| 1. | Ever notice that there are days when people look at you? I mean *really* look. Today was one of those days for me. I walk into a room, great smile. Turn around. Someone's looking. |
| 2. | I call these Great Hair days. |
| 3. | They seem to actually have nothing to do with your hair. I need a haircut. I admit it. Too much zooming around right now for me to sit down in a barber shop. I'd bounce out of the chair. So my hair gets longer (and I have a beard now too -- what a hippie!)... |
| 4. | Anyway back to the story. |
| 5. | I have this theory that great hair is other people reflecting off a balance that's happening inside of you, a balance that isn't visible at a conscious level, but is perceivable, possibly in the same spot inside the person who's doing the looking. I call it "radiating the truth," partially because it appears to be possible to have great hair even when you're sad. Being truthful attracts people. |
| 6. | Today -- though -- it was probably because I was *extremely* happy! |
| 7. | ***Them Changes |
| 8. | I woke up this morning in San Francisco. What a gorgeous day. Coffee. Sit down to write. Turn on the radio. On KFOG they played a bunch of great songs, including Buddy Miles's "Them Changes." I had to stop my work and get up and dance. How can you not dance when Buddy's grrroovin? Ohhhh yeaaaah! |
| 9. | Anyway, I had trouble focusing on my work. I knew something great was probably going to happen today. |
| 10. | On Friday, I got a call from a Newsweek fact-checker for a cover story on Techno-Mania. She said I had been picked as one of the 50 most influential people in cyberspace. Wow! She said "your fifteen minutes of fame." I said "Oh man." |
| 11. | Over the weekend, I told a few friends. Wondered what I'd write about this week. Monday is a holiday. No Newsweek. Grrrrr. |
| 12. | After a meeting this morning I went hunting for a Newsweek in San Francisco, near Moscone Center. Got it! Flip thru the pages, manically, there it is on page 42 -- "Dave Winer, Online Advocate, He's revolutionized Net publishing..." One of the 50 influential people of cyberspace. |
| 13. | How does it feel? Great!!! |
| 14. | Sorry, I thought I might have been above this, but I get a thrill out of great press. Since I've been honest about everything else, I thought I should share that too. |
| 15. | It's the best honor I've received since MacUser named MORE product of the year in 1986. The satisfaction is getting recognized for something you want recognition for. In 1986 I really wanted to hit a Macintosh software home run. I remember the award night, accepting it, making my speech, partying afterward, in vivid full-color detail. The top Eddy award was great confirmation, eight years later it still feels important. The award didn't change my life, but it marked an arrival, a milestone, a turning point. |
| 16. | I feel the same way about the Newsweek list. It's a mainstream magazine. Their writers are interested in the net. My DaveNet stories are reaching them. They're great writers! People I want to be friends with. The net and great writing are going to be important to each other. |
| 17. | Like all plans, my plan has steps. But if my memory serves correctly, I think I will look back at this week as a major turning point; where my plans started seeming less like dreams and more like reality. |
| 18. | ***The value of being heard |
| 19. | For me there's an even bigger lesson here. |
| 20. | It's feels great to get recognition because it feels great to be listened to. |
| 21. | Listening. Being heard. Flip sides of the same thing. |
| 22. | All my life I've placed the highest value, derived the most happiness, from simply being heard. |
| 23. | It's a precious commodity in a world that seems to always say shut up or go away. People don't want to hear other people. When people shout, they're really saying "listen to me!" It can be a struggle to keep quiet and give other people the space to say something; especially to feel safe saying something real, something that reflects how they really feel. |
| 24. | We understand how this works. If I see you as real, then I have to see myself as real. If I listen to you, I have to listen to myself. It can be very scary stuff. But fear is frozen fun! How to make the world a more fun place? Make an effort to listen. And even if no one else will listen to you, listen to yourself. |
| 25. | I am an optimist. |
| 26. | The promise of better communication technology is that there will be more listening and more speaking. |
| 27. | In other words, the Internet makes your hair greater. |
| 28. | Have fun! |
| 29. | Dave Winer |
| 30. | PS: The Well is off the air. It's an eerie feeling. All my other inboxes are pretty dry. A couple of threads on AOL. A couple on AppleLink. But most of my flow is thru well.com. It's not necessarily a bad feeling. Kind of like a vacation! It's OK. As long as the outage doesn't last too much longer. For now, please reply to dwiner@sirius.com. |