What the hell does Life Without Pants mean, anyways? I’ve asked myself this time and time again since setting out on this Maiden blogging voyage in February of 2009. What started as something completely random, with no real sense of direction, has evolved into a story about a Gen Y guy living his life with a few less restrictions and promoting a few others to do the same along the way.
It’s fluff – it’s bullshit – it’s Gen Y brainwashing – it’s regergitated nonsense, and it’s absolutely brilliant.
I’ve heard it all – and THROUGH it all I’ve learned that one man’s trash is very much another man’s treasure. This is a creed that rings true in every single thing you’ll ever write because, this just in, you’ll never please everyone, and you shouldn’t even bother trying. It’s a lost cause.
I have great, great friends who could give a damn about what I write here but support me every step of the way, others who label every word as complete garbage, and strangers who send me personal emails to tell me how grateful they are of something I’ve said here. I have the full specturm of lovers and haters and 1) I’m OK with that and 2) I actually appreciate it. Everything constructive has value and as one of my new favorite writers said recently (talking about his blog) “Don’t read this blog if you want to be ordinary” – The long and short is, this blog, any blog, isn’t for everybody.
Stop fighting and start embracing your ‘labels’
I would have never considered myself the Tony Robbins of the blogging circuit or the Chris Brogan of Gen Y (thanks, Rebecca) – but I’ve been ‘labled’ (for lack of a better word) as both. Except I’m much smaller than Tony and don’t have nearly as cool of hair as Chris. Instead of trying to fight a label, I’ve embraced it. Love them or hate them, they are both extremely successful at ‘what they do’ – they serve as an example – hated by many and loved by even more – regardless of who you are, that’s the way the world works.
I can’t think of a single person or thing that has ever existed that had the unanimous love and appreciation from the general population (except my Furby’s…how could you not love those cute, cuddly, creepy as hell looking things). So unless you’re a Furby, you’re shit outta’ luck.
For every single person who tells you that you stink and that you’re not going to get where you want to be in life, think about every other person who’s personally reached out and told you that you’ve had a positive impact on their life. Actually, scratch that, think about one – just ONE person who’s reached out and shown appreciation. If it’s ever happened to you, you’re doing something right, you’re making a difference, you’re having an impact, your voice matters. So keep talking…
I was leading a Social Media Workshop with my friend Nicole last weekend and someone came up to me and asked me what I wrote about here. I didn’t have a good answer, because it’s not clearly defined, and it doesn’t have to be. I have a niche, you have a niche, whatever that may be – it works for me. Time and time again the door has been opened to new opportunities – and I don’t plan to stick to a set path – it’s going to be all over the place, which may lose some people, and that’s fine – at least I know my Mom will always be out there reading, commenting on my Facebook status and sending me text messages about how much she loves me. (right, Mom?)
So to everyone who has stuck with me – thank you, your support means the world to me.
To everyone who continually challenges me – keep it up, I need you around more often to avoid complacency and get me thinking outside the box.
To the haters, keep hating
To the lovers, keep loving
Keep doing what you do, and me, I’ll keep writing…
(Note: Yes, the image above was a 60 second MS Paint job and no, I don’t have a good reason for including Trent Reznor, other than he is awesome).