The talk at lunch yesterday turned to the separation of private and professional lives. How you should or shouldn't keep things separate, and especially not post "compromising " pictures on sites like MySpace and FaceBook. And there was a slight nod to getting personal like I do on this blog.
My life is my life. It encompasses not just my work, but my family and friends and Sue, my interests in music and theater and books and the outdoors and travel and well, you get the idea. My life also includes my feeling and thoughts and values and ideas. I don't want to separate them out. I'm not going to post pictures of some drunken night I had, that's not the purpose of this blog anyway. But I'm not going to shy away from politics or even those nasty, gritty thoughts and feelings that we have deep in our recesses.
I work at a marketing agency where the dress code is lax, but I've worked places where there was a dress code. And people, commenting on the grey flannel suits and ties and dress shoes they were wearing would say, "This isn't me. On the weekends, I, blah, blah, blah."
Yeah, that is you. It's you if you're willing to compromise and do something you really don't like doing or feel uncomfortable all for the dollar, even if it's wear clothes you don't like. That says more about you than anything I'd ever put down in this blog.
When I was freelancing, I would walk into big fancy clients wearing my daily wardrobe of Levis, scuffed cowboy boots, and open shirt. It said, this is me, this is what you're getting, I'm comfortable with it, now let's all make us some money. If some potential boss is going to judge me and not hire my based on this blog, well, that's for the better all the way around. Why the heck would I want to work someplace where I can't be who I am? Or work for someone who won't accept me for who I am?
Like the profile says, read the blog, draw your own conclusions. If you don't like what you see...well, get in line. There are a lot of people who don't like me, just like there a whole bunch who think I'm A-OK. Just fine the way I am.
I guess I could fabricate some online persona just to keep my personal life a secret. Just to get a job. I could post a picture of me, a pretty blonde wife, a cute little boy and girl with a golden retriever. I could swallow my opinions and my beliefs and my prejudices, and keep them hidden. That kind of deceit isn't for me though. Always tell the truth. Always seek the truth. It really won't hurt you.
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