Here we are fluttering into day #3 of Public Relations week.
Media Whore
I get a lot of publicity. I am in the newspaper and on TV much more often than makes sense. Even when I am not trying to get publicity I tend to get it. People are always saying to me, ‘Marty, don’t forget us little people when you become famous!’ They usually say this when I get interviewed on TV about something. My response has recently been, ‘haha…I have been ‘almost famous’ for decades now, don’t expect me to get really famous any time soon.’
Bad Caterpillar
Why is that? Well, the truth is I am better at being a butterfly than I am at being a caterpillar. It’s not that I don’t work. I work really hard at my various jobs as artist, photographer, designer, speaker and running coach. I work equally hard at my principles of love, encouragement, forgiveness, critical thinking, and intellectual integrity. But there is more to working than just working hard. It’s about working smart and focused, with repetition and habit. It’s about timing the work with the public relations, meaning integrating the two with diligence, consistency and follow-through.
That is where I am not all that good. I am still working on it.
Two in One
So remember, this is not about being angry at some dandy that gets publicity due to good public relations while you toil away in obscurity. Why? Because you and the dandy are one. You are the caterpillar AND the butterfly of your own destiny. Maybe you are the opposite of me, maybe you are a really good caterpillar but shy away from the bright lights that the butterfly lives in. If you believe in something, if you believe what you offer is good and valuable for the world, then it’s time to start your work on that area you aren’t very good at. It’s time to put on the sunglasses and get out in the butterfly sunshine or perhaps it’s time to take off the shades, draw the curtains and work in the caterpillar shadows. Whichever it is, it’s time to do it.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by George Carlin
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