“I love this story”, probably the worst headline I have ever written. And I like to think writing headlines is one of my best skills.

Two things that have sunk into the deeper depths of my consciousness this morning. Outside my window of my garret the sky is still black, I like to get up early and this morning is was earlier than usual. 4.30am I am laying awake with the brain doing its thing, it usually starts writing a blog post and that forces me awake and running to the keyboard before the words drift away.

But thoughts were disrupted by two things, Ed Dale blogging about the story being the thing. Which is something I have known and thought for a long time, and a video by flip flop guru Jonathan Fields. Actually that sounds like I’m poking fun at him, I’m not, I think he’s a real cool dude with some very interesting ways of looking at things and definitely worth listening to.

But Flip Flop Guru, I really like that term so it’s staying and I just have to work around it.

Ed reminded me of the thing that is at the core of my being, the story. But it’s more than that, it’s that the story is at the core of making sense of the human condition. It’s not just about selling stuff, although commerce is totally something that humans are about and absolutely nothing wrong with that.

And I do realise I am getting a little existential with all this, but this is what happens when you write early morning blog posts.

The thing is, I have been kind of disconnected with the thing I do for work. Which is really about helping websites communicate to their potential market. Tempted by the short cut I went a hard core seo route with some of the stuff I do. I never felt that OK about it, but rent needed to be paid and food placed on the table.

However, it wasn’t me. It wasn’t what I am really good at.

I’m good with glueing words together and creating a great story, that is what I should focus on and stick to.

Now Linkbaiting is a lot of what I do, this is the art of getting links by producing great content. I have no problem with this, even if some think the term invokes a certain swampishness. But it’s the other stuff that seems easy at first and suddenly you find yourself over at the dark side.

And then I watched a video from the Goodlifeproject.com

It’s quite long so I don’t expect you to watch it all, but it really struck a chord with me.

What really burned in my brain was not that fact I want to get on a bike in candlelight and discuss the Unbearable Lightness of Being, which is probably not a bad way to spend an evening. But it was the tone of the conversation, it wasn’t about getting rich, it’s wasn’t about creating Vegas penthouse piles of cash, it was simply people talking about what they could do to make things a little less dark in a drab world.

And that is really important and resonates with me. I think that tone that Jonathan had created with the interview was very appealing and I am jealous that I don’t have it. But what’s behind the surface fabric is simply a desire to get to grips with the human condition.

There is a conflict within me of course, and I can make the excuse it’s because I am British I like to see things a little more dark and cynical. But I don’t think all the dark bits should be jettisoned as you seek the sunlit uplands.

I think it helps to keep an edge.

Fascinating stuff though, at lease to me. And here’s the thing, this blog post is for me. So why send it out there? Well, because it helps me structure my thinking. If you like it, brilliant. If you don’t, it wont really matter, as I have already moved on and it’s not the point.

The other stuff I write goes on blogs that I do want you to love and get excited about.

Now, the sky is developing into a blackened blue. The light is so hypnotic this time of day, and I am going to get a nice cup of tea and some toast with the kids.