Virtual Magpie (the equivocal adventures of Megan M.)

“…You would begin to say to yourself, ‘It’s time for me to create a new life. It’s time for me to challenge my imagination and to begin the process of shaping an entirely new life. And the best way to do that anywhere in this whole wide opportunity-filled world is to create an exciting new business. One that can give me everything that I want, one that doesn’t require me to be there all the time, one that has the potential to be stunningly unique, one that people will talk about long after having shopped in it the very first time, and, as a result of that delightful experience, will come back to shop there again beause it has such a special flavor to it. I wonder what that business would be?’

“I wonder what that business would be?” I said to Sarah, “is the truly entrepreneurial question. The dreaming question, I call it. It’s the question that is at the heart of the work of an Entrepreneur. I wonder. I wonder. I wonder.

“So the work of an Entrepreneur is to wonder,” I continued. “To imagine and to dream. To see with as much of herself as she can muster the possibilities that waft about in midair someplace there above her head and within her heart. Not in the past but in the future. That’s the work the entrepreneurial personality does at the outset of her business and at each and every stage along the way. I wonder. I wonder. I wonder. Just as every inventor must. Just as every composer must. Just as every artist, or every craftsperson, or every physicist must. Just as every baker of pies must. I call it Future Work. ‘I wonder’ is the true work of the entrepreneurial personality.”

She tried to repress it, but I saw a small smile begin to form on Sarah’s mouth.

“How could I do this differently,” she finally asked me with growing confidence. “If I were to give the true entrepreneur in myself life, how could I totally change my experience of this business?”

“Now you’ve got it!” I said. “That’s just the right question. And to get to the answer…”

– Michael E. Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited

“So anyone picking up this book may first ask, what is Semco?

“I can’t tell you. If you ask me to describe it in conventional business terms, I’d have to admit I have no idea what business Semco is in. For the last 20 years, I have resisted defining Semco for a simple reason: Once you say what business you’re in, you create boundaries for your employees, you restrict their thinking and give them a reason to ignore new opportunities. ‘We’re not in that business,’ they’ll say.

“Instead of dictating Semco’s identity, I let our employees shape it with their individual efforts, interests, and initiatives.”

– Ricardo Semler, The Seven-Day Weekend:
A Better Way to Work in the 21st Century

It’s funny how things change so fast.

One moment you’re doing what you want to do, proud of yourself for taking the next step. The next moment you realize that somewhere along the way you forgot the point, and you don’t know how you got from Point A to Point B, or what must have happened in the middle to make such a difference. That’s what happened to me.

In the beginning I just wanted something that was mine, really. It never occurred to me then that I might find a job working for someone else doing things the way I wanted to do them; looking back now I’m fairly certain I would have struck out on my own anyway. I started Virtual Magpie because I wanted to make something that was mine. Something big. Something wonderful.

I designed websites then because that’s what I was learning to do. The way I built them changed over the years but the job stayed the same because that’s what I was interested in and how I wanted to make my mark. It was a massive experiment. More kids should start their own businesses out of high school. It is great fun.

Over time I’ve gotten much better at the work itself, at handling clients and understanding what people need. But along with that I’ve fallen into a sort of disillusionment about why I’m doing this. I forgot that I was making something wonderful. I started to think I was trapped again, obligated to have some way of paying bills. So I stayed trapped, and kept paying those bills. And more than that, I stopped trying to find a way out. Because this was what I wanted, wasn’t it? I put myself here.

It’s been hard to see my way through all of this, but I think I’m finally starting to get it. No matter what they tell you, it’s not about paying the bills. It’s not about having a job. You will hear it from everyone but it’s not true. You are the best you when you’re doing what you love, because you love it. You are the best you when you’re learning and growing and making and building. You’re the best you when you love life and move forward. That’s the point.

I’ve been reading Alex Beauchamp’s blog from the beginning, when she quit her corporate job and decided to do what she loved, whatever the hell that turned out to be. I started reading this afternoon and I haven’t been able to stop. She reminded me of something I’d forgotten — it’s so strange to say that I’d forgotten it when all I’ve done is spout off about it, but I was saying things without understanding them. At a 9-to-5 I will never be the person I am when I do what I love, whatever that is. At this job, at Virtual Magpie, I will never be the person I am when I do what I love, if I’m not doing what I love for the sake of loving it. If Virtual Magpie becomes my trap, my only way to pay the bills, it’s no better than working at the radio station or the magazine. It’s the same grind and I’m no longer the best me.

And the best me will still pay the bills, all the while knowing that the bills aren’t the point. The bills stop mattering, because living my life is what matters, not complaining about it. Not finding new ways to be miserable!

There is no worth in any less than best — I might as well have stayed “gainfully employed”. This experiment, it has to have my absolute best attention, pride and affection. Virtual Magpie is a symbol of freedom and creativity and growth in me.

As long as I love it, it will love me back. You see?

I think I do.

I feel really good about the project I finished this week — the website of Care4Dystonia, Inc. It was a big project with a lot of information and we’ve gotten incredible feedback on it! How good would these comments make you feel?

It’s been a long day and receiving feedback like this at the end of it is so soothing. Plus, it gave me the perfect excuse for a second post on my new blank slate!

Care4Dystonia, in case you haven’t encountered them before, is an amazing organization focused on improving patient care, awareness, non-profit collaboration and community education about dystonia. Over the course of the project I found out just how conscientious and caring this organization is and it makes me feel fabulous to be helping them reach more people.

The founder of this organization was such a pleasure to work with. It gives me glee to interact regularly with someone who cares so much about people. That quality really shines through, and it made my experience an incredible one. Not to mention, I learned a ton about dystonia!

Please go and take a look, learn something nifty. It’s pretty astonishing the things you’re suddenly aware of when you’ve learned something new. The world around us gets fuller every day!