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Note from Laura: This is a guest post (the first ever on lamiki!) by Sam Davidson. I first met Sam online and have been reading his blog and perspective on life for the past year. He’s a writer, entrepreneur, and a man with a lot to say, 50 of which he shares in his new book, 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need, and I’m excited to be a stop on the 50 Things Blog Tour.

Readers of this blog know that Laura looks for ways to make a difference. But, she doesn’t limit her volunteerism to some of the most common ways people lend a hand. She likes to take part in things that are new and different. Need Proof? Check out what she’s done with Workstock, or take a look at her sidebar and learn more about the work of Jolkona.

What this highlights can be summed up in one word: passion. And there’s a lesson here for all of us: we can make a hell of a difference if we know what excites us. Laura’s figured it out and bases her volunteer experiences on it. But what about you? What is it you care about?

As a volunteer, you’ll be more useful and make a more direct impact if you’re excited about the opportunity to give. This is why Laura doesn’t need a way to save the world that’s not innovative or fun; it would be meaningless to her. Chances are, you’re much the same.

So, I’ll ask again: what is it you care about?

If you’re not sure, I’ll keep pushing, this time with an excerpt from my new book, 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need. I hope this question can help you tap into something deeper and help you discover something you may be passionate about. (more…)

There are three words that when said in the right way at the right time can make you collapse. When put together, these three words can move metaphorical mountains, change dispositions, and carve alliances you never knew were there. Alone, they are just words. But when charged with the right kind of care, eye contact, and emotion they take on a very different weight.

These words can be spoken, whispered, and sung. They can be written, emailed, texted, and tweeted. Their message can be personal and private. They can be delivered on a whim, during a chance meeting, or at the most awkward time possible. (more…)

Every so often someone on Twitter or Facebook boldly declares that they are unplugging this weekend, going dark. Usually they’re on their way up the mountains where there’s no cell phone reception. Other times they’re staying in town and just need to mentally unwind. And sometimes they don’t announce it at all and they fall

off the blogosphere.

And it takes awhile before we notice.

Falling off

A friend of mine, Andrew Swenson, recently “fell off the face of the social media earth,” without announcing it (or if he did, I completely missed it). A few of us piped up in between that we missed him. And when he resurfaced, he explained what happened and what he had learned. I admire what Andrew did. He had a lot of things going on in his “real” life and he needed the space to really figure it out for himself.

Being silent & holding back

When someone says that they’re doing this, it is just noise. But when someone just does it, it leaves me wondering what’s going on, what’s really going on in their life. Going dark without letting someone know is like staying out past your curfew when you were in high school; those who care about you get worried.

Being silent online means that something is happening that you can’t quite articulate. There have been a number of things that have happened since I’ve been social-media-ly-social that I have held back from explaining or taken a few days to figure out the right message to deliver the news with. Most of the time it’s about things that don’t matter in the scope of the universe but that matter a lot to me, otherwise I wouldn’t care and would just say it.

That leads to a series of questions—if we are extra social, why do we hold back when life is the most out of our control? Why do we develop these relationships when we’re feeling on top of the world and retreat offline when we aren’t?

Simple: we want people to view us in the way that we want ourselves to be viewed. We are attracted to people who are attracted to us. We want to surround ourselves with safe, positive energy and ideas. It’s human nature. And if we expose ourselves as anything but that then we leave ourselves open for something else—an unknown.

And this unknown is pretty damn scary because it’s our heart that we have bared from our chest and we don’t know how you or anyone else is going to react to it—if they’re going to dance around in it or stomp it out, leaving it and all our ideas pulsing, waiting for the blood to stop flowing and dry out.

If you look across the blogosphere, the “unknowns” we blog about are things that are exciting and exhilarating. We write about challenges that we’re ready to face, how we’re living a life according to our own rules, and how we’re crushing it.

Being affirmative is sexy; being vulnerable with a purpose can be too.

Photo Credit: Leah Makin Photography

The problem with having a topic that you shouldn’t write about is that’s all you want to write about. It’s like creating an editorial calendar to keep the ideas in your head organized on paper, except that you say, “Screw it,” and deviate.

Deviating isn’t the problem – if you get something written, anything written, it’s good. right? Keep your head down. Let your results speak for themselves. Show, don’t tell. Get shit done. All of these kernels of motivation exist to light a fire under your ass, ask you to take a long, hard look at the to-do list you write and re-write every day and ask, “Why the hell isn’t anything crossed off?”

Speak less of your plans, you’ll get more done

That saying came to me one day, wrapped in a fortune cookie. I ate the cookie and kept the fortune. It’s buried nicely in my makeup bag. I keep it there to remind me that when I open my mouth, to let substance come out of it. Keep philosophies and fluff to a minimum. Be genuine, authentic. Make plans and make them happen.

Don’t let the shoe drop. Don’t even pick it up if you don’t intend to carry it all the way.

Photo Credit: ohad*

I have a thought that’s been on the tip of my tongue and in the back of my mind for years. It’s been there, this passion, this desire. But as years move on, priorities shift, and concentrations change, things upon things have been piled on top of it and this idea gets buried deeper and deeper. Now it’s crawling to the surface, cascading through my thoughts like a snowstorm, gaining speed like a typhoon, and consuming me like an avalanche. It wants out.

The evolution of an idea

This idea has an identity all of her own. She’s defining herself based on her actions and celebrating her silent victories. Her voice is gaining momentum and she wants the spotlight that she deserves.

She smells so fresh in the secret little box I keep her in, and I’m nervous to let her out. I’m afraid to let her voice ring from the rooftops, roar louder than thunder, and serenade mightier than my favorite rock band ever could, because that’s exactly what she’ll do. I am anxious about the person she’ll turn me in to.

Truth

I am so close to breathing about her and so uneasy about the force voicing her into existence will mean. It’s one thing to think it and another to speak it. I mentioned it to my sister today, just barely. She said she’s never understood why I haven’t embraced it. I have yet to voice it to John, though I know it won’t surprise him either.

This is something I’ve always wanted, always identified with. It’s so obvious and yet something I’ve kept so far away. It’s holding me back. The only person I’m fooling is me.

Photo Credit: Beatriz AG