Marketers, you are here to witness.
Witnessing the world is a brave way of being. And, being brave, wild, being free & primal →is an under-estimated skill. Don’t let the world tell you that you are not a mind capable of extraordinary attentiveness.
The Chinese say that we live in the world of the ten thousand things. Each of the ten thousand cries out to us precisely nothing.
That is the reality of the overdone humdrum of our busy lives, perfunctorily existing amongst a million things that call our name for a millisecond of attention.
Apart from the general sense of sanity that you must develop, by discarding and dividing these million things into ‘sense’ and ‘noise’, and then discarding them again, this post is again for Marketers like me, because it is us who MUST discern between the obvious and the observation-worthy.
I have often gone overboard while confessing my love for a keen observation, esp in my field of duty, in Marketing. And here I am, again, obsessing over how the most prolific writers find mystery in mundane and abundance in nano-sized seeds of information, in their wild, wild ways.
Being wild, being free, being primal is an under-estimated skill. Don’t let the world tell you that you are not a mind capable of extraordinary attentiveness.
I love how this author, Geoff Dyer, pens his wandering thoughts on Annie Dillard’s book “Teaching a Stone to Talk”, that he came about to read again after a few decades, and made him realize his love for “nutty authors”
An excerpt from his writing here-
“When I think of the experience of reading the book, I see myself as a substitute about to make an appearance in a football match. The author-coach stands with the reader-sub on the touchline, puts an arm around your shoulders, tells you to believe in yourself, that you can change the game — why else would you be going on? — by being the opposite of a team player.
Just get out there and do whatever crazy shit you feel like without any regard for what people in your position are expected to do.
If you want to get down on your knees and stare intently at the grass while everyone else is hoofing the ball forward in a game of narrative kick and rush, that’s fine. Or if you want to just lie on your back and contemplate the sky, that’s cool too.”
Seasoned marketers break through clichés and contradictions to hone observation skills.
They balance creativity with data-driven insights, recognizing that both are essential. Contrary to the belief that technology lessens human observation, they use tech to enhance their insights.
Observation isn’t passive; it’s active and continuous →Marketers constantly counter and cross-validate trends and patterns, to unearth meaning. it’s not just about first principles, but about the rigour in the craft to fish out meaningful and worthy human-truths.
They also know that observation isn’t a one-time task but an ongoing process.
Annie Dillard, in ways not-obvious, tells us to look beyond — being wild and tenacious, though not precious, not serious but unattached, and feel the feels, by
- Embracing the Present Moment: Dillard asks to dive headfirst into the now. In her essays, she captures nature’s tiniest details and the big picture, taking mindfulness as an ingredient to develop a better world-to-mind connection.
- Cultivating Patience and Stillness: Patience and stillness are Dillard’s secret weapons for keen observation. In “Living Like Weasels,” she shows that being still lets you catch the details the daily rush misses.
- Developing a Sense of Wonder: Curiosity doesn’t kill the cat. It’s an overstatement. Dillard’s essays overflow with wonder and curiosity… She inspires readers to marvel at the mundane, see the extraordinary in the ordinary…perhaps just by focussing on the reality a little bit longer than the others. Playing the dance… and not getting caught up in it, lets you to see in an unattached way.
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