is that I do believe in commitment in a relationship. I believe that when you’re in a relationship with someone you love you should do your utmost to show them that. I just think you don’t need elaborate weddings to prove that.
And it won’t stop me from enjoying the wedding (and party afterwards) between two good friends of mine which I’ll attend today.
LinkedIn. Flickr. Twitter. StumbleUpon. Google Reader. As you can see in my blogroll, those are the 5 social media sites that I use (well, I do have a Facebook account, but it’s dormant). When you’re a business and you want me to buy or buy again from you, there’s a good change you can reach me there. For a business the possibilities to choose from are almost endless. And your choice depends on what kind of business you run.
Let’s say your a musician. Before yesterday Myspace Music was the best choice. Sure, they may have lost the battle with Facebook when it comes to total users, but when playing music was your job, they were a safe bet. But with the addition of Ping by Apple, which is tightly integrated with their iTunes business, you might want to jump into that as well. When you’re a multi-national having a presence on Facebook is never a bad idea. But what do you do with your customers in Brazil (where Orkut is the largest) or the Netherlands (where Hyves has the biggest presence)?
And it’s not just the number of social network/media sites you can choose from, it’s also a matter of whether your actions lead to generating leads or sales. Just getting into social media because “everybody is doing it” is not a sound business strategy. You want to reap the benefits of your efforts. So it’s no surprise that consultancy in social media is growing as a business.
Most businesses have realized that they should have a social presence but don’t know how to go about it. And with the ever growing aditions in social media, making the right decision isn’t getting any easier.
I know, I know. One of my rules of my write every day for a week experiment was that I wouldn’t talk about having trouble finding inspiration for writing every day (which, to be honest is not as bad as I thought it would be). But after seeing the below video by ProBlogger writer Darren Rowse I couldn’t resist.
It’s an interesting way of generating ideas. Of course his examples are more business related and is probably not something you would do for a personal blog. Unless of course your personal blog is more in relation to a personal brand you want to build. Then it’s a different matter. But when it comes to generating ideas for writing for your established readership or the type of readers you want to attract this will work like a charm. And let’s be honest, generating 6000 ideas for a blog is 20 years of daily postings.
The downside of course is that you already have to have a fair amount of readers. Not only that, they should be the type of readers that take action and are willing to fill in a survey. So having an established blog helps in this case. If you have a readership of 5 this wouldn’t be the way to go.
What I found is that the people that have exceptional blogs (like the one Darren has) have a knack of coming up with a proces that generates ideas. Combine that with their ability to write in an engaging way that pleases readers and you have a winning combination.
As mentioned yesterday I’m going on holiday to Mexico next week. And whenever I talk to someone and tell them that no matter what type of vacation I only take one carry-on bag I always get the same kind of question with the accompanying look:”How could you take everything with you in just one bag?” To me, one bag travel has all kinds of advantages. Especially the flexibility and the fact that it’s impossible for me to lose my bags during air transfer (if I don’t leave them in the plane myself of course) is a real plus.
When packing for travel everyone has their comfort zone. I don’t mind washing some clothes during my travels and I buy my travel clothes accordingly (quick dry, non-wrinkle, light, multi-usable). But if you don’t want to do that your only choice is to take enough clothing with you to last the duration of your stay. I also don’t pack for all eventualities. Some people like to take enough with them so that no matter what, they’ll have clothing for the situation. Although I wonder if it’s possible to pack that much.
What goes for packing also goes for how you spend your holiday/travels. Some are happy going to Egypt and stay in an all-inclusive resort. I would go to Egypt to see the pyramids and other historic landmarks. Some go to Bali to lay on the beach for 2 weeks, I would travel the country. None of the possibilities are either good or bad, it’s all about what you want out of your travels.
I’ve seen both sides of the story when it comes to travel. I come from a family with a mother who’s all about packing for every situation, while I now try to pack as little as I’m comfortable with. I did the laying-at-the-beach holidays and the ones where I went exploring. And for most of my travels I had a blast.
Being comfortable in your way of travel is important. For many of us a holiday is a way of letting of steam and relax. There’s no sense in having any stress then.
