Revise Thyself

Beginning tomorrow, I’m going to start a complete overhaul around here. I’ve been stalling for weeks, letting other projects take precedence over this one… but I can no longer ignore it: I need to be revised.

Revision isn’t about changing your work; revision is about changing your perspective on your subject. Monet painted a set of haystacks, then he moved his easel to a different side of the same set of haystacks, waited till a different time of day (and new light) arrived, and painted them again. His subject was the same, but the angle from which he looked at it was different. That’s the “vision” in “revision.”

Many artists are reluctant to reveal the processes by which they revise. It’s scary. We want to show up with a finished product and say “Look how brilliant I am!” And that’s what I thought at first, too, about this site.

But I’m abandoning that thinking. Instead, I’m going to transform my site in the public eye. It’s gonna look ugly at times. You’re going to see ALL of my errors and bugs. You’re going to watch my language develop. I’m gonna let you watch the sausage get made.

And do you know why? Because this is what I do for other people: I guide them through this process. As a consultant, I’ve helped countless individuals and organizations re-position their brands online. But it’s really been a long time since I’ve gone through the process myself. So I want to remind myself what it feels like from the other side of the conference table. I want to experience all the false starts and growing pains. And I want to work through those issues in public, so that anyone who might consult me, down the road, will understand: I speak not simply from experience but from personal experience.

Revision requires serious contemplation and introspection. but eventually, one has to make a new mark on the canvas. That process begins tomorrow. Wish me luck… and please, follow along.