What will the world be like in 50 years time? Try to be optimistic about it!

In 50 years, if I live that long, I will be 93 years old! The time to wait until then is longer than my current time on this earth. There are so many things to complain about...from daily chores to global warming, so its a bit hard to think of an optimistic prediction for this earth.

We live in an era of dynamic change. My profession - marketing communication, did not even exist 10 years ago as a true discipline of its own, and even now there are positions that still also mix secretarial or accounting with MarCom. Not to mention that when I graduated from university 18 years ago and I started my career, the profession simply did not exist. Hey, the Internet was just started out and email was a novelty on my first job! I even remember operating a Telex machine on one of my summer jobs as a teenager (Telex machines came even before the fax...).

When I think of all that has already changed in the world during my adulthood I feel positively ancient, although I am but 43 years of age! But this era of change, which is only becoming faster and faster (My eldest son was born before the smartphone, but my daughter was born into the iPhone era) I find it most difficult to write about any prognosis 50 years into the future.

I ask myself, will it really look like one big modern space station? Will the new modern city look like a scene form Star Trek? Or perhaps we will deplete all the reserves of our planets so that my children will have to move back to caves! and how shall we live without fuel and electricity? When I was a child, many TV series dealt with this theme, the depletion of the earth and return to ancient lifestyles alone side some innovative technologies...put a super hero or a mad scientist into that scenario and you have a promising concept for a TV show in the 1980's...

While I am trying to write about the future, I find myself mentioning the past more and more. Well the future is truly unknown, that's the whole point, isn't it? I want to hope that in 50 years time, when my children are adults in the middle of life, just as I am now, they will be able to indeed live in a better world. A world in which many differences and conflict would have been settled. A world in which religion and faith were not abused by extremists and politicians. A world that combines modern technology with good old traditional community and communication. A world that is not all cold modernity, but also warm nature, a world with more freedom.

Its a world in which we use innovation for the benefit of mankind and the preservation of the earth and its resources. A world, in which we know how to better look after our world and all the people in it. We can each do out bit to work towards such a future. Recycle a bit, learn about other cultures, smooth over differences in one's own circles and educate your children towards values of empowerment, sharing, assistance and development. Take your baby steps that will eventually accumulate towards the goal, one by one. These wishes are not just fluff! But I also hope that 50 years is enough to realize some of these objectives, I am a realist, but one can stop for a moment, and simply hope.

Earthquake!

I have not written for a week! Its been a whirlwind of work!
The prompts , I am happy to discover, are taking on a more creative writing streak, now that the holiday season is over! yeh!

The prompt was:
First it was slow, then a violent force ran through the house and everything started to shake.  Your first reaction was to...

and I wrote:
Scream! Earthquake!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second thing I did was start running scenarios in my mind, as I mindlessly started looking for the children. What do all the safety experts always say? Hide under the table, stand inside a doorway, leave the building ASAP! Where are the kids??

Everything started crashing down around me. I felt heavy, I could not move! I was trying to run but could not get away! I felt slow, sucked into a terrible new reality. Everything was ruined! the house in shambles! Where ARE the KIDS?????

I call for help and my mouth is dry with dust as debris continues to fall! I cannot see anything! I am stuck in a dark hole, but I am not crushed! The mind begins to ask questions again. Why am I not crushed? what is holding all that cement over my head and not letting it all crash down on me? there is no pain.

I feel as if I am floating away and there is no one in sight, its all a dusty fog! I hear from the distance the voice of my son, muffled and far away..."Mommy wake up! mommy!!!"

I feel that I am being pulled out of my dark hole! Saved! By my own wonderful and brave son! They are here! the rescuers. I am being pulled and shaken about. I feel myself shaking from side to side, just like the last time we had an earthquake here, which woke me up - shaking from side to side, lulled to wakefulness in my bed..."Mommy! Mommy! Wake up!" The voice is clearer and nearer now! I am seeing the light...everything is going to be OK (just like my initials...ha ha)!

And... then I wake up!

Another new day! Kids to school, breakfast to prepare, get dressed! Its cold but the sun is shining!

Like my motto: Everything is going to be OK!

Quality of life indicators.

the prompt was : "If you knew you only had 6 months to live, how would you live your life differently? "
Well I think this is a question about one's own definitions as to the quality of one;s life...
Here is my answer.

This is a hard one, because what its essentially asking is what I would try to fix into my daily routine, and also what adventures or dreams i want to fulfill.  Its the two extremes of unfulfillment and lack of satisfaction.

So how would I make my life more satisfying int he twp extremes: baby steps and small routine changes vs. the BIG ONE?

The BIG ONE would be to travel and see the world. Just take some time off to see special places that I think I will only be travelling to after I retire from work or when the kids grow up (hey maybe I can go travelling with them then...if they will have me). India and the far east, south america, Australia, Alaska/ south pole...

On the other hand I think that I would like to leave something behind me, for posterity - so maybe the BIG ONE would be to actually take the time to write ab book, only I do not know what I would write about...

The smaller routine changes would be to make more time for my kids, stress out less, learn to relax, take a weekend or two off with my husband alone, see more theater performances, and see more of my friends. I guess that writing in this platform is also a small change I have undertaken on the road to the "writing a (GOOD) book" dream...

I believe that the small changes need to be undertaken even if one is not sick, we need to stop and remind ourselves that quality of life is important! But its easier to preach this on the keyboard than to actually practice it...

The BIG ONE is indeed a quantum leap, but perhaps it too can be divided to realistic chunks...like writing these posts, I could undertake to travel to one place at a time, its just that right now our vacation time is all booked up with annual family visits, I hope in a few year's time e will be able to vary the destinations too...In the meantime, finding the energy to drive out with the family for an outing is sometimes a challenge after an especially busy week...

There are also things I would NOT change. I would not change where I live or my family ties. I love my kids to distraction and cannot imaging my life without them or mother hood (even thought I do not always enjoy the cores this role entails). I would not wish to live in another era or be a different person. I am very blessed in so many ways.

Brain in Hyper-Drive Mode (or a nice way to say that I am not good at relaxing...)

The daily prompt was:
You lay there in bed and toss and turn and can't fall asleep.  All you can think about is..."
After a crazy ending to 2015, I have returned to write again...

I am not a good sleeper. I sleep lightly and awaken almost at every noise.

Sleeping with a partner can be hard is he has a bad night of "the snores"...

Being a mom to young children does not help, I hear them even from the distance between my room and theirs.

So, why can I not sleep well? I think its because my brain is always in overdrive, or should I call is hyper-drive? (Or should I refer to it as warp speed - inspired by Star Wars? Or was it Star Treck? See how my brain works?) I am just thinking and talking to myself non-stop all the time, and this most certainly does not stop at night.

Its not just thinking or mental overdrive, its also physical. Its hard for me to sit in one place if I am not doing something. There is always a "bone to pick" with my apartment and its unruly overflowing and untidy feeling. There is always some cloths to fold, things to organize for the kids, toys to pick up, dishes to wash, a washing machine to start and so on...every evening I can look at the kitchen with satisfaction, having left the sink empty and the counter clean, only to know that tomorrow is a new day with a new mess.

But lets get back to my hyper-drive brain activity: I could be imagining a story and telling it to myself, then sadly not writing it and losing it in the morning.

I could be thinking of a blog post for my online diary about my children or my professional blog, an then I do get up to write it, so I delay sleep and the written version is NEVER as good as the one i had thought of while lying in my warm bed.

I could be imagining a conversation with my husband, well actually a monologue to be honest, my monologue, and then its hard to remind myself that he did not hear what I had said an that the talk had never taken place.

I could be stressing about a task I did not complete or something I need to say to my boss...

Its not always stressful or bad, this overdrive of thoughts, but it always is! and sometimes I just want it to stop so that I can have some piece of mind, literally!

I dream of going off to a 10 day silent meditation course, so that I can learn to clear my mind and finally turn of the hyper-drive mode, but then all my duties sand especially my being a mother to small children all come back flowing and streaming and my thoughts are carried away and the brain returns to its usual hyper-drive state, until the next time I dare to pause for a millisecond to think about meditation again.

I do sometime wonder how is it  that I have not yet totally collapsed into a nervous wreck! Or that I am not the most thin of women, considering how many calories the thinking process allegedly consumes. I guess I consume enough calories (including the left over food from my kids, any dietitian, experienced mom or nutritionist will tell you what a fatal error that is to your waistline...).

My hope is just as crowded as m y brain, so its not easy to get piece and quiet here. We are a family of four and my husband is a collector, so the apartment is overflowing with books, DVDs, children's toys, my clothes, kids clothes for the upcoming 3 years, LP records and to much bed linen...

I think writing is a therapy for me as an outlet to my overworked self and hyper-driven brain. although it means sitting in front of a computer yet again (like I need to do for my work)  it is a relaxing and fulfilling activity. Who knows, I might be a published author one day...

Never give up! Keep writing, it slows down the hyper-drive if only fr a short 15 minutes...

Writing goals for 2016 - and writing dreams in general...

I would like to try and respond daily to the prompts I get from this site.

I would like to re-establish the habit of writing my marketing blog.

I would like to return to writing the blogs about my children.

I would like to write content or my own business site.

I would like to write enough content for m y social media pages, personal and business alike.

I would like to start writing a style tips blog.

I would like to write my memoirs about Germany and hope that I remember enough so that it becomes a funny book about the cultural quirks.

I would like to write my memoirs. period! So that my kids will be able to read them after I die.

Maybe one day "I can become a content icon.

Though probably if I am to write enough content, I need to hire writers...after all economies of scale is what creating a web presence is all about.

Maybe once day I can out some of my blogs and other scribbles into a book form.

I need to find all my idea scribbles, they are scattered about the house is different notebooks and stickies.

I want to just write for fun and for posterity.

Yep! new and old techniques do nicely for me...2016 - here I come, with keyboard, paper and pen!

Are you happy with your current work?

Its all still too new, even after almost a year, to say that I am happy. So much changes in recent months have all made it a bit hard to digest, but its all for the best , I believe

Its all still in the making. the transition from hired employee to freelancer is  not simple.

In many ways I am still a hired employee. I go to the office and need to deliver at certain times, but I no longer have the salary rather I need to submit an invoice.

The disadvantages:

I have more than one client, so I have more than one boss.

Everything in the business depends on me, so if I am sick, I do not get paid and the work does not get done.

I am limited as to how much work I can take on, the business is not yet stable enough to take on an employee.

The advantages:

I work mostly from home and my hours are more flexible.

I can be near my kids and not in a remote office all day.

I get some tax benefits because I now submit invoices (e.g. deduct home expenses to some extent).

I can raise my hourly wage.

I can work from anywhere! A laptop, Wifi Internet and a power extension is all I need.



I am still at the beginning of a log road. Its a wide wide way...

Ofra

Describe your bedroom. What makes it special? What would you like to change/add?

This is the post that got me to aggregate my prompt responses also to a blog format.
I realized that is some random way, I am writing my personal experiences, opinions and feelings  = that means I am writing my memoirs. So I wanted this to be on an online diary format I can access at any time...for posterity...for my kids...

-----
Describe your bedroom. What makes it special? What would you like to change/add?

(actually this is NOT my bedroom...)

My bedroom is not so special. Like many such rooms, it contains a double bed for my husband and myself, a cupboard fr our clothes, divided into "his" and "hers" and two counters on both sides of the bed - but the counters are not matching.

What makes it special is that the bed is actually  constricted from two skeletons of single beds (actually my childhood bed and that of my sister) with extensions - an improvisation that has enabled me to move the bed from one apartment to another with ease. They just do not make them this way anymore..the materials are good and the structure strong, so I saw no reason to change. the mattress is new of course...

Another interesting feature is that the room leads to a balcony, which I enjoy using in the spring and summer months. Last year my son started sharing this joy and announced that the balcony makes him feel like he is on a summer holiday/vacation. The sunset is nice from the balcony.

The two bed-side counter do not match. One is made of two Ikea stools piled one on top of another - to get the right height but keep stable. The other counter is a relic from my teen years, a set of drawers I repainted since.

On the wall there are a few pictures of the family - its been growing as the family grows. A thank you card we got during the 2nd Lebanon war from a family we let stay in our home after they could not stay in theirs on the border, and an African carpet. But the featured pictures are two portraits of myself, from my molding years, drawn by an anonymous American Painter.

Every night, as my children prefer to fall asleep in my bed, "because ts warm and large and we can all cuddle together" says my son, then my bedroom becomes extra special.

That is, until I move the kids to their own beds, so that I to can get some sleep.

Good night


Ofra

Talk about your thoughts on climate change.

Climate change evangelists are worried about the poles and ice melting, I am just hot and sweating here...on the tip of desert land.

The climate here is not changing...its always hot and humid.

Actually it is changing, for the worse. I do not recall it being this hot and humid when I was a child...

Winter starts later (only in December these days) than when I was a child (then the drop in temperature came in November)

There are only 2.5 months of Winter here and the its Spring, during which, one could say that the temperature is relatively pleasant because the sun is shining and one is not sweating so much.

But in May the heat is on and one starts to sweat.

From July to September, the weather is intolerable, its not the tropics here, but it sure feel like it... As a child I do not recall it being this bad and it only lasted until August.

Climate change and global warming are real! I feel it every year as the days get warmer and more humid and my shirt sticks to my back and there is nothing I can do about it as long as I am outside.

I thin every person should do their little bit to help slow down global warming. Save energy, recycle, whatever opportunity knocks, we should take it!

Baby steps is the key! if everyone does something small in their daily routine, the impact can be great. Its like the motion of a butterfly's wings which can cause a hurricane... Just do something, that fits nicely into your life so that you can adopt it as a habit. this will guarantee that you continue to contribute to this effort in the long run.

Protect mother earth

Ofra

What's the most interesting thing you've read about recently?

The bunnies got the spirit right...

Is there a connection between marketing and dating ?
Actually I have recently heard an interesting comparison of online marketing or growth hacking to a dating experience from more than one source. The idea is that online marketing takes a customer through a  journey. Dating is also a journey towards finding your (it is hoped)  lifetime partner.

Acquisition = blind date
First the customer needs to know that a certain  company/product/ or service exists - this is done via dissemination in various channels. Today social media is the starting point for most of the acquisition campaigns. These campaigns are geared to capture leads, get the prospect to sign into a distribution list (perhaps in return for a free gift or coupon) so that the company can start the communication process and the prospect enters the sale/marketing funnel

This is like going on a blond date. You saw an advert somewhere on social media or a dating site and now you opted in for the first meeting. You probably gave the other person you email or phone number so that you can coordinate this first meeting. The communication process has started.

Activation = relationship
Now the comply has the name of the prospect and its time to gain their trust. This is done by repeatedly sending more information to this person about the company or the service and generally keeping the service in the awareness of the prospect until they take some action and become an active customer.

In the dating world, this is the part in which people go out on dates repeatedly. If the communication is working, they will continue to date and will enter into the relationship phase. During the relationship phase there are various stages and hurdles that have to be faced (like meeting the partner's parents, deciding to move in together etc.). These are the "small sale" stages, each time one of these hurdles has been met and removed, it compares to the selling of a small product or service, on the road towards the main goal/ flagship product.

Retention =  matrimony
Now that a company has an active customer is all about getting them to make repeated purchases an also to spend more money in each purchase. up-selling, cross-selling and getting the customer more and more engaged with the product, so that the always keep coming for more. Alternatively this could mean getting the customer to trust the company enough in order to buy its flagship product, which is also the most expensive products. This could also means to get the customer into purchasing a retainer - retention mean getting the customer to always purchase, making them a source for growing your revenue.

This is a lot like matrimony. Once you get married, your partner has effeminately signed up for the biggest product, you! As the marriage progresses there is always retention and re-selling points: steps that you will take together that will get you more and more engaged and involved with each other. fir example - buying a house together, and having children. Here the revenue is not money but rather  deepening of the relationship and partnership. The more things you go through together with your partner the more deep the commitment you will have towards one another. It terms of the commitment currency, you are spending more and more in this relationship, becoming more committed and "repurchasing the product" every day - your commitment to your partner only grows.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this response - I have heard this in various sources recently, but I liked the inforgrahic Quicksprout has put together on this subject, so I ma sharing it here with you.

www.quicksprout.com/the-definitive-guide-to-growth-hacking-chapter-4/
This also reminds me of a blog post I wrote a couple of year's back for a blogging competition for a job seeking website - in which I compared getting a job to dating.

First you go to the interview (blind date/ first meeting) then you negotiate the terms of employment (relationship) and then you get the job (matrimony). In the post I used another  marketing model usually referred to as AIDA. More on that in another response...here is the link to the blog I wrote.

https://jobmob.co.il/blog/market-yourself-for-dating-and-job-search/

Wishing you a great weekend and happy reading

Ofra

If you could have lived in a previous era, which era would it have been? Why?

Moritz is not in England, but the castle is the general idea...

I guess I would choose Regency England if I really had to choose another era. Its a great era to read about, and the writings of Jane Austen and her counterparts demonstrates that women were given some freedom to become thinking creatures. But one must not forget that until very recently, women enjoyed very little freedom and in some areas of the world they still do not!

Also one must not forget that Austen came from a relatively privileged family - Although her father was "only a clergywoman, he was a gentleman - which means he came from the top tier of English society, and even if the Austen family did not have it easy and were not  millionaires, they certainly never needed know hunger.

In the modern era, classes and stations have become much more varied and even a simple person, who has a job and good sense to laying some money aside, can live a good and peaceful life. We enjoy many freedoms, including writing on the web for platforms like this one. No one stops me from writing and saying whatever is on my mind.

I think we are living in the best time yet, and I can only hope that this improvement will continue into the future, even after my lifetime (at least my children will be able to enjoy it).

Wishing you a best present day,

Ofra

Some more holiday season spirit - What's one gift you'd love to receive this year?

My son want's a computer

My husband wants to win the lottery

My daughter is happy whenever she gets new dolls

But what do I want? its a hard one...

I am not into getting stuff becasue its alsways a hassle to store it all. Every year during the holiday season you get all these dishes and nick nacks that you just do not need...but its a gift from people you love, so you keep it...but then there is not enough room for all this stuff!

My home is already over flowing, as I believ are many homes in this modern day and age. We are a consuming society and as prices become lower, we consume and stack  more and more.

This is why I try to give gifts that are consumable. I thikn getting a box of candy is better than getting a new decorative vase. The candy can be consumed - eaten and enjoyed, andthen its out o fthe way.

If you do not want  the sugar and the fats, then get someone a jar of nuts. Or better yet, invitethem for a nice breakfast  - your treat - as a gift. This way you also get to spend som time together. You can also decide to treat them to a hiarcut - this way nothing needs to be eaten...

I think that the gift I would like to receive this year would be a day off, and maybe a nice massage. this is the best gift one can buy a mother of two relatively young children....

Happy holidays,

Ofra

What would you perfect morning be like?

My perfect morning is a weekend morning or a morning of a day off, in which I wake up to the small and warm hands of my daughter or son, who have woken up and decided to join my husband and me in our bed, and I have time to cuddle with both children and keep all warm.

Its just a great feeling of love and family, and the fact that there is no hurry, no need to get to school or work on time, gives me a chance to true enjoy all this love. We can even read a book or watch a video together, something that the children love to do!

Then finally we get up to a nice sunny day in early Spring (its important that its not too warm or humid yet...definitely early Spring time) and go out as a family to eat breakfast in a coffee house nearby. The short walk gives us all a chance to stretch out and move about, and the breakfast out of the house saves me all the dishes that would usually be involved in a meal.

To top it all off, we all go for a longer walk in the park around the corner, which boasts a playground for the children and benches in the sun for the parents. The children play and run and my husband and I can enjoy some quality time and conversation. In a perfect morning, I am able to pay my husband attention and not always chase after the playing children. and yet, when they invite me to play with them, I do so eagerly and with great joy!

Good morning to every one.

Ofra