THAT WHICH CONSUMES US (My latest for Advertising Week; x-post)
The final stretch of the year is upon us; days are getting shorter, lines are getting longer and attire is getting tackier with each passing holiday party.
Itâs time to enjoy it all, right?
This is advertising â clients and deadlines wait for no one.Â
While not currently in an agency, my friends and I have been noting the weight of assignments, pitches and presentations; the professors atVCU Brandcenterare ensuring that our stress levels are on par with that of the industry.
In fact, recently I spoke with a few of prospective Brandcenter students about the program.
âCan you tell us what your day looked like, say, yesterday?â asked one particularly tall girl donning Warby Parkerglasses.
Instinctively, I pulled out my phone and showed her my Google Calendar:
Meetings, check-ins, a track-wide holiday gift swap, concepting session, class, prototype testing and a reminder to move my parking spot.
From 7:15 AM until 9:45 PM, the most âfree timeâ that I had was in 10-to-25 minute chunks separating my scheduled events.
âWelcome to advertising,â I thought.
âYouâll put in the 90-hour weeks, sleep in the building, and be on a first name basis with the Starbucks baristasâŚyeah, itâs the most fun you probably never want to have again,â I told them.
âBut when do you have time to beyou?â followed, almost on cue.
That one carried a lot more weight than I would have guessed.
It became strikingly clear in that moment that life canât be purely output. The creative problem solving of advertising is the product of many great minds, drawing on vast pools of experiences and passions. I paused with my group, flipped open myWhitelinesnotepad, and wrote the following:
It is more important than ever to step back, embrace who you are, what you love, and why you got into this industry in the first place.Â
Iâm not here to advocate more hours spent at your agencyâs favorite watering hole or extra self-loathing sessions at your gym â unless youreally dolike the gym. Call your grandmother, read a magazine, watch SNL, smoke a cigar, laze in a bath, go for a hike, meet a stranger, write a note to an old friend, drink some Chai.
What things would you continue to do forever â even if you were to become a millionaire tomorrow?
Go do more ofthose things.
Because in the end, your output â and therefore your job â requires them.
amandla
theartofmadeline
izzy806
kianamaiart
tangentwithtanner
sugurugetos
origamiaround
areudirty
