I recently finished the design and coding of a CES kiosk piece for one of ActiveEdge’s clients. The latest post-project ritual is to drive up to the nearest Cinnabon to indulge in one of their freshly baked sticky buns. It’s a treat because we have to drive up to Manchester to get one…there’s no local Cinnabon franchise (in Nashua).

During the last Cinnabon summit, I had the opportunity to talk with AE’s creative director Scott about his take on life, achievement, and getting closer to personal goals. His advice to me this year is to own it, and not be afraid of shining brightly.

On reflection, I do have a tendency to not want to be in the limelight or out “in front” of an organization. Maybe I am a little bit afraid of it. I can’t think of a good reason why I should be. It may be more of a lack of understanding myself, of what “it” is, like that moment in City Slickers when Jack Palance’s character tells Billy Crystal the Secret of Life:

Palance: “You city folk — you’re all the same. You spend fifty weeks of the year getting knots tied in your rope and expect twoweeks out here will straighten them out. Do you know what the secret of life is? This.” (He holds up his index finger) Crystal: “Your finger?” “No. One thing, just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean squat.” “What’s the one thing?” “That’s what you gotta figure out.”

I have no idea what that “one thing” is for me, though I’ve been trying to figure it out for ages. It’s somewhere between new media, video games, and teaching. But even before this, I need to have the gumption to put myself in the position of actually following through with execution. I don’t believe I understood that completely until Scott’s conversation that night. Cinnabon, I thank you!