You're the One that I Want in 2012!

On the precipice of a new year, we are most likely going through the list of things we are hoping for. The things we desire. The things we want.

When we strip away the judgement, when we embrace our true nature we find at the core of desire is a softness that is as delicious as it is infuriating. The things we desire propel us, inspire us, enrage us to move, to live, to be. I want you to want things. I want you to listen to that desirous humming in your breath. I want you. 

Red is The Color of My Love

If you've visited here before this will be no secret to you, but if this is your first time then it's important that you know: I am a brand geek and an ad geek.
I believe in the power of brands, I believe in the power of communication. At our best, we can shape positive behaviors and offer up a world of choices and better options. In our most shining moments, we harness these powers in ways that leave the world better. Or at least try to. I have written a few times about how I continue to fall in love with the (RED) campaign. I love its big ambitions and love the progress it continues to facilitate.

As we gear up for the holidays and wage into the most generous time of the year for most it's important to remember that true gifts cannot be bought in department stores or through consumables. The gifts that matter most set the course for a virtuous cycle and hit the biggest problems that plague us. It is one of those simple, profound ways we can help.

If we truly believe we are in this together, here's an inspiring way to do our share. Click here to create your own panel in the iconic quilt, make a pledge then harness your social networks to inspire people to do their share. What greater gift than to give future generations a world where they are free to love, free of AIDS.

Notes from The Road

I have resisted the urge to be hard on myself for not writing enough. I have resisted the temptation to lay the blame elsewhere. Life is what it is, and sometimes there is no room even for the things that matter the most. I have started an experiment, instead of reading on the train I've started writing. If it's an issue of time and space being limited, I thought to make use of the time and space available to me.

For real. Leaving the iPad behind, and focusing on the trusty Moleskin and pen. Sometimes it's a fragment that comes to me, sometimes the begin of a thing that eventually becomes a writing artifact. Last week, on Tuesday this notion came to me. I am still waiting for the next train ride that gives it more shape. But here it is, an impulse from the train. A notion of a piece of writing:

"As if there was anything else she knew how to do, she let him in. Again. Without question or condition. She let him back in."

Watch this space and see where the ride take us.