You spend a fortune on ‘stuff’ to keep your cat happy and occupied …
… and just like a kid who gets more joy from the wrapping paper than the toy inside, she spends all day either sleeping in a cardboard box she’s basically chewed to nothing.
… or lying on a cushion that she’s commandeered whether we like it or not.
Bitch – doesn’t she realise there’s an economic crisis going on and we can’t afford to blow our cash on things she won’t use???
[And before you say it, my electronic purchases are for research so can be fully justified. Cough cough!]
I tell you, when I come back – I want to come back as a cat – a cat owned [if cats are ever ‘owned’] by someone like Jill and me because that little princess makes Paris Hilton look like she has a tough life.
I have to say I am quite shocked at how much I love that cat.
Normally if someone wakes me up in the middle of the night … interrupts me when I’m concentrating … or ruins my furniture … I tend to turn into a grumpy [grumpier] old bastard, but that cat can do almost no wrong.
It’s actually quite a hard thing for me to reconcile because I’ve always regarded people who treat pets as more valuable than human beings as being fucking mad – and whilst I’m still not at that stage with Rosie – I know she can turn me from anger to smiles with the simple roll of her body.
Now there is a point to all this cat love ranting, because many years ago I was introduced to a book called ‘The Secret To Being Alive’ by a guy called Cliff Havener.
To be honest, I was only given one chapter and then I spent literally 10 years trying to get a copy – however whilst the rest of the book is good – it is nothing compared to the impact that one chapter had on me and now as a animal owner, I realise what Cliff was doing back in the 60’s was even more powerful and insightful than I originally thought.
[YOU CAN – AND SHOULD – DOWNLOAD IT HERE]
Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t help but feel there’s this unspoken assumption that planners today are practitioners of planning 2.0 [whatever that is] but when you see what Cliff was doing/thinking/understanding back in the 60’s [which admittedly was just being a good marketer] you realise that so much of what is spoken today is irrelevant crap.
I’ve written before that anything is easy for the person that doesn’t have to do it – so if I have any advice for any existing/wannabe planner/creative/suit out there, it’s
1/ Meet the people who will ultimately decide whether any idea you have will be successful or not.
[and I mean much more than just the customers, I’m talking about sales, distribution, R&D, finance etc]
2/ Go and see what’s happening in people’s lives – what they want, fear, love, hate, plan, desire etc
3/ Start your own company and realise points 1 & 2 can often lead to a greater result than any ad or ‘big idea’.
Planning is an outdoor job – get out from behind your desks and listen and learn about life – it’s the most valuable thing you’ll ever learn about great advertising.