Working at Home on the Internet

ME “Liz” Strauss, Special Guest Writer

ME “Liz” Strauss has her own consulting company. Liz is a writer, career coach, and strategic planner with a focus on niche-brand marketing. Her business writing is known for its clarity, originality, and a voice that develops a warm relationship with readers.

I read her blog, Successful-Blog* daily and reference her posts quite often. I have just recently been introduced to her personal blog Letting me be…** which is her random wanderings and philosophy.

I asked Liz if she would consider guest writing for me, and this is the result.

“Write about anything,” Joe said.

How could I say no? Joe is one decent human being with a sense of humor. He deserves the best. What would it take me to put a few words on paper? What would it mean to him? Heck, I could “do” anything. At least I hoped I could.

I’d tried last summer doing nothing. I wasn’t so good at that. What I had tried was to consciously think about nothing. Thinking about thinking about nothing kept getting in the way of actually thinking about nothing.

Then I’d see a cloud or a flower and I’d really be off thinking about something–not clouds and flowers. Oh no! I’d be somewhere in Camelot fighting next to Lancelot saving the world from the Black Night of an unpronounceable French province who was determined to crack the world in two.

By the time he was vanquished I was too tired to master the thought of thinking of nothing for that afternoon. I finally gave up realizing that thinking of nothing was something that teenage boys on dates with teenage girls do.

But anything. . . .

Anything for me this afternoon is dropping everything when a friend asks a favor. Why not? I’ve been trying to slow down my life so that I could live it. Isn’t this a great way to do just that? I move from living in the future–all those things that I must get done–into the now.

I say to the universe. “Excuse me, please. I’d like to breathe. I have friend who’s asked a favor I’ll be right back.” The universe doesn’t need me to make it keep going. I know that. So does the universe.

So I find myself here, inside notepad, because I don’t want to send Joe any messy characters that might mess up his blog software. That would be very unfriendly of me. I package up my unabridged thoughts with a touch of that uniquely Liz humor. It’s in here somewhere.

The words come from my heart down my arms through my fingers, totally bypassing that editor in my head. A friend deserves the real thoughts, not the ones with those grown-up words that they teach you in “show off” school.

But the message is hidden between the words in the white spaces, just like they are in the air when two people are together.
Words and people are a lot alike . . . put them together right and they make sense.

“Write about anything,” Joe said.

He thinks that he’s the one who got the benefit of this favor.
No good deed only has one beneficiary.

Liz

I hope you enjoyed Liz’s article and take time to visit her. I think you will enjoy being part of her conversations.

And yes Liz, I did take the intro from your bio.

Liz’s Blogs:
* Successful-Blog
** Letting me be…
LizStrauss.com

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April 15th, 2006 at 07:26am | Posted by Joe | Guest Writer's Articles | 4 reader remarks | Print This Post