I wrote this near the start of this OPM Letter. I started strong in 2021 but then went on a long hiatus before deciding to give this project proper closure. Even so, I thought I’d share as a way to celebrate the half century mark.
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This book hit me at the perfect time. Seth’s encouragement to step out into the void really hit after having started this OPM Letter project.
Every few years I feel an urge to level up. After my first gig in a firm, I went to grad school. After Rice, I jumped from a small shop to work to try a corporate firm. Jumped from CAD to BIM. Took some (a lot) time remodeling our house. Slid over over to owner side.
As discussed in Bob Buford’s Half Time, the best time to start the next thing is before the current thing has run out of steam.
Maybe that’s the role of this newsletter.
(2023 note: Doesn’t seem like it. I still enjoy my work, but I’ve moved my focus away from advancing my career.)
I’m sticking myself out there, as if I’m an expert or something. I’m not. But maybe this project will help me contemplate my work.
Maybe it results in something worth sharing. Otherwise why share?
And if it doesn’t go anywhere? At least I’ll remain anonymous. Fame is overrated!
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Interestingly, I wrote almost nothing about the book in my first draft draft twenty four months ago. And now I can’t remember a single thing from the Icarus Deception aside from the green cover. I bet it had some inspiring moments about putting yourself out there in the new connection economy, but that’s just guessing. But I copied quote back then still resonates.
Grit is the attitude of someone who realizes she has the power to care and is intent on doing something with it.
An agency client just sent me a kind note before she retired. Maybe she was just being nice, but if I actually did anything special to earn her compliments, it was only because I cared and did something with it.
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Some Links
Mark Starlin writes a fun newsletter every Monday with three quick fictions, a witty sentence, a flash fiction, and a short story. It’s a great start to the week.
Carolyn Yoo explores the creative practice every week. I dig her warm embrace of the world at large. A great start is this newsletter sharing how she published a zine about finding her wedding dress.
A few weeks ago I thought I becoming a Glitch-hop aficionado, but I’ve realized it’s too close to big-time EDM. Instead, I’ve been playing this Chiptune playlist on repeat. It reminds me of the days of downloading mods from BBSs.
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Thanks for reading!
Justus Pang, RA