Redemption

the whole world brings me down,
holds me hostage, wears me out.
where are you in all this
craziness

constant chaos is steady comfort,
relentless longing, bending me

in this all-too human life
as pain, redemption, love and strife
reveal themselves to be
necessities.

constant chaos is steady comfort,
relentless longing, bending me

when it breaks me down,
I’ll build you up,
redeeming you,
releasing me.

stone by stone, you lift me up,
out of this pit, into a life.

constant chaos, steadfast longing, redeems me.

Small things

On this new year’s day, I’m bringing back long-neglected Poetry Friday.

Happy New Year, all!

Small Things

It’s a small thing,
the heart of a child,
beating for one,
loving for two.

It’s a small thing,
the eyes of a child,
seeing the truth,
looking for shelter.

It’s a small thing,
the voice of a child,
calling to play,
whispering revolution.

It’s a small thing,
our time on this earth.
Do you still feel?
Can you still see?
Will you still hear?

Choosing comfort over pretense

On this winter’s night, indulge me in some end-of-year musings …

We all change as we get older and, hopefully, wiser. Personally, I feel like I’ve mellowed with age. Oh, I can still be pretty intense. (My husband often describes life with me as a rollercoaster ride, but swears the highs make the lows worth it.) But I have found myself “letting go” a bit more.

Take this Christmas for instance. My mother-in-law and her husband joined us from Santa Fe. The “old” Jane … often referred to as his “first wife” by my husband … would have been stressed out about the meal, the place settings, making everything “just right.” Instead, I focused on making ou them comfortable and enjoying their company. I felt my focus shift from “trying to impress” to serving, appreciating, enjoying.

Of course, it helped that we are still in an apartment (moving to the house in one month). I had no access to the china, napkins or silver that is still packed away. Christmas dinner was spent unapologetically on mismatched stools around our table, paper towels for napkins, drinking wine out of juice glasses. Eat your heart out, Norman Rockwell.

In all fairness, I suppose I was FORCED to let go of pretense, but I truly enjoyed it (and I think they did, too). Our focus was on each other, the relationships that count. Christmas dinner was just our excuse  … the backdrop.

So, on the precipice of a new year, my challenge is to maintain this new practice at work a well as at home. Focus on the important things and let pretense fall away. Put “high touch” back into my “high tech” life.

What do you think?

Poetry Friday – The Comfort of You

The Comfort of You

As fierce as a summer rain in Texas,
as playful as eighteen cousins,
as surprising as indiscriminate celestial displays,
the comfort of you.

Wrapping me up, taking me out, wearing me thin,
the comfort of you.

Meets me where I’m at,
chases me from solitude,
leaves me breathless,
the comfort of you.

I revel in the comfort of you.

One social media combo coming up. You want a blog with that?

I’ve spent the better part of the past year evangelizing the potential and promise of social media to my internal clients. The seeds I’ve cast have finally found fertile ground. As the product marketing teams I serve look ahead to 2010, they are asking that social media be a part of those plans.

“We want a blog.”

At the risk of insulting my savvy readers, I’m just going to say it … a blog is not a social media strategy. It’s a tactic, just like a news release.

You want a blog? To talk about what? To whom? How often? I can’t just wave my magic PR wand and make it happen. Pros like Chris Brogan, Seth Godin and Darren Rowse just make it look that easy.

Social media is resource intensive. Oh sure, much of the technology and tools such as Twitter or blogging platforms are essentially free, but that just means everyone else can and does use them. Ever attend a 5-year-old’s birthday party and try to have a conversation without yelling? Now you’re getting the picture. It takes time, strategy and mental resources to rise above the din.

Is it worth it? Absolutely, if it supports your objective. Does it take a cross-functional, cross-discipline team to make it happen? You can bet your Facebook Farmville on that.

Like other companies, we are building our social media bicycle while we are riding it. We continue to debate and define roles and responsibilities for social media. At best, it’s a gray area between marketing and PR.

Social media enable companies to speak directly to customers and markets without the filter of the editors and reporters of traditional media that PR was originally chartered with communicating to. For that reason, we currently view social media tools and tactics more a function of marketing. The contribution that PR makes is in the messaging content. Our PR support function is simply not designed or resourced to support social media at the tactical level.

Today, I met with two of National Instruments’ social media mavens, Deirdre Walsh, community and social media manager, and Emilie Kopp an engineer and social media “soldier.”

They have a cross-functional “Communities Team” that includes representatives from product marketing, web, IT, services … you get the idea. PR’s role is in brand and reputation management.

Deirdre and Emilie were nice enough to share their tips, tricks and best practices … and highly recommended “Groundswell” by Forrester analysts Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li

So the conversation continues and I’ve got some reading to do.

What’s your take? Leave your comments here or, if you are in the Austin area on Sept. 18, join me and others for an informal lunch time tweetup for a face-to-face discussion. Details here.