sethstanley

“In perfect isolation,

Here behind my wall.

Waiting for the worms to come...”

Pink Floyd – Waiting For The Worms To Come – The Wall

How are we all holding up, gang? Doing well I hope.

Although it's tough to define 'well' at the moment, isn't it?

Mind and body perfectly balanced? Employed? Getting all your vitamins? Socially active? Financially sound?

Yeah right!

I think most of us would count our blessings to be COVID-19 free for now. Anything else is a bonus. This year has taken its toll on us all and it's been tough just getting by – and that means something different for all of us. I don't see anyone I know doing well on all fronts.

For me, the pandemic and all the associated feelings that has brought with it has felt very much like a wall.

It's ever-present and right in my face. A constantly shifting set of rules infringing on my life, causing boredom, fatigue, fear and an acute sense of uncertainty about the future.

I've learned and unlearned new routines. I've lived and worked in the same space for seven months.

I've managed a few family meals out when the restaurants opened back up. There have been some glimpses of normality.

I even made it abroad – socially distancing my way around Majorca in July, sneaking through a narrow window of opportunity.

I've exercised on and off – my running routine has been inconsistent at best.

My kids are back at school – for how long, no one knows – I'm thankful for every day they spend there, knowing it could be interrupted at any time. It feels like they've really been through the mincer these last few months.

“We Don't Need No Education” sang a choir of kids in Pink Floyd's “A Brick In The Wall” – try 6 months at home during a global pandemic

Lockdown, autumn in the city

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has indicated that COVID-19 isn't going away any time soon, it's something we need to learn to live with, and we should prepare ourselves for at least another 6 months of restrictions, as we ease in and out of lockdown.

My home city, Liverpool, is likely heading for the toughest-level UK restrictions after this weekend – and I'm preparing myself to feel that invisible wall closing in again.

But I feel better equipped to deal with it this time – and here's why...

I was directed to this excellent Twitter thread by Dr Aisha Ahmad

@ProfAishaAhmad

https://twitter.com/ProfAishaAhmad/status/1307697965260328961?s=20

To summarise, Dr Ahmad works under crisis conditions and has experience of following lockdown-style restrictions. She says she always, like clockwork, hits a wall after 6 months in a disaster zone.

The desire to run away and make it stop is intense, but this is a global pandemic, and there is nowhere to run.

The wall arrives and dissipates of its own accord. We need to trust that our walls will come and go in the same way over the course of however long this goes on for.

The important thing is to recognise them for what they are, acknowledge that our successes might not be the big achievements we hoped, and that self-care during these periods is paramount.

Small steps, big wins

I'm trying to take Dr Ahmad's advice.

It feels like an effort to fulfil the basic requirements of life at the moment – and as much as I want to carry on creating, the spark that drives what I do is not as strong right now. It is only bright fleetingly, like a light bulb dipping during a power surge.

I'm calling it a win today that I managed to write this post.

I'm definitely calling it a win that I roughed up Herb Gimbels real good in my recent comic series. I thought some of you might think I was going a bit crazy – making a series of drawings about having a fight with a vending machine. It's not mainstream content, is it?

Have no fear – I'm good. I just felt the spark coming down the cable and rode it til it petered out.

I'm taking regular breaks from social media and from blogging. It's nice to disconnect sometimes.

The temptation is to try and use these tricks, hints, tips and devices to break through the wall – I know that's what I tried to do. And it didn't work for me. And when that didn't work, I felt like I was in a tough place.

In hindsight, I can see the wall for what it was. I know sometimes it'll come back and be right there, and sometimes I'll see it in the distance.

I guess that's all we can do right now – see the wall – hiding in plain sight. And when the time comes – when the restrictions are lifted, and we can plan our lives more than a few days in advance...

get ready to tear it down.

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I grew up in the 1980's. I talk at length frequently about the movies I love from that era – mostly the Indiana Jones movies and Back To The Future – but there are many others.

Over The Top.

Iron Eagle.

Iron Eagle II.

I love films that you feel that you can truly learn from, and the things I learnt the most all came from the The Karate Kid.

1) – You can cut a bonsai tree anyway you want and how it ends up is how it was supposed to look.

2) – If you're on the wrong end of a beating, there's a wise mentor/father figure waiting in the wings to teach you how to defend yourself (and fix your broken bike).

3) – You can learn the basic movements for karate by doing simple household chores and DIY – like waxing a car or sanding a floor. My folks really played on this after we saw the film for the first time, but unfortunately 'make a cup of tea', 'tidy your room' and 'put up a shelf' didn't really translate into moves I could use on the mean streets of Liverpool.

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Jump forward 36 years and I find myself, albeit late to the party, glued to Netflix drama Cobra Kai. Originally featured on Youtube Red in 2018, it's finding a much bigger audience on Netflix and is quickly becoming a huge hit – a 3rd season is already greenlit for 2021.

The show is an absolute delight. It lets us peek in on the central characters from the first film – poor, new in California Daniel LaRusso and rich, popular, star student of the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny Lawrence. Both vying for the affections of Ali (Elizabeth Shue) and for the title of champion at the All Valley karate tournament.

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It pulls cleverly on music, dialogue, even clips from The Karate Kid to explain the background for newcomers, but as a fan of the film, it was the perfect balance of nostalgia and new content. These were characters I was keen to catch up with and see how they've been.

The twist here is that Johnny's life took a turn for the worse since defeat by Daniel in the tournament, and is now a down-on-his-luck handyman living on his own in Reseda (the poor area where Daniel lived). LaRusso lives in Encino (the posh part) in a big house, with his family, operating a very successful car dealership.

Old rivalries are re-kindled when Johnny decides to re-open the Cobra Kai dojo and Daniel starts to encourage local teens to join him at Miyagi-Do Karate – the beautifully tended gardens where Mr Miyagi put him through his paces in the movie.

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It's a drama – full of good-looking high school kids, but the comedy comes thick and fast, mainly at the expense of Johnny Lawrence – played with deadpan perfection by William Zabka.

A perennial 80's man, trapped in time. Listening to Speedwagon, driving fast cars to score with 'hot babes' and aghast at the snowflake generation 'bunch of pussies' turning up to his dojo.

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Just as you think the show is going to be predictable and follow the pattern of The Karate Kid, it turns recognisable tropes on their heads. Johnny and Daniel are frequently at loggerheads, but you're never left thinking – that wouldn't have happened, or that character's action isn't very believable.

They're just two guys, both very likeable, both in turn showing sense one minute, and letting their rivalry drive their foolish actions the next. The key thing this time round is – though they're the elders guiding the youngsters, they're both savvy enough to learn the lessons that the kids can put on a plate for them too.

And just as I was willing to learn lessons from The Karate Kid as a youngster myself – I'm finding truth in Cobra Kai and I thought I'd share 5 positive life lessons that I've found in it with you now.

1 – It's all about balance

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Daniel LaRusso is all about balance. When life is getting on top of him, or he has a decision to make and he's not sure how to proceed, he heads to the dojo to meditate. Soon enough, enlightenment strikes and he's ready to proceed.

I can't identify with this one enough. I don't meditate, but I run, I draw, write and play guitar. I'm pretty good now at knowing when life is starting to push and pull me, which one of those things will start to bring me back on track.

I don't pretend to have all the answers to the questions life asks of me, but I can sort most things out when I'm in tune with myself – I think we all have our own version of 'meditation' that helps bring an element of perspective back into our lives.

2 – Don't stand still, you'll get stuck in cement

Johnny Lawrence takes the Cobra Kai students into a cement mixer and makes them work together to turn the mixer manually. Hammering home the lesson that if you stand still, you get stuck.

This really resonated with me too. I have felt stuck in life at certain points. Particularly over the last couple of years, in jobs. I've joked in other posts that it's a mid-life crisis. I don't know if it's that or not, but I definitely have an increased desire to control my own future and not be tied down to the constraints of conventional employment.

I am constantly learning, moving and trying to keep the cement mixer turning so I don't get stuck – I worry about what might happen when it stops.

3 – Listen to both sides of a story

Cobra Kai is very much about what happens to Johnny and Daniel, but it's heavily weighted on Johnny giving his version of events from The Karate Kid. Initially in the film, it seems as though he is a bully making life miserable for Daniel. But his re-telling of how things happened is a convincing narrative.

There is a lot of re-imagined fiction out there these days: Wicked and Maleficent spring to mind – giving the antagonists from other works the opportunity to tell their side of the story.

And a work of fiction presents a weighted version of the truth in order for the events to pan out as an author intends. In our lives, especially those of us with kids (!) or complex adult relationships, have the opportunity to dig and investigate to validate our opinions, thoughts and feelings. We should always do that before jumping to any conclusions.

4 – Be ready to give people a second chance

Spoiler alert: John Kreese – the founder of Cobra Kai turns up after seeing Johnny make a success of the new dojo. Johnny initially sends him packing after Kreese turned on him when Johnny lost at the All Valley championships in The Karate Kid.

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But, persuaded by his top student Miguel, he decides to give Kreese an opportunity to demonstrate that he's changed his ways.

This really rings true for me. People make mistakes, they lose their way, they can upset you. Giving people a second chance is like pressing the reset button on a relationship. It's a way to test the water and see if it's possible to get things back on track.

But if you let people back into your life and it goes pear-shaped because they let you down or cause you pain again, I can't advocate a never-ending supply of forgiveness and sticking plasters. Cut them loose.

5 – There are different routes to the same destination

Cobra Kai's mantra of “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy” is a contrast to Miyagi-Do's rules of “ No 1 – Karate is for defence only. No 2 – First learn rule No 1. “

While LaRusso and Lawrence teach differently and have very contrasting views about methods, there is no doubt that they're both very effective.

And some of the kids trying out at Cobra Kai find Johnny's style too abrasive and end up heading for Miyagi-Do and Daniel's softer, more encouraging, patient teaching style.

But Johnny's unorthodox style encourages Eli, who has a scar from a cleft lip, to 'flip the script' and not lack confidence because of his scar.

Ultimately, Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai represent two routes to the same destination: increased confidence through knowledge of karate and the lessons it has to offer.

But equally – it applies to both Johnny and Daniel – they are heading for broadly the same spot on the snakes and ladders board, despite being on wildly different paths.

In Cobra Kai, as it is in life – it's wise not to look at how people around you are walking their paths. They are their paths, not yours. And if they're getting somewhere faster than you, or doing 'better' than you, attempting to emulate their success isn't necessarily the right option for you. You never know when they're going to land on a snake, or you're going to climb a ladder.

Travel honestly, in a way that suits you and take pleasure in owning your journey.

Well – I hope that's been enlightening. It's certainly helped me achieve balance by spending time writing it. Now back to real life – my presence is required elsewhere. I think there's a fence that needs painting.

Well, maybe one or two. Or maybe a sniff of a spoiler. Come on, stick with me, it'll be fine.

Let me start at the beginning.

And by the beginning, I mean the end.

Which is really the beginning.

The beginning is kind of the middle.

Still with me? Good. That's not a spoiler by the way. At least I don't think it is. You know, now that I think about it, I'm really not sure....

I'm a little disorientated as it goes. I can't quite tell if I'm coming or going. I'm still trying to make sense of what I saw. Let me talk it through and maybe we'll get somewhere together.

The plot

The Protagonist (John David Washington) is on the trail of Russian criminal Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh). A man who has become extremely wealthy, powerful and knowledgeable because he has found irradiated material that has the power to invert time. And a way to communicate between the past and the future.

You're either already asleep, or you think that sounds pretty exciting. Me? I was positively salivating.

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The director

Before I go any further, let me just step outside the review briefly here – I want to talk about Christopher Nolan for a second.

No mate, I don't know what's going on either. Just show me that footage of shooting those guns in reverse.... Hmmm. Looks quite good.

A – Some people genuinely enjoy Christopher Nolan films – and that's fine, whatever floats your boat. Different strokes for different folks, right? It's a safe space, no judgement here.

B – Some people think it's a good look for them to say that they enjoy Christopher Nolan films, riding high on the wunderkind's coat-tails.

At parties, where people try to look like they know about film – Nolan's filmography is often a go to topic and fawning over his alleged genius is a common act to witness out in the wild.

C – Some people know it's bordering on heresy, but are still critical of Nolan – and it's easy to swot up on the right beats to hit to get through one of those conversations too.

Blah blah blah poorly drawn female characters. Blah blah blah atrocious sound design. Blah blah blah too cerebral – mystifies his audience. Blah blah blah skirts around the same themes in most of his films – is it a heist? Is it a non-linear structure playing with the concept of time? Is it a Christopher Nolan film? Ah, so it is!

For transparency, I have, at one time or other, belonged to one of those groups. I am currently languishing in group C – the Nolangers.

I'll eternally be grateful to him for taking back Gotham City, but I Nolanger believe in Christopher Nolan.

I just wanted to explain where I stood for the sake of transparency.

The cast were terrific (Robert Pattinson has come so far from being a moody, glittery teenage vampire – I can't wait to see what he brings to Batman next year). Nolan can shoot action scenes with the best of them. It looks gorgeous. When it did make sense to me, it was excellent. The pacing was great, and I was never less than totally engaged throughout.

Now let me tell you where my train of delight started to derail.

The rules

You don't have long in a movie to establish the universe within which a film is set. And the rules that apply to it.

Watching Tenet, I felt like I needed a science major to get my head around the rules. In fact – the rules are explained by Clemence Poesy's scientist and Robert Pattinson's English spy, Neil (who has a Masters in Physics, we're told).

Do you know what's going on yet? Nope – but do you like my scarf?

There are frequent meta-references in the script to the complexity of the rules that feel like they're thrown out for the audience to cling to. A scene full of exposition will often be followed by a “yeah, it's complicated – just go with it” type of throwaway line.

And to a degree, you can “just go with it”. Pause the expectation to truly understand what you're watching and Tenet can be a worthwhile experience.

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But I'm of the opinion that the audience should be able to follow the story and understand why things are happening at particular times – and flat out, that's just not possible.

To further compound things, silence is a rarity in the film, and often – when you need to listen most carefully, Nolan cranks the volume up – or places the characters behind masks. Think Bane in Dark Knight Rises all over again.

The implementation of the rules is poor – and that weakens the world-building element of the film.

The verdict

Would I see Tenet again? I think I would.

I was entertained, even when I was thinking – this is insane, I have very little idea what's going on.

Nolan's biggest defenders shout how his films warrant repeated viewing and I agree – there are layers of understanding to be peeled back in a great deal of his back catalog.

What I think is key here is that viewers shouldn't need to watch a film multiple times in order to understand the plot that drives it.

It feels like Nolan has gone into this effects first and thought – this would make for some really cool set-pieces – now how do we think up some hokey plot to explain how bullets move backwards into guns? Get to it, story monkeys!

Any clearer yet? Yes – I'm about to tell you what's going on, but someone's playing some really loud music...Chris? Chris?

I saw someone on Twitter say that Nolan has no obligation to ensure any level of understanding on behalf of the viewer. And I agree with that – it's impossible to know how any film will be received. It's a transactional process, isn't it?

I understand Nolan's desire to challenge viewers, to make them think. I'm all for that – that's my type of film. But to make people think because important dialogue is buried in the sound mix? Because the exposition is muddled and complex? Unforgivable.

That's not the type of mental stimulation I had in mind.

There's a lot to like about Tenet, and a healthy opening weekend haul of $53M suggests it's brought a lot of cinema-goers back. Providing it's done as safely as possible, it's another step closer to getting the world back to normal.

But ultimately, all I have for you is a word: bonkers.

So, let me get this straight... The bullet that made this hole hasn't been fired yet? Can someone call my agent, please?

Tomorrow, I celebrate my first blogging birthday. On 26 August 2020, I've been at this for a year.

And what a year it's been. I hope you'll indulge me as I spend some time reflecting on some of the events and experiences that have shaped this time for me.

Cringey content

Regular readers will know I lost my mum within weeks of starting on Coil, in mid-September, and I took some strange, small comfort from writing about that. There was a definite sense of cathartic release when I wrote “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”.

But a year on, I don't feel like the person who wrote that piece anymore. I've grown and changed. I look back and feel like I overshared, to the point where I question – “why would anybody share this level of personal detail about their lives for literally anyone to see?”

The only reason I haven't taken it down is because, like everything else I've written, it's a small piece of the puzzle that completes the picture of this journey that I'm on. It's a snapshot in time of a decision I made a year ago. But that doesn't mean I'll leave it there forever.

Like a poem you were proud of in high school, that seemed incredibly profound at the time, but in fact dated really badly, there's nothing like reflecting on your writing to make you wince and screw your face up.

It made me think: a blog is very much like a garden. It grows organically over time, with all manner of flowers, bushes, vines (and a fair share of weeds) flourishing where you let them. Without attention and careful pruning, it can grow wildly out of control.

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But I'm interested to consider what the impact from Coil's perspective might be if we heavily curate (ie. change/unpublish) our content backlogs? As a blog owner, in your opinion, it's improving your content proposition. It's an instant reduction in content to the platform.

What if the post you wanted to unpublish, was also your best performing one...? Would that have an affect on your future boost payments?

Lose a parent and maybe a post or two – gain a global pandemic

For sure, it's been the strangest 12 months I've ever experienced. Half of that time, I (like pretty much everyone else on the planet) have been on lockdown, trying not to go mad with the physical and mental restrictions that have been imposed upon me.

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It's certainly hampered my productivity, if not my creativity. So much time went past when I knew I could be writing, or at least reading! I've periodically lost interest in doing much of either.

I've largely replaced those activities by exhausting my limited mental capacity wondering when and if life will ever get back to what it was – the knew normal.

I've spent a lot of my time fighting the fatigue of endless Zoom calls or battling with my kids to get them to do school work on what's been for them, basically an extended school holiday without the day trips. It's been tiring, and it hasn't felt like there's been a great deal in the tank to gather any kind of momentum.

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The brighter bits

It hasn't all been bad – Jesus, no one's more aware than me that there's always someone worse off than you are. No, there has been real positivity shining through at various points, for which I'm extremely thankful.

Not least that I've met some wonderful, genuinely supportive people who've really spurred me on to enjoy creating content and engage with the blogging community, particularly on Coil. It's really helped me to keep going at times and stay inspired to write.

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Content spaghetti

I set out with the intention of creating my movie deaths A-Z ( I know, I know, I'll finish it one day) and didn't really think too far ahead beyond that, maybe an occasional film review.

In the last year I've written 107 posts on topics that largely fall into 1 of these 5 categories:

• Illustration
• Movies
• Quizzes
• Coil
• Ramblings and musings

I really didn't expect I'd diversify so much, so soon – particularly into “Ramblings and musings” which pretty much covers everything I've written that doesn't fit easily into another category.

I ramble and muse about stuff a lot more than I ever realised. My wife says I've always done it, except now I have a public platform.

She's grateful she doesn't have to listen to it all the time anymore.

The flood gates have opened my friends, welcome to my every waking thought.

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Encouraging my good friend John (@BurntEnds88) onto Coil is definitely one of the high points of my year (and yours, you're welcome ;–) ). When he and I did this piece of user research, it really got me thinking quite deeply about my content strategy and helped me to think more critically about what I'm doing.

Content vs creators

Before I started writing this blog, I never sought out blog posts, or followed particular creators. I only ever read blogs associated with my work – specifically user experience and content design.

The blogs I read now are mainly those of the Coil community, belonging to people I've engaged with. I feel a real sense of personal investment in wanting to support those people as fellow creators, and also to learn from them and understand why their content is successful.

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I feel like I 'know' most of the people who read my posts. I love that level of personal engagement and I love the people I've got to know over the last year, but investing in that level of interaction doesn't feel like a sustainable way to grow an audience.

On a platform where we talk about whatever we like, we make assumptions that we have a strong enough personal brand that people will read whatever we talk about.

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We assume readers are coming to our blogs for 'us' as people first, not the content. I agree that having a strong, unique voice is essential to succeed, but over the longer term – I feel it'll be those of us who focus on niche content that will have true longevity.

Take John for example (I'm sure you won't mind, mate) – I LOVE John's film archive posts, his Super Sunday Showdowns, and his in-depth explorations and deconstructions of beloved classic movies.

This is very much the content I'm here for. His sandwich posts – while appetising, and beautifully photographed – are not necessarily things I want to spend time on.

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But John has a unique expert voice, is in total control of his subject matter and has a ton of niche content already that could easily attract film-lovers to the platform. This is a potential model of success that I'd love to aim for.

It'll be difficult for me not to go off on tangents and write about whatever the hell I like. As you'll see, there's a lot of new stuff I'd like to bring to the table.

What will the next year hold?

More focus, I hope. Either narrowing my blog content offering into something that will encourage more new people to follow, with a guarantee of the niche content they expect – or, a curation of content into multiple spaces so readers get a more structured offering.

I'm even contemplating setting up multiple Coil accounts to separate the different facets of content to drive the right audiences to the right content.

You want to see my Wordless Wednesday photo posts? Cool – they're over here. You want the Movie Deaths stuff – it's over there.

I also hope to get the time to realise some of the other ideas that I have on the boil in the background.

I want to investigate Cinnamon (or possibly other better placed platforms) – but you can relax, I won't be appearing on your screen any time soon. I want to see whether it can sustain a podcast idea I have. Stay tuned for that one.

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Creative writing is high on my agenda at the moment, and I might even see what the community's appetite is for playing a game or two.

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Here's to the next 12 months – engaging and experimenting and hopefully enjoying circumstances conducive to creating better content.

Thank you for reading!

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In 1973, Pink Floyd, one of the greatest progressive rock bands and live acts of all time, delivered the concept album Dark Side Of The Moon.

A record that many critics acclaim as the finest in their impressive back catalogue. It topped the US charts and lingered in the Billboard 200 for a record consecutive 741 weeks between 1973 and 1988. It has sold over 45 million copies to date, and is Pink Floyd's best-selling album.

But the real stand-out legacy of this record?

I'm speaking in hushed tones, because lots of people don't know this: Dark Side Of The Moon was recorded as a secret soundtrack to the 1939 classic children's movie The Wizard of Oz!

Boom! How about that?

Except it wasn't. It's a fantastic lie, but that's all it is.

Us and Them

The band themselves have always dismissed this odd rumour, which began circulating on internet message boards around 1995.

Websites sprang up, devoted to cataloguing the synchronicity between the visuals of the film accompanied by the psychedelic soundtrack. In 2002, Turner Classic Movies broadcast Wizard of Oz with the option of synchronising it to Dark Side Of The Moon via the SAP audio channel.

I have loved this record since I was about 12 years old, and as with my blog post Rock Myth I: Paul Is Dead, I have never wanted so much for a rumour to be true.

Before I even set my headphones on, it somehow felt right.

Think about the album cover – a single beam of white light on a black background is refracted by a prism into a spectrum of colours just like.... why Toto, it's just like a rainbow! Sing it, Judy!

It's like when the film begins in black and white but explodes into colour! I'm getting so much meaning from the cover alone and I haven't even heard the MGM lion's third roar yet.

What other treats lie in store?

The heart-beat sound that opens the record on “Speak to Me”, why that's surely the heart-beat of the Tin Man!

“Brain Damage” plays over the top of the Scarecrow singing “If I only had a brain”. Roger Waters sings “Got to keep the loonies on the path” as the Scarecrow dances his way down the yellow brick road.

As Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby red slippers together and says “There's no place from home”, Dave Gilmour sings “Home, home again – I like to be here when I can.”

That's just three instances of many where audio and video marry up so perfectly that it just can't be a coincidence, can it?

4 star daydream

A burning question I have is – if Pink Floyd wrote this to play over the top of Wizard of Oz, why didn't it match the length of the film?

You need to re-start the record TWICE in order for it to last until the film's credits.

Amazingly, people find synchronicity on the second and third plays through the film! As though the band have cleverly created a masterpiece that lines up lyrically, thematically or visually with what's happening on screen not once, twice, but three times!

The idea that someone could create a wonderful psychedelic soundscape that works beautifully as a soundtrack to a beloved classic movie, is glorious.

There is no doubt that on pairing this record and film, there ARE inexplicable moments of synchronicity, and you will find yourself making connections between what you see and hear whether you want to or not, because they are there.

But they are merely events that happen to occur at the same time by coincidence, not by design, and appear to have a connection.

When we see one, two, three examples – we start to believe. We look for more – our mind makes connections that aren't there.

You only have to look at one of the websites that documents all of the moments of synchronicity to see how tenuous some of the connections are.

Any colour you like

It really made me start to think about how we look for patterns in our own lives. We look for signs to help confirm or guide our own behaviour. As a species, making sense of patterns with our senses can be the difference between life and death.

In a much less dramatic way – have you ever bought a car, say, a red Mercedes – and then all you see are red Mercedes on the road? Your mind is thinking about that make and colour of car, because you drive one – and it serves as some level of verification that you made a good decision – it's a popular choice!

Any Crypto Twitter fans will be aware of some of the XRP community's recent obsession with the number 589. There was a spate of people posting about instances of the number 589 occurring in their personal lives – on car registration plates, restaurant receipts, lottery tickets – everywhere.

I believe synchronicity is a powerful thing – meaningful coincidences and patterns occur everywhere, but those coincidences often only have meaning on an individual level.

Are they signs from the universe that you're on the right path? More likely your brain connecting information in a way that makes sense to you, but with no wider correlation or cause and effect.

I believe Dark Side of The Moon was written as a secret soundtrack to the Wizard of Oz. And monkeys might fly.

Next time on Rock Myths: Guns N Roses' Appetite For Destruction was written as a secret soundtrack to Breakfast At Tiffany's.

Oh hey, come on in. I'll be with you shortly, I'm just watching the last few minutes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Henry Jones Snr lies bleeding, helpless – depending on the smarts of his son to solve the clues and find the Holy Grail.

The final clue is The Path of God.

“Only in a leap from the lion's head will he prove his worth.”

Indiana Jones takes a leap of faith from inside the sculpted head of a lion and puts one foot forward across a giant chasm. His foot lands on a path that is painted to blend in with the depth of the chasm and all is well.

Jones passes this test and moves on to the film's finale – identifying the one true Holy Grail from a room filled with imposters. With the keen eye of a trained archaeologist who's done his homework, he can spot the real deal with ease.

Thanks for bearing with me. I always have to stop and watch that scene. It has so many childhood memories for me. And it always makes me think about Indiana Jones' faith as he moves through these clues and scenarios.

Now I'm thinking about faith and the role it can play in elevating us from thinking like mere mortals to feeling like superheroes.

I'm not especially talking about religious faith, more about faith in ourselves (which can often be one and the same thing).

Faith in our ability to leap from the lion's head and stride victoriously across the longest chasm. Sometimes we attribute that to whatever God or superpower we believe in. Sometimes we go, yeah – we know it's us, not some external force – and the repayment of that faith in ourselves makes us feel electric.

We often need faith in our lives. As children, we get it regularly from our parents, but as adults, we're most likely to get it from our peers and colleagues.

We need to know we're doing the right thing, at the right time, and following the right path. We look for signs that we're doing those things, but often, the only sign we need is acceptance from ourselves.

You gotta have faith

There have been lots of things happening that might shake our faith recently. Faith in whichever government guides us through the pandemic, faith in our fellow man to do the right thing to protect themselves and others – but today I'm focused on more first world problems.

Today – I'm thinking specifically about my fellow bloggers and content creators.

I want you to have faith in yourselves about what you create.

You embarked on your blogging adventure with an idea. And a goal. That idea may have been to talk about your kids, your family life, XRP, technology, gaming tutorials, the latest movie you've seen.

Whatever.

Everything and anything goes, my friends. All ideas are valid.

Your goal may be to interact with a person on Twitter! Or it might be to get 500 followers on Coil! Or it might be to get on the Coil Boost program! Your goal is your goal – and you need to own it. And you need to consider how you're going to achieve it.

You should be prepared to accept that your idea might preclude your goal. Your idea and goal can, without you realising, be mutually exclusive. To do this properly requires thought.

And your ideas and goals can be fluid. They can shift and move around as time goes by. I had no idea I'd have over 100 followers on Coil by now – so my next goal changes.

I'm looking at how I develop the next 100. Am I just waiting for the next 100 Coil subscribers to drop onto Twitter?

No chance! I'm looking at the audiences on Twitter I might appeal to – my target demographic – and inviting them to come and see what particular brand of cola I'm selling.

Hopefully they'll swallow it down. And hopefully they'll think it tastes good and come back for more.

If they're content creators, they might bite and join me here on Coil. If they're consumers, and they feel it's worth it, they might just subscribe.

Either way – I want my audience to be more than the circle of supporters I have currently. We owe it to ourselves to branch out and go and find the audience that our content is made for.

Faith no more

I've seen people try and make their blogging dreams a reality, and fail. They've had a go – not really given it long enough – and not committed to the ideas that they've wanted to talk about. They've branched out too early, diversified across topics. Consumers haven't been able to work out who they are and it hasn't worked out for them.

A warning to all who pitch their blog content at the wrong audience

If you've stuck to this post so far, I want you to really commit to your idea. Find your thing – what's your niche? What's your category? What are you about?

What's your raison d'etre?

It's terrific getting to know a creator. We all want to understand more about the person whose viewpoint we're buying into. But ultimately, what's more important – the creator or the content?

I would argue it's the content everytime.

I aspire to create content that reaches beyond the same 16-24 ish people who upvote me most weeks.

I aspire to bring people here who only know about Coil because of MY content. I have faith in myself that I can do that.

Martin Luther King once said “ Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

I challenge each and everyone of you to follow that – believe in what you're doing – and get outside of your comfort zone. Go and get people from Twitter, or Reddit or wherever, to come and see your content.

Step out from the lion's head – cross that gaping chasm – and start bringing new people to come and see what we're all doing.

Find your personal Holy Grail

The Holy Grail is your thing, whatever it means to you. There are a room full of fake topics looking to pull you off track. They look so flashy and golden. You could pick any of them up. Any of them could be 'the right one'.

But when you pick it up, it doesn't feel quite right. The water in it tastes odd. You're suddenly meddling with things you don't understand.

You're in deeper than you ever imagined, and now you're struggling for air.

If only you'd stuck to the path – found the cup that you knew was yours all along, and drank from it. The world would be yours.

You know where you should be, you know what you need. Don't deviate.

Drink from your cup.

Have faith, find your Grail. It may not keep you going for all eternity, but it's a sure-fire formula for personal harmony.

You'll stop comparing where you are with others on their paths.

You'll focus on yourself. And being the best that you can be.

You won't choose poorly. You've got the right content. Go and find the right people to appreciate it.

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