Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Australia, Culture, Daddyhood, Emotion, Empathy, Equality, Family, Happiness, Love, Mum & Dad, Otis
Following on from yesterday’s post, I want to talk about the dismay I feel about the Australian government asking for a referendum on whether gay marriage is acceptable.
What offends me even more than the fact this shouldn’t even be an issue is that when there are issues that should have input from the nation – from immigration to military intervention – the decisions are made without any level of consultation.
It makes absolutely no sense, unless the government think gay marriage is more dangerous than defending Australia’s shores.
Actually, they probably think it is.
One of the reasons this issue bothers me is that on top of everything else, my son Otis has an Australian passport.
OK, he also has a British and Canadian one … but should he wish to settle in Australia when he’s older, I want him to have all the rights heterosexuals have, which is why I hope, should he ever need reassurance, he see’s this message that I wrote about marriage equality a while back and knows his Mum and Dad love him and will always support him in his quest for happiness and fulfillment.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Daddyhood, Family, Fatherhood, Insight
3 days after I arrived in the US, I ordered a new car.
This was momentous for a bunch of reasons.
1. It was only the 2nd car I’d ever bought.
2. It was the first car I was going to have after 15 years.
Of course, because I’m a sad bastard, I wanted all the gadgets in it which meant I’ve had to sit on my hands for 4 months while the bloody thing was built for me.
That might not sound much, but for an only child, that is like being sent to Guantanamo Bay.
Well, after driving Jill mad with continual ‘Youtube video car review’ watching [hey, what can I say, I was really excited about getting it], it’s finally arrived.
Actually, to be specific, it arrived earlier last week but typical of karma getting her own back on me, I was away so couldn’t get to it.
I cannot tell you how hard that was for me. Yeah, I know, it’s a first world problem but it was still bloody painful.
Well, not I’ve got it, I am beside myself with joy.
Every time I look at it I smile a massive smile.
Part of that is because I can’t believe it is mine mainly because I don’t think I deserve it.
OK, so you probably feel I don’t deserve it either, but what I actually mean is that deep down, I don’t feel I should ever be in a position to own such a car. I’m not trying to act humble or anything, it’s just that when I think of my parents – both of whom were smarter and better humans than me – they could never of had such a thing so the fact I can reinforces both how lucky I am and how unfair things are for others.
To be honest, this feeling is one of the reasons I insisted we get Jill a new, new car.
Without going into too much, she’s had a bunch of hardship in her life [and I don’t just mean being married to me] so being in a position to get her something she never thought she would ever have, gave me incredibly happiness.
Of course the ultimate revenge is the fact that the moment you drive a new car out of a dealership, it is worth a good deal less than you paid for it, but what some fail to realise is buying a new car isn’t about practicality but emotion.
I’m not even talking about it in terms of materialism or status … for me, I’m talking about it in terms of being a proper adult.
Well, as ‘proper an adult’ as I’ll ever be.
I appreciate that sounds wank – and it probably is – but now I have a family, a car lets me feel I’m able to do my bit for them.
To take them on adventures.
To let us be more spontaneous.
To just go out and explore more easily.
I get many of you will think this is all an excuse designed to try and justify my choice of car – and maybe I’m kidding myself and this is simply a case of me wanting to have a car, especially when I’m living in the city of cars – but I really feel this will fundamentally change the life we are living here in a great way and that excites me hugely.
Let’s just hope I don’t crash the bloody thing …
So on Sunday, it would be my Dad’s 79th birthday.
That means he has been gone 19 years.
NINETEEN.
That blows my mind because in some ways, it only feels like a couple of years since he died.
Obviously I wish he was still here.
Healthy.
Happy.
With Mum by his side.
And if he was, I would be sending them tickets to come to America.
To see their only son.
Their daughter in law.
The beloved grandson.
And we would sit in our back-garden in the evening sun and talk while we looked at Otis running around, doing his ‘missions’.
And at some point, I would stop and look at them all interacting … conscious of how special this moment was, trying to take it all in.
Dad’s kind eyes.
Mum’s beautiful face.
My wife’s happy smile.
My son’s infectious joy.
With a backdrop of laughter and love … all mingling together in a way that made it absolutely perfect.
A perfect I’d want to remember forever because in some ways, it would be everything I had ever wished for and wanted.
Happy birthday for Sunday my dear Dad.
Not a day goes by without me thinking of you.
Rxxx
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Daddyhood, Goodbye China, Grand announcements, Jill, Love, My Fatherhood, Otis, Perspective, Pollution, Sentimentality, The Kennedys Shanghai, Wieden+Kennedy
So I have some big and exciting news. Well, it is for me …
On May 10th, I leave Wieden+Kennedy.
In addition to that, on May 16th, I leave China.
Given both have been my home for the last 7 years – one of the longest periods of my entire adult life – that means this is very big thing for me and I won’t deny it is bitter-sweet.
I’ve had an incredible time and leave with a bunch of memories, stories and learnings that I can honestly say will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Of course, I’ll miss so many things – the people, the culture, the colleagues the clients and the holidays* [ha] – but I still have a lot I want to try and experience and that just wasn’t going to happen if I stayed.
In addition, I need a place where my son can go out and play.
China is an amazing country, but the pollution means there have been too many days where he’s had to stay inside and that just isn’t what I want for him growing up.
That is very hard for me to admit, because I truly love and respect this country and would never want to speak bad of it because I’ll forever be grateful for how it embraced me, educated me and helped me thrive.
As for Wieden … well they have been awesome.
I thought I would stay at W+K forever but unfortunately, we’re a very flat structured, relatively small company, so there’s just not that many options easily available for someone like me. Everyone tried to make it work but as I have no desire to be an MD and feel I’ve achieved everything [and more] that I set out to do in Shanghai – and that I was asked to do in Shanghai – I came to the realization that for me to keep growing, I had to try something different.
That said, there is absolutely no doubt that I have enjoyed one of the most exciting and fulfilling times of my professional career [so far] but right now, I need to go and try some stuff that takes everything I have learnt – from Wieden and beyond – and mix it with a bunch of new experiences and lessons so I can see what happens in a totally different environment and situation.
I’m very excited about that but I’ll always be super thankful for the chance Wieden gave me, especially because they never asked me to be anyone else other than myself.
Even when it annoyed the fuck out of them.
To have done 7 years in the best agency in the World, in one of the most amazing countries in the World with some of the best clients in the World is an incredible honour.
To have earned their trust enough that they asked a planner – a bloody planner! – to start and run their creative talent incubator, The Kennedys, is extra special.
But to have them say you’ve done a good job and you should go and explore but never rule out coming back, shows how special – and mental – they are.
And they are. Very, very special.
And mental.
So what next?
Well, I’ll announce that soon however what I will tell you is I’m swapping one country with an evil government regime for another.
That’s right, I’m moving to America.
To LA to be precise.
I swear this is not purely because I can get away with wearing Birkenstocks the whole time.
But it helped make our decision.
I’ll reveal all soon, but I’m very excited about this next chapter in life.
It will hopefully challenge and teach me a bunch of new things while offering my family the sort of environment they absolutely deserve to enjoy – and I’m incredibly grateful I have the chance to do this, especially at this point in my life.
But it’s even more than that.
You see my parents always said they wanted me to live a life of fulfilment rather than contentment and if they knew their only son was going to have experienced life in America, Europe and Asia, they would be super-proud.
As I get older, I realise what is becoming more important for me is less about how high up the career ladder I go [though, as Harrison Ford said, I won’t undervalue all the work it has taken to get me to my current position] and more about how varied my life experiences are.
This move is another step to fulfilling that … or it will be when it happens. Until then, you’ll have to put up with business as usual, which basically means more ranty rubbish blog posts.
Onwards …
____________________________________________________________________
* For the record, given many of you think I’ve done nothing over the past 7 years except go on holiday, you’ll be ecstatic to know I’ll be leaving Wieden just before I was going to be having my 6 week paid sabbatical. I guess you could call it ‘holiday karma’.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Cars, Creativity, Culture, Cunning, Daddyhood, Entertainment, Experience, Happiness, Insight, Marketing, Mum & Dad, Parents
I’m 46.
I’m a husband.
And a father.
I supposedly hold down a senior job at a highly respected company.
I have responsibilities … mortgages and a bunch of other things ‘older people’ should have.
And yet despite all that, when I saw this ad for Hot Wheels, I totally got what they were saying.
Oh Hot Wheels.
When I was a kid, they were the toy cars to have.
Matchbox made the practical but Hot Wheels made the sexy.
The daring.
The souped up.
The ‘fuck, that looks cool’.
Kids who were good at maths would play with Matchbox but kids who could play the guitar would have Hot Wheels.
I must admit, I am shocked at all this emotion coming out of me despite the fact I haven’t bought – or played with – a toy car for at least 36 years. And that’s why I love this ad so much, because in an instant – and without showing any product whatsoever – I get it.
I totally get it.
Given this ad appeared on a motorway, I am assuming Hot Wheels actually want to target people like me.
Their goal being to awaken my memories of their brilliant toy cars and introduce my kids to them.
It could be because a while back I read Hot Wheels was a billion dollar company under threat.
Not from other toy car competitors, but because parents didn’t know how to play toy cars with their children. Especially Mum’s with boys.
[Don’t call me sexist, this is what they said]
Whatever the truth is, this ad worked for me.
It not only reminded me how much I loved Hot Wheels, it made me want to play with them with Otis. Which all goes to show that while the features of a brand can be copied, it’s spirit and values are always unique.