There are times in my life where I get a little wistful that I’ve never established myself as a marketing genius or really ever worked in marketing (small issue – that). But putting the whole “never worked in marketing” aside I think I could be a marketing guru – like giving a Ted Talk marketing guru.
By the way how do you “get” a Ted Talk? Is it like pledging a sorority and you have to make It through a couple of rounds of “getting to know you” and then you secure the invite?
Okay wait, I just googled “how to get a Ted talk?” and it is just like sorority recruitment. Someone nominates/recommends you and then you have to jump through some hoops to make the cut. See, that right there is part of my marketing genius that’s never been fully explored because I intuitively knew how getting a Ted Talk works.
This intuitiveness of mine has birthed a lot of my outstanding ideas. The truly sad thing is that not even my family members think these ideas of mine are umm, what’s the word? Oh yeah, “based in reality.”
Now I could choose to be devastated if it weren’t for the fact that I don’t think my children and husband want to acknowledge that they’re living with greatness or at the very least greatness adjacent. It would upset the whole family dynamic. It’s just so much easier to have your mom pegged as crazy.
To prove that I’m crazy awesome I’m going to share with you my latest idea for graduation cards. Just this week I was perusing some grad cards and the mom in me got concerned.
The majority of cards were all about how the recipient was going to do amazing things or change the world or was about to set forth on a wonderful adventure. As I read these cards I thought, do we need to be putting that much pressure on these soon to be high school graduates? What’s really needed are truth bomb cards because it’s never too early to adjust your expectations.
For example, instead of a card saying, “You’re going to change the world” because really who needs that massive goal hanging over their head at 18? How about a card that says “the world will be better because you’re going to grow up and make a difference by being a decent human who returns their shopping cart to the cart corral at Target.
It’s perfect because it’s an attainable goal and you letting the person know you think they will make a difference. That’s what I call a win-win.
As for all the “you’re about to embark on a wonderful adventure cards” well those need a complete makeover. Yes, college is an adventure but according to higher-ed research a lot of kids’ freshman year s-u-c-k-s.
This is why I propose an alternate adventure card that says, “Your college adventure is going to be good interspersed with periods of ugh but you can do this and meanwhile don’t believe everything you see on Instagram
I also think a card that riffs on “You can do hard things” is needed. I like the idea of one saying, “You can do repetitive things and survive the idiocy of said repetitive things.” Because if there’s one thing every young adult should be aware of is that life going forward will be resplendent with repetitive tasks.
I was thrilled to present my card ideas to my family. Sadly, once again, they didn’t grasp my genius. I was told emphatically that no one would want to give or receive one of my “truth bomb” cards. I get it. I really do. Sometimes the world just isn’t ready for the next big thing or me.
Snarky in the Suburbs 