There are two stories with this one. First, I’ll get straight to the point. This is the final Friday Randomness. Before I get to that story, though, there’s the one about the Jon Bon Jovi poster.
When I was ten years old I wanted to be a rock star. More specifically, I wanted to be Jon Bon Jovi. Slippery When Wet had just been released, after all. It was a pretty big deal. What did I do to get me started on that becoming a rock star thing? What any ten-year-old hair band fanboy would do: I bought a giant poster of Jon and plastered it on my wall. My mom didn’t approve. She tore it down and threw it in the trash. I pretty much blame her for my not having become a rock star. Kidding, mom!
Fast-forward through the years… Whenever I came across a tabloid headline about how wonderful a guy Jon Bon Jovi is, I’d shoot her a text and rub it in her face. Just a little. Well, for Christmas this year a cardboard tube from her showed up on our porch. I joked with K, ‘I bet this is a poster of Jon Bon Jovi.’ Turns out, it was. Well-played, Mom. We’re almost even.
So that leads to this being the final Randomness. Of all the music I could share, I figured I’d go out with one last song called Limitless from the man and his band. Why that song? Besides being representative of Bon Jovi’s signature positive anthemic songwriting (see what I mean, Mom!), there’s this line:
There’s an open door, what are you waiting for?
Which is the other story. The story about an open door of sorts. An opportunity to get back into the creative world where I spent 98% of my almost sixteen years at REI. Before that, where I had spent my life since I was that 10-year-old kid who wanted to be a rock star, writing songs and playing them in the basement with my little sister. Taking a picture of a canon in Gettysburg and then teaching my nineteen-year-old self how to take pictures using an old Pentax camera my dad had picked up while stationed in Korea.
At heart, I like creating things. It’s that simple. It’s a satisfying kind of hard work. Also, it’s fun. I won’t be working alone. I’ll find others who want something that isn’t quite working the corporate life and also isn’t working by themselves.
Jon Bon Jovi asked a poignant question in his song that I felt compelled to answer. He also offered a little encouragement: ‘Step out off the edge, it’s worth the risk. Life is limitless.’
ps… The agency I’m launching is called Woolley Creative. If you’re curious where that name came from or want to be on our mailing list for more randomness, you can find our little landing page here.