Happy Thanksgiving week!

So here I am on my own blog after, what, two months away? Yikes. It has been a whirlwind over the past few months but you know what? So what. I knew what I was doing when I started spinning faster and faster and getting on a trying too hard jag. I knew it and I did it anyway, I knew it was bad for me, my creativity and ultimately my productivity because like many of us I still carry around that idea that if I work harder, more, and anticipate other's needs I'm a better person.

But last week a two and a half day migraine I got it, I heard it, and I slowed down. And then I ran into someone who told me that they always look for ways to bring "balance, adventure and relaxation" into their life and I thought, um, wow. Wow. Balance, oh sure, I always chatter along about balance and my need for it, but adventure and relaxation too? What a combo. What a joyous combo. What an idea for 2010! I'm completely smitten with this idea, more of which I will share in a moment...

But before that I have to share two epiphanies I had yesterday - most publicists will tell you there's no way to guarantee press, there are best practices you can incorporate to encourage it, but guarantee, no. And I follow this, I don't promise press, but what I have done instead is felt responsible for my client's success, no matter how well they're following my recommendations. It's a guilt I've carried over from my year's as a sales rep and you know what, I'm doing my best here and now to let it go. I'm also doing my best to not overwork things (a favorite pastime) because I finally get that it doesn't always make people feel like they've got a superhero on their team, it makes them feel stressed, stretched, and overwhelmed - especially when you are asking things of them (and asking again and again) that they just aren't used to doing.

Publicists like to know better, we do, but sometimes we need to chill and remember that for many hiring a publicist is an emotional experience that pokes at people's hidden fears and secret dark corners. Sometimes we need to learn to tread lightly and be okay with clients moving at baby steps.

With that being said, which makes me feel much better, I'd like to go back to the topic of balance, adventure and relaxation. Actually I'm going to ignore balance and relaxation today and focus on adventure. I have the privilege now of working on a tech startup. More will be revealed as we go, but I am super excited about becoming a green-tech-innovation-creativity junkie. I am having a great time on twitter, finding articles like this one on Ad Age (just as I love becoming a nutrition and wellness junkie for Susan Dopart, M.S., R.D.) and the possibility that next year I could be jet setting off to interesting conferences or just going to the West Side for Twiistup. Maybe I can rub elbows with cute innovators like Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan of Method, and maybe I can even go to Copenhagen and research bike culture and um, Elves (for my novel, but it's a long story so I won't bore you).