Ed Mitchell: Platform neutral

OK, I’ll give it a go: that public private balance

I’ve been bashing out my virtual thoughts and emotions elsewhere because, usually, I end up in a state somewhere, late at night, with the world’s ‘experiences’ on my shoulders, and someone, somewhere takes offence at the thoughtlessness (read: unprofessionalism) of my words, and the permanence of their appearance on ‘t’internet’.

Now this is interesting and frightening at the same time for someone who hopes that people will trust him to help them achieve their goals in this world that reveals their intimate responses to the things they perceive around them.

NB: the best bloggers (who I hold great respect for) are great writers, journalists, editors and all round wordmeisters. I’m not. I toss words and experiences around, heck, I’m a wildly loose ENTP; I can’t keep a single thought private. I’m at a disadvantage already. You’re already going to find something that pisses you off.

Now, and especially with the whole facebook explosion, more and more of my friends and work colleagues are drawing careful lines between work and that stuff that goes on in their heads, but that sucks; there’s too much going on around us to put (stuff: a) into one bag, and (stuff: b) into another.

My best friends draw their soul from the funniest places, and that rocks, but they are shy for many good reasons in line with professionalism. Well fair enough, but why can’t I say that someone I met who doesn’t have a home inspires me in how to manage communities?

Do we really think that running a co-operative house share in a rough part of town can’t teach us how to run any one of these online professional networks?

Don’t get me wrong; it’s a balance. I find joy and observance in David Wilcox, Nancy White et alongside serendipitous 3am hokey kokeys at The Big Green Gathering in Bristol, UK, random mud comparisons from Glastonbury festival, and conversations with my neighbours, beggars and musicians down my street; it’s all about balance, emergence, it’s all about learning from humans, so why should we shy away from committing ourselves to it?

(Note to self: delete this post about being a human being amid the bustling throng and dash off in a suit to pretend I never wrote this)