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July Observations by
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Sarah Perry ❡
Louis L'Amour ❡
Stephen and Robin Larsen ❡
Sophocles ❡
Ursula K. Le Guin ❡
Mahmoud Darwish ❡
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❡ Thom Gunn
❡ Nora Roberts
❡ Rachel Weisz
❡ Art Schopenhauer
❡ W.T. Pooh
❡ Usāma ibn Munqidh
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inwords 11: The Once Upon a Time Edition
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Tuesday, July 12, 2022, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Whether you've set out with your trusty Brand Voice Archetype to revive a recipe; revise a mission or vision statement; revile a Canadian Internet provider; or rail for more time for all four; some days — no matter how much nicer you are than all the Canadian Internet providers there ever have been since the beginning of time, all put together — you just get crickets.
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Tettigonia viridissima, ☝️ the Great Green Bush-cricket, is found all over Europe. This one's from Lombardia in Northern Italy, where, even before Marco Polo returned from China with the fabled recipe for pizza, fairy tales and legends began with "C'era una volta … "
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Despite it being the birthplace of bestsellers like Umberto Eco's "Il nome della rosa" (The Name of the Rose), classics like "Le avventure di Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi, and everyone's timeless Tuscan favourite, "The Three Cauliflowers," like Wikipedia's almost 140 other culture-spanning examples of "Once upon a time … " Italy stuck to its pasta: "C'era una volta … "
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I meant past. I couldn't help myself. Don't put me in cement shoes.
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These storytellers took chances:
The Czechs: "Beyond seven mountain ranges, beyond seven rivers … "
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The realistic Germans: "Back in the days when it was still of help to wish for a thing … "
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The Hungarians, (as you'd expect if you happen to know any) not to be outdone by the Czechs' seven ranges and rivers: "Across seven countries, through the sea of Operencia, through the glass mountains, where the curly-tailed pig delves … "
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The Kazakhs: "A long long time ago, when goats had feathers … "
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The Kurds, (obviously getting paid by the word): "Once there was and there was not, there was … "
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The Irish, (who I only mention because of my shock at the conspicuous absence of four-leafed clovers, leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, potatoes, unicorns or alcohol): "A long, long, long time ago it was, and there was a king in Galway … "
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The Scots, (thinking it prudent to mitigate any potential cost of being charged by the letter): "Long ago … "
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The Turks, (having no such pecuniary neurosis): "Once there was, and once there wasn't. In the long-distant days of yore, when haystacks winnowed sieves, when genies played and jeered in the old bathhouse, when fleas were barbers, when camels were town criers and when I softly rocked my baby grandmother to sleep in her creaking cradle, there lived, in an exotic land, far, far away, a … "
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That's what Joe Campbell meant when he said,
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"We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us — the labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path […] And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world."
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Thanks for reading so I'm not on this adventure alone.
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Here are 12 more …
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…brand story starting briquettes that don't involve barbecuing dragons or bald-faced lying to small children (conveniently matched to your archetype and your Hero's Journey):
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The Innocent Archetype is proactively honest, transparent and wonder-ful.
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with a conversation
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"Martha says I’ve been selfish – that I’ve tried to tether everyone to me and not cared what they might have wanted. I said that this is how we all live or else we’d only ever be alone, and she slammed the door so hard she broke a square of glass."
— Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent
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Innocent SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
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SDG 3's aim is to "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages" and its 13 targets range from Reducing Maternal Mortality to Fighting Communicable Diseases and Achieving Universal Healthcare.
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The Everyperson Archetype is inclusive, individual and the salt of the earth.
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They can often be spotted wearing their striped socks inside out.
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with a faucet
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"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on."
— Louis L'Amour
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Everyperson SDG 2: Zero Hunger
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This Global Goal aims at eight targets to end world hunger; from ending malnutrition to maintaining the genetic diversity in foods.
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The Hero Archetype is as humble and vulnerable as it is valiant.
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with a simile
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“Life,” Joseph used to say in his own off-the-cuff definition, “is a guy trying to play a violin solo in public, while learning the music and his instrument at the same time.”
— Stephen and Robin Larsen, A Fire in the Mind (also a crushingly long read)
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SDG 1: No Poverty
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I matched SDG 1, No Poverty, with The Hero archetype because heroic is the level of effort it's going to take to achieve its seven targets.
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As gutsy as The Hero Archetype, The Caregiver Archetype embraces compassion and empathy.
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with a drink
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"If you were to offer a thirsty man all wisdom, you would not please him more than if you gave him a drink."
— Sophocles
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Caregiver Goal 5: Gender Equality
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Thankfully the authors of SDG 5, Gender Equality, went beyond the token = symbol in its icon and tasked this goal with empowering all women and girls.
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Explorer Archetype thinking is synonymous with bucking mainstream mores and myopic thinking — like an albatross and not all that unlike the Outlaw Archetype.
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winging it
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"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end."
— Ursula K. Le Guin
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Explorer Goal 15: Life on Land
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The targets for SDG 15 aren't specifically about people, which I think is a nice change because, as a species we have been such selfish, destructive asses. Here are SDG 15's targets and the UN's suggestions for supporting it.
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Although The Outlaw Archetype is challenging, confronting and sometimes disruptive, it's inherently honourable.
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with a homing poet
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"The road to meaning, however long and branching, is the poet’s journey. When the shadows lead him astray, he finds his way back."
— Mahmoud Darwish, A River Dies of Thirst
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Outlaw Goal 13: Climate Action
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The map element in the icon for SDG 13, Climate Action, actually looks like another planet, which would be great because that would mean we could just carry on buying shit and throwing it away. Unfortunately, if you look at it in motion on its official SDG page, you'll see it's just a view of earth taken by a drone from above Santa's workshop.
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The Lover Archetype seeks union, is comfortable in surrender, is dedicated and powered by passion and tenderness.
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with slow passion
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"The snail pushes through a green
night, for the grass is heavy
with water and meets over
the bright path he makes, where rain
has darkened the earth's dark. He
moves in a wood of desire,
pale antlers barely stirring
as he hunts. I cannot tell
what power is at work, drenched there
with purpose, knowing nothing.
What is a snail's fury? All
I think is that if later
I parted the blades above
the tunnel and saw the thin
trail of broken white across
litter, I would never have
imagined the slow passion
to that deliberate progress."
— Thom Gunn"
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Lover Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
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The principle of SDG 10 is that "when every individual is self sufficient, the entire world prospers." This Global Goal has 10 targets that are "big picture" macro-level benchmarks. Even the action items take effort and guts and humility and passion: like the Lover Archetype.
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The Creator Archetype is imaginative, artistic and visionary.
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It loathes inactivity, occasionally to the point of workaholism.
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[ ]
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Creator Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
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Of all the SDGs, this one struck me as being uber-technical but when I listened to Greenlight Planet's Radhika Thakkar speak to James from the SDG Talks Podcast on October 8, 2021 about off-grid communities, individuals walking miles to charge their mobile phones, kids not having lights to study by — I got it.
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The Ruler Archetype is challenged to temper ego with understanding, and to distinguish majesty from bravado.
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with an argument
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"You would never say to a man, 'Do you like playing strong men?' You just wouldn't say that."
— Rachel Weisz
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Ruler Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
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Whenever I read about SDG 16's mission to, "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels," I get a little overwhelmed.
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We have been asleep at this planet's wheel for a long while.
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A Magician brand must strive to weave delight between the lines of its visionary and intuitive story. Its tendency toward arrogance — expectations of colleagues and customers to read its mind — risks distancing its worth from its audience.
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with Art on Books
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"We love to buy books because we believe we are buying the time to read them."
— Arthur Schopenhauer
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Magician Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
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If SDG 11 was simply Sustainable Communities, the cities that are the confluences of those communities would magically look after themselves. We have to think small, local, community to achieve the larger, global goals. Read the targets for SDG 11
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The Sage is forever seeking balance; it struggles with idealism and its inability to compromise. "Listen more attentively" is sage advice for this archetype.
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with a puzzle
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"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said."
— W.T. Pooh
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Sage Goal 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
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I aligned SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, with The Sage archetype because responsible production requires tough choices and forward-thinking; two qualities that our dumb-assed decisions have been lacking. Here is SDG 12 in detail.
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The Jester Archetype lives for the experience; it is naturally compelling, entertaining and delightful, and is challenged by the tripartite trap of self-importance, disingenuity and indifference.
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with hope
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"If the nights startle you
with suffering, wait in patience.
Fate asks too much of us
then follows hardship with ease.
If the suffering could last
the joy can too."
— Usāma ibn Munqidh (Syria, d. 1188), translated by Nathanial A. Miller
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Jester Goal 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
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SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation is a tough Global Goal to write about but I refuse to give in to the thinking that my generation and the last few before it have screwed this completely. Here's the juice on SDG 6 from the Global Goals website.
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Afterword
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Like more than 37,400 40,000 other species, Konos, our Pelican-in-Chief (a Dalmatian Pelican from Lake Prespa in Greece), and Jerry, our Chief Algorithm Officer (a Jerdon's Courser from Andhra Pradesh, India) are threatened with extinction and therefore difficult or impossible to find.
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That's not the case with our 🍊 unsubscribe button, because unlike Konos and Jerry it's not the end of the world.
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Read more about beautiful creatures like Konos and Jerry on the IUCN's Red List.
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