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Hang in there, baby!
You’ve seen them, I’m sure. Perhaps you even have one in your house or someplace on the walls of your workplace. Let’s give a shout-out to motivational posters.
There’s a set format to these things. There’s always a big bold graphic, somebody inching up the side of a mountain or a lone boat on a stormy ocean. Below the picture, there’s one pithy word like “SUCCESS” or “ACHIEVEMENT” or “TEAMWORK” in all caps. Below the word, a quote from the likes of Knute Rockne, or Aristotle or Winston Churchill.The posters always have a black border around them, and a thin frame.
The granddaddy of them all was probably the popular “Hang in there, baby!” poster with the small kitten clinging to a tree branch, or whatever it was. It graced many a dorm room wall starting in the late ‘60s, but seemed more beloved for its cuteness factor than its motivational attributes.
The walls on my rooms in high school and college were much more likely to have movie posters on them, motivating me only to lust after Harrison Ford or Richard Dreyfuss, but not much else.
I didn’t really think much about motivational posters until the late ‘80s when I worked in corporate communications for IBM in Tampa. The company had just started a whole “market driven quality” campaign, aimed at producing a real sea-change in the company image – from lumbering computer behemoth to agile, responsive, resource-filled, customer-focused business.
Part of this campaign seemed to include filling the halls of our office building with motivational posters. They reminded us that there was, in fact, no “I” in team, that we pull better when we pull together, that we should dare to dream, etc., etc.
There they were, in every hallway, around every corner, in every office, along with the inevitable anemic ficus tree and the brochure-covered credenza. The posters hung pretty much without comment or notice from passers-by. Every once in a while I would straighten one that someone had knocked off balance. On the plus side, they kept our walls from being too stark, I guess.
Maybe I was motivated enough back then. I was young, I was married, and my job was, in large part, how I defined myself. I was reasonably successful, made good money and my co-workers and I did some good work for Big Blue. It was a nice gig.
Fast-forward 20 years or so. I live here in Leesburg and I’m the parent of two teenagers (and three dogs) now. Beyond the kids and the dogs, there’s a house and a yard to look after. I’ve done a tremendous lot of volunteering in my kids’ schools, but have scaled back quite a bit as they’ve gotten older. I’ve made some forays into the freelance writing scene, and even tried my hand at fiction writing. It’s a better gig.
But now I’m at a kind of tipping point, not quite ready to head back into the work world full-time, but ready to do more than the mom thing. I’m very lucky. I’ve got options. I’m keeping my eyes open for opportunities, but also trying to make some for myself.
If you want to freelance you have to be a self-starter, and self-starting takes, above all, motivation. You have to keep going even if no one is telling you to, even if some people don’t like what you’re doing, and especially, if no one is paying you upfront. Some days – many days – motivation can be hard to come by.
Yet, as it often does, fate stepped in yesterday and dropped a poster catalog in my mailbox yesterday. (www.allposters.com)
There were several dozen motivational posters for sale (FYI: the format, that winning formula, has not changed in 20 years). But my attention was drawn to the page with humorous motivational posters. A little humor to make the platitudes go down easier. That appealed to me.
There was a poster with a dressed-up chimp that said “ORIGINALITY: It means you don’t care what people say about you.” (Credit: Bettman Archive) There was one with a photo of a warthog that said “SELF ESTEEM: Wouldn’t it be easier to just accept the fact that there are people out there who are better looking, smarter, wealthier and happier than you?” (Credit: Theo Allofs). And this one, with a huge picture of an elephant’s behind, “SUCCESS: Find the biggest a** and kiss it.” (Credit: Paul Soders). OK, maybe these aren’t that motivational.
But there was also one that, despite the best efforts of its creators, did resonate with me. Believe or not, this one came from the Playboy Archives, and had a variety of glasses (and shot glasses) filled to varying levels with different liquids. It said, “OPTIMISM: Doesn’t matter if the glass is half empty or half full if you have a lot of glasses.”
Hey Playboy, you got that absolutely right. When we feel down or unmotivated, we need to remember, we’ve got a lot of glasses. Yours might include family members – spouses, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents – friends, pets, your home, your work, your faith, your deepest interests, your wildest passions, your dreams. Some of these might be near to empty, others brimming full. The levels may change as your life goes on.
I don’t know if anyone would ever define me as an optimist, but I’m trying. As long as I’ve got some glasses on the table, I’m know I’m good to go on.
Hang in there, baby.
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