As I promised, I wanted to write you guys a little blog on one of my fruitcake heros, Jimmy Buffet.
In such a fast-paced global business world, we have to remember that we must allow ourselves a bit of escapism, even if it is just in our own living rooms. We must take a step back and reflect on ourselves and the people around us in order to fuel our creativity and motivation for new projects in business and in life. I think at a time like this, with a major GFC still in our rear-view mirror, that it is most important to remember this as students. We have a lot of time before us...let's remember the important lessons and use them to enhance our business skills, but most importantly our abilities to be happy and productive during and after uni.
"The Truth, wherever it's hiding, can't be found on Google-Earth
("A Lot to Drink About")
Sometimes, I know this is true of me, we forget to get off of our laptops...stop straining our eyes, and just listen to some good music, have a glass of red wine, and do something fun like sailing, cooking, or surfing (or whatever takes your fancy). This can actuallly help us to do better work after we take our breaks.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Jimmy Buffet, I'd like to tell you a little bit about him. He himself is a wonderful exemplar of a business success, having tried and failed in his 20's (in the 1970s) to break into Tenessees's country music market. They told him he didn't fit.
So what did he do?
He left Tenessee and moved to Key West Florida where he created his own Genre, and had a best selling album within months (Margaritaville). Jimmy Buffet now has a worldwide following of inspired people who called themselves "Parrotheads, " as well as a business empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars (including books, music, a chain of exoticly located bars called "Margaritaville" after his first chart hit). Jimmy can inspire so many of us to understand that not fitting into a specific place does not inhibit success....in fact it can catalyse the beginning of something even better!
What does he sing about/live about? Why can this help us?
Jimmy Buffet sings about Escapism. Currently I am reading a great book that really puts into perspective the way in which he thinks of escapism. (Jimmy Buffet and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life by George Reisch).
"Changes in Attitidues, Changes in Lattitudes, Nothing Remains Quite the Same"
Reisch explains that, whilst Jimmy's music allows us to feel that sense of escapism to a tropical island with a pina colada in hand, it is about more than simply getting away and drinking. It is about the human need to reflect, seek something more, and above find happiness in what they are already doing back at home (in the crazy Western world).
Back to Business: Why why the tangent, you might ask me?
Well, I have seen a great deal of miscommunication, strife, and overall over-stressed students this semester. Not just in my course, but university-wide. I think that sometimes, especially as business students, we forget to sit back and properly reflect on who we are, and why we are doing what it is we are doing. But we must do that, or we will lose the passion that brought us here in the first place. I know that there is a financial crisis, and times are hard, work is sparse, and at uni everyone seems to be out for themselves....but I ask...why don't we step back and appreciate how lucky we are to be studying at such a great university, for example.
Fruitcakes
Jimmy, in his famous album "Fruitcakes" asks where the hell his Junior Mints went at the movies? He doesn't want to buy another 50 ounces of coke for 25 cents, nor does he want an 8 pound Nestle crunch bar for 25 Dollars! he just wants his Junior Mints!
I think that this song asks us to remember to step out of our marketing and selling and profit perpetuating shoes, and remember that sometimes more is not better!
To this end, I want to share with you 2 videos from Jimmy Buffet's collection. These perhaps might lead you towards the Jimmy Buffet Philosophizing attitude that I was given by my father at a young age. Take it with you, and use it when you need a dose of escapism with a mixed in dose of reality...when you can't get away to a tropical island but need to.
This first song I wanted to put first. Jimmy wrote it this year, to account for the GFC as we've come to call it. It recounts the whole mess, and Jimmy's light-hearted anger is quite satisfying to the rest of us.
"A Lot to Drink About"
This second song is one of my favorites...it really makes you think about how you need to mold yourself sometimes to the context, as you move across different lattitudes things change...
"Changes in Lattitudes"-Remember...."If we couldn't laugh we would all go Insane!"
I hope everyone has a great end of semester, and good luck on the upcoming finals!