Inspiration

Drive

claudiaFebruary 2, 2010Inspiration, Life-Work

In 1997, a dear friend, Jean Frankenberger Nottingham, took me to lunch and handed me a new magazine called Fast Company. On the magazine’s cover in bold type were three words: FREE AGENT NATION. “I think you should start your own business,” she said. “You’re ready.” Little did Jean know how those three words and that lunch changed my life. I had been dreaming of starting my own PR firm for several years but was too fearful to leap blindly off the cliff. In his article, “Free Agent Nation,” author Dan Pink highlighted the growing number of “free agents” or independent workers who left big corporate America behind to pursue their own visions of what a real work-life balance ought to be. “Jump and the net will appear,” he wrote. I cut that statement out of the magazine, taped it to my bedroom mirror, and for three months stared at it every day. Soon after, I did jump. It’s now been 12 years and that ole net, well, has always been there. Ironically, a couple of years later, Dan Pink asked me to particiate in an entrepreneur time-tracking experiment for his book of the same title. Free Agent Nation (the book) came out in 2001. http://tiny.cc/euW2z

This week Mr. Pink’s newest book hits the shelves…Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. You can read the Wall Street Journal review here: http://tiny.cc/zyks7 . Anyway, like many of you, Mike and I are still trying to figure it all out…how to live a purposeful life while facing the realities of raising kids, providing for a family, and pursuing work that matters. That’s part of the reason we took another leap and bought our farm. To have a place of peace and nature away from a big city where we could go to think and play and breathe more easily. And this little blog is my humble attempt to share part of that life with friends and family, and thus keep the conversations going about what truly motivates us and brings deeper meaning to our lives. Thanks, Dan, for helping me and many others get on the way to this journey. www.danpink.com/drive

Are you a two-sided southerner?

Adopted Alabamians

Your Happy Place

Busy-ness…

Riding My Bike

claudiaFebruary 1, 2010Inspiration, Stuff We Like

When I was little I had, like most kids, a bike I loved. Mine had a big banana seat covered in bright mod flowers, and a woven plastic basket up front with a fake flower. I put plenty of miles on that little bike–and got plenty of scuffed up knees wrecking it. The ’70s bike is long gone now, but Mike recently got me a spiffy new Diamondback so we can cycle the Chief Ladiga Trail together. Living in the city, we never ride. But that’s no excuse. Now, with 33 miles of bike trail near the farm and a connection to the Silver Comet, we’re going to get out there soon and start pedaling.

Riding My Bike

My wheels don’t seem to touch the road

As I fly through the wind.

When I look down,

The road flashes by.

When I look up,

The world is slow motion again,

And I swerve a corner,

Almost floating.

Written by Anna Williams at age 10

Barnstable, Mass.

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

At Heart, A Rural Poet

New Discoveries

Wise Words

claudiaJanuary 23, 2010Inspiration

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common–this is my symphony.”

William Henry Channing (1810-1884)

Into the Light

Are you a two-sided southerner?

Adopted Alabamians

Rediscovering Rural Alabama

B. Brown ’91

claudiaJanuary 19, 2010Inspiration, On the Farm, Stuff We Like

Found this at OutsiderInside Art in Atlanta which, sadly, recently closed up shop. The painting is by Betty Brown and was done in 1991. Apparently, she was married to a well-known primitive artist who has since passed away…last name also Brown, but whose full name I can’t recall. (Where is folk art expert Randy Siegel when I need him?) Kathy, OutsiderInside’s owner/dealer who originally purchased this work, told me that as she tried to negotiate the price, Betty walked up to her painting, stood close and stared at it for a long time, then turned around to the dealer and said slowly, “Well, that cotton took me a long time to do.” Kathy relented. Ms. Brown, wherever you are, your sweet painting has found a permanent home at our farm.