Social Media

Social media is obviously a powerful platform.  But it is only as powerful as a marketers ability to use it, and most brands fall woefully short of capturing the medium’s potential. With any trend or fad - whether or not social media is one, the other or neither will be addressed below – people clamor to be a part of it.  As they do, they usually make either one of two mistakes:  1) they assume it’s the right choice for them, or 2) they assume they don’t have to be an expert at it to benefit from it.  For the average person looking for additional sources of continuous entertainment or recognition, neither of these mistakes is too egregious.  They’re annoying, but no one suffers. But when the weight and dollars of corporate marketing departments are involved, the mistakes are far less forgiving.  Where brands mostly go wrong is what can aptly be termed “obsessing over the conversation.” 

Many brands’ desires to execute effective social media campaigns come from an obsessive need to “be part of the conversation” or to “talk directly to the consumer.” This often leads companies to interject themselves into conversations, despite whether or not it’s appropriate.  Gatorade’s “Mission Control” concept is a prime example.  The problem for brands taking this approach to social media is that they are trying to forcefully interject themselves into what is intended to be honest and sincere conversation.  The honesty and trust of social media is what makes it so impactful.  But the honesty exist because it’s a conversation between two people who have some degree of report or inherent trust amongst them, even if it’s just based on one or the other’s status as an expert, even if its by way of being the first person to disseminate the information.  For Gatorade to have a “Mission Control” center for social media misses the point.  Consumers don’t want brands to be part of their social circles.  They want other people to be part of their social circles. No one wants to have “conversations” with brands.  Plenty of people want to complain about brands, but complaining and conversing are very different things.  More importantly, people don’t believe brands want to converse with them – they believe they want to sell something to them.  Its capitalism, and its great, but its also pretty black and white.  People want to have conversations with other people. No matter how badly marketers want to view the products on whose behalves they advocate for as living breathing entities, brands aren’t people. Most people certainly don’t view them as such.

Social media can be an incredibly personal medium, and few brands have a strong enough sense of themselves to be able to engage consumers as if they were a real person.  When its done right, it can be an impactful thing; honest and consistent dialogue.  But consistency in voice and message for a brand on social media is very difficult.  Unless one person is in charge of all online conversation for a brand or company, consistency is nearly impossible.  Which makes establishing a believable and honest personality on behalf of the brand a false premise.  Here again, brands aren’t people.  Sure, the people speaking on a brand’s behalf are people, but the odds of hiring enough employees that share the personality of your brand is slim.   Just as its tough to fake personality in real life, it’s tough for a single personal to sincerely embody the essence of a brand, let alone for a few dozen to do so. So the whole premise of “having a conversation” with your consumer is inherently flawed, at least from the perspective of a brand doing it.   Nobody wants to talk to a sports drink, because a sports drink is not a real person.  They certainly don’t want to be interrupted by a sports drink while they are talking about it. It’s intrusive and seems insincere and off putting, even to the point of dishonesty.

A lot of companies view their social media platforms as opportunities for problem solving.  This is a much more useful space for a brand to inhabit.  A brand’s ability to monitor complaints and solve issues before they become too public is the saving grace of social media platforms.  But brands do not have to have conversations with customers to uncover problem; they need only observe and most importantly listen.  It’s a far safer place for companies to sit.  Let others have conversations, and from those conversations, uncover problems to be solved, and then solve them quickly, quietly, and without all the fuss of “dialogue with the consumer.” 

The real power for brands in social media is when content goes viral; when consumers personally connect with a brand, independently pick up its message, and transmit it through their personal ecosystems.  What makes this format so powerful is that its honest, sincere, and the greatest form of brand flattery.  When playing the viral game, the assumption is often made, and incorrectly so, that you have to go out of your way to create content viral in nature.  You don’t.  More often then not, all a brand needs to do is stick to its traditional media and advertising plans, as the average viral brand video is nothing more than the traditional 30 second television spot – in terms of concept and production at least.  Where brands do need to take extra steps in preparation is by remaining flexible enough to respond appropriately if their content does go viral. It does a brand no good to have content go viral, create an ecosystem of demand for more interaction, and then have no resources left to meet it.  But here too, brands must be careful to not try to hard to create viral content.  As with many things in life, trying to hard can backfire in a bad way, and this is certainly the case when brands purposefully set out to create viral content.  A recent article in Quartz titled “You didn’t Make the Harlem Shake Go Viral, Corporations Did,” details just how manipulative the viral game can be played.  The more brands decide to go down the road of paying people to push their content in what seems like an honest form of viral dissemination, the sooner the viral landscape becomes as insincere as “dialogue” or “conversation.”

So is social media a trend, a fad, or something that is here to stay?    I’d argue that it’s really neither, but is instead just a new format for brands to leverage.  It’s new sure, but so was the television and radio at some point. The underlying marketing principles it takes for a brand to succeed in those mediums do not change just because of social media.  The best campaigns are still the simplest.  To the extent that companies need social media plans, they don’t have to do anything different than they do across all other mediums. When they try to do things differently in some ill-conceived notion of honest dialogue is when they find trouble. 

Creativity

I view creativity as a very personal experience, and one that is a uniquely different process for each of us.  For me personally, creativity is experienced under an appropriate set of conditions and circumstances.  First and foremost of these is a prompt of some sort.  It doesn’t have to be related to anything specific, but simply a topic to ponder or problem to solve that generates a series of thoughts.  It helps if the topic is interesting or deals directly with creative elements, such as a discussion around a new business model or a well-designed product, but its not an absolute requirement.  A positive mood is helpful, though some of my best, and certainly most motivating, sessions of creative thought have come during bouts of frustration in which I have a strong desire to change the status quoi.  The right environment is also key, as I tend to think best in more open spaces with significant natural light. These are generally the conditions under which I am most creative.  Though it sounds a bit nebulous and undefined, I prefer it this way .  Since the requirements  are so loosely defined, it is possible for them to  occur at any point during the day, and in most any location or environment.  But they are also specific enough to be created and cultivated if needed.  For me, creativity is a feeling, one I am lucky enough to be able to experience both spontaneously and through will power. 

To be specific, I’ll outline some ways in which I try to force the creative feeling.  It starts with movement.  In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), there is a part where one of the characters says “I’m better when I move.”  I feel the same way.  I don’t have to be going anywhere, but standing, pacing, or even tossing a ball escalate my train of thought – and usually in a progressive manner.  Alcohol always helps - Johnny Walker Red especially.  I spent some time in sub-Saharan Africa where there was nothing to do but drink Johnny Walker Red.  Boredom can certainly spawn creativity.  I am not sure whether it was the scotch or the boredom that led to creativity, but hours and hours of nothing to do led to hundreds of pages of thoughts and ideas, and I am convinced the brand is my own personal creativity elixir.  I am comfortable with the fact that this is probably 99% psychological.

Other tools I like to use include reading.  I specifically seek out business articles related to marketing or entrepreneurship, and lifestyle articles on design, urban planning, or similar topics.  As mentioned above, environment is probably most critical.  Creative spaces lead to creative thought, whether its as small as a cubicle you cater to accommodate your own personal style, or as large as a city.  In my opinion, there is a funneling affect working in two directions; the city influencing individual spaces, the individual spaces influencing the city.  It’s a lot of why I chose Texas for graduate school; because it was in Austin.  You can certainly be creative in Cleveland, Ohio, but its easier when the creative elements of space cascade downward; from the city, to the neighborhood, to a house, to a room, to the person sitting in it.  New Orleans is my preferred exampled of this.  Creativity is deposited like silt from the river to where you have no other choice than to walk on top of it.  Watching people is also important; not necessarily interacting with them, but certainly watching them.

All of these conditions, whether taken individually or in the collective, help me be creative.  But I do think creativity is possible at an organizational level.  I see value in group brainstorming sessions.  However, I am naturally introverted, so my most creative moments will tend to be solitary.  But I see value in the ability to sample from and feed off the ideas of others.  I am not one to come up with a specific idea I feel strong about during a group activity, but if I due several hours later, I do notice and respect the impact of those brainstorming sessions on the end idea.   Most important to fostering creativity in an organizational is a culture that appreciates and cultivates it.  I have not been fortunate enough to work for any organizations of this nature.

I agree Jonah Lehrer’s article and I practice much of the tactics he sites.  I especially believe in alcohol, reading, alone time, and “feelings of knowing” in the creative process.  I also agree with Steve Jobs’ assertion, though he is not the only one to make it, that “creativity is just connecting things.”  I have always strived to live a diverse life and experience different backgrounds as I believe being well informed, well versed, and well rounded is critical to being able to piece disconnected patters together in ways that provide novel solutions to problems.  It’s why I have always enjoyed bartending.  Part of your role as a bartender is to be knowledgeable on a wide range of topics, so that you can connect with as many of your customers as possible.  Your customers then contribute to your knowledge base through the conversation in a reinforcing cyclical pattern.  And all of it is information that can be stored away as ammunition for the next moment of creative inspiration.  Oddly enough, blue is my favorite color.  And I feel strangely more alert and cleverer when I am sleep deprived.  It’s a simultaneously delightful and miserable experience. As for thinking like a child, I have long asserted that there are a handful of activities all men should be allowed to do, regardless of age; build sand castles, play with Lego blocks, and explore any geographic location.   Lastly, I do think we as individuals should trust our senses when it comes to creativity.  I’ll re-iterate, I consider it a very personal and unique process.  Anyone can be creative, either all the time, or when they want to. It’s a state of mind, a feeling, and a glorious one at that.  

Building a Better Bluff City: Using human centric design techniques to rebuild Memphis’s inner city neighborhoods – cheaper, and faster

Memphis is aptly named “America’s Distribution Center.”  It has the infrastructure to warrant the claim.  Major transportation corridors in the form of interstates and US highways turn Memphis’s street grid into distribution arteries for the nation.  This is problematic, as they should instead be less ambitious veins connecting neighborhoods.  The worst offender is a railroad infrastructure that haphazardly slices the city into disjointed and far-flung neighborhoods.  The end result is an inner urban core made up of neighborhoods that are dilapidated, poverty stricken, unwalkable and externally disconnected.   These neighborhoods form the makeup of a city that as a whole fails to provide the sort of urban services and experiences that attract the nation’s youngest and brightest talent.

In keeping with the trend towards urban renewal in today’s major US cities, Memphis is trying to keep pace.  The city recently painted bike lanes down some of its most busy streets - East-West arteries that extend for a dozen miles free to all those brave enough to share the roads with a population not accustomed to the driving behaviors necessary to make roads pedestrian friendly.  And like most US cities, it is aggressively promoting, and even succeeding, in revitalizing its downtown corridor.  But around that slowly growing downtown, is an urban center that is one of the nation’s poorest.  With a poverty rate of 19.1%, the Memphis metropolitan area was ranked in the most recent census the poorest among US cities with a population of over one million people. Statistics back up the claims.  According to Atlanticcities.com, a website devoted to urban issues, Memphis is the country’s 3^rd least fit city, its 4^th least Bohemian, and its citizens deal with the 6^th worst work place community.  Its walkability score – a popular metric by which to rate a city’s livability in modern terms, is a 39.4 out of 100, good enough for 42^nd among America’s top 50 metropolitan areas. 

Something isn’t working.  Memphis needs revitalizing.  It needs to become more urban.  As a native Memphian, I possess a devotion and affection for my home town.  I want it to succeed and I see its potential – which is probably why I find the current state of affairs so frustrating.  But how best to revitalize a major American city isn’t the question.  Memphis is trying the traditional approaches – best practices even.  It is experimenting with major development projects such as a new riverfront and extending trolley lines north and south of downtown.  But its city government isn’t exactly awash in cash.   And these projects take time and cost money the city frankly does not have.  So the question is instead, how do you revitalize a major American city quickly, and cheaply? 

As my paper topic, I would like to explore the role human centric design can play in this process.  But seeing as how that’s a bit nebulous, given that human centric design is a key protein the makes up the DNA of all modern urban planning techniques, I’d like to instead explore the creation of a specific process, a series of design thinking tactics and tools strung together in a logical and coherent way, intended to help cities identify neighborhoods ripe for investment.   And unlike typical real estate development feasibility studies that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take years of planning and execution just to determine a project’s investment worthiness, this tool would emphasize the quick and inexpensive, though no less effective. 

The process, as I envision it, involves the following three key components:

§  Generative Research with citizens and a deep dive into the past to fully understand a neighborhood’s history and culture to develop insights into its “essence.”

§  Using the Business Model Canvas to convert a neighborhood’s historical and cultural strengths into actual models to attract the right kinds of “customers.”

§  Leveraging inexpensive urban solutions, commonly referred to as “tactical urbanism,” to physically prototype neighborhood renewal and investment plans before committing valuable financial resources. 

 

Generative Research

Struggling neighborhoods are nothing new, nor are the tactics used to address the underlying issues causing urban decay.  But generative research is not a community workshop.  It is not a police department “reaching out to concerned citizens” to discuss strategies for combating crime.  At their worst, such endeavors are venting sessions on crime.  At best, they go one step deeper into typical socio-economic issues such as “a lack of opportunity,” “education,” or “the degeneration of the family unit.”  But these are cultural American problems – they aren’t a neighborhood’s problems.  Neighborhoods are living breathing organisms.  People know each other, and a neighborhood’s problems are specific to its history, culture, and identity.  That same history, culture, and identity also speaks to a neighborhood’s strengths, assets, and partnerships, elements that will be important for the business model canvas.  By swapping out the local community organizer with individuals trained in generative research and adept at picking up on insights, a neighborhood’s specific problems will begin to emerge.  At this point, those insights can be used in the next step, the business model canvas, to develop neighborhood specific solutions. 

Business Model Canvas

Generative research uncovers a neighborhood’s history, culture, and essence.  Together, these form a value proposition for potential “customers.”  As the main initiator of the canvas in this instance would be the city, it would in essence have two different “customers” – citizens, and businesses.   This multi-platform pattern may not be the only one available for a particular neighborhood.  Indeed there are likely situations where, depending the value proposition and other elements of the canvas, a neighborhood could pursue any one of the patterns outlines in business model generation.  Channels could perhaps be thought of as the physical infrastructure itself – roads, public transportation, bike lanes and other methods of bringing people to a particular neighborhood.  Even key partners have a place, likely in the form of existing neighborhood organizations such as churches or civic clubs.

Prototyping

Tactical Urbanism is a common practice used by individuals to improve the walkability and urban feel of city blocks.  It includes things such as painting parking spots on a four lane road in the middle of the night, reducing the road to two lanes, or blocking of sections of streets and turning them into impromptu parks, cafes, or markets.  The benefit is that it allows you to cheaply and quickly, often in only a few hours, simulate fully functioning urban environments.  In terms of research, there is an entire movement centered around tactical urbanism, with three separate editions of a “handbook” to provide examples of inexpensive and easy to replicate solutions that in this instance would serve as “prototypes” for a neighborhoods proposed investments.  Rather than forgo thousands of dollars in subsidies for new businesses to move to a neighborhood without prior validation of success, cities can instead run a series of experiments that recreate the proposed environment, such as a block of cafes, restaurants, or bars.  There would be no need to waste money on graphic renderings that are only so useful in selling potential business owners, as they instead can come and see the activity on a small, but no less powerful scale first hand. 

The benefits of such a model, were it to prove actionable and successful are huge for city governments.  Rather than commit hundreds of thousands of dollars to development feasibility studies on just one neighborhood that often lead to only more feasibilities studies, it could spend far less and evaluate far more neighborhoods, prioritizing them accordingly based upon an expected rate of return. Timelines once measured in years can be reduced to months, and possibly even weeks.

Though the outline above is an actual idea, the true merit of which could only be tested through execution, I intend for this paper to be an opening attempt to refine the idea to a point where it could be tested on an actual neighborhood, preferably in Memphis itself.  Though the steps in the process would be specific, the paper would investigate existing examples, research, and best practices to justify the process. IDEO recently used generative research to help a struggling Kansas City neighborhood rebrand itself.  The project, called “18^th and Vine,” involved creating a comprehensive strategy to help the neighborhood reinvent its struggling business district.  It also has a “Smart Spaces” practice with toolkits of its own that will likely prove useful.  But not every city can afford to hire IDEO to address the growth prospects of every neighborhood within its jurisdiction, so the goal is for the method above to be a low cost alternative that is just as effective.  Theatlanticcities.com, a website devoted to urban planning, design, and renewal issues, has a wealth of information on existing best practices.  Even the most recent US census uncovered a treasure trove of city data. 

My main concern with the topic is, not surprisingly, scope.  Seeing as how human centric design and urban planning today are so intertwined, one would be hard pressed to distinguish where one ends and the other begins.  It is why I have chosen to focus outlining a specific, somewhat linear process, so that the topic has, as much as is possible, a finite beginning and end.

I love Memphis.  For years I have been torn between a desire to not be there, given its problems, and a desire to change those problems.  I would like for this paper to be my first attempt at contributing something of value to where I am from. 

Generative Research Design

Inner Circle 

Family – or in theme of “stuff” a picture of them

From left to right is Carlos (father), Alex (younger, college age sister), Brittan (older, married with a child, lawyer sister), and Debbie (mother).  All residents of Memphis Tennessee.  I am fortunate enough to be one of those people who like their family and enjoy their company.   I would not want to be without a constant reminder of them.

Harper Lee

Harper is a majestic, 65 pound pure bread Blue tick Coonhound.  In theory.  In practice, she is a 25 pound, blue tick-beagle mix who happens to be the runt of her litter.  Harper was a 21^st birthday gift my junior year of college.  In the years since college, accentuated by numerous moves, job changes, and general wandering, Harper is the one constant in a frequently shifting landscape.  

To Kill a Mockingbird

As far as moral compasses go, we could all do a hell of a lot worse than Atticus Finch. Not only is To Kill a Mockingbird the greatest book ever written, but it is full of useful parcels of everyday wisdom, such as yes, dogs can be rabid in February.  Living with a copy close by is almost as good as carrying a Bible.  Were we to wake up tomorrow and the world be deprived of religion, there’d still be hope, so long as there was Atticus.

"Be a New Orleanian, wherever you are”

Though a simple sticker, it’s a sticker I carry around on my person as often as I can.  I went to undergrad at Tulane University, 2004 to 2008, and though college is a transformative period for all of us, it seemed more so in a post-Katrina New Orleans.  More than just a map dot, New Orleans to me is a state of mind – a reminder to practice constant devotion to your personality, creativity, and the people, places, and events that have shaped you. I’ll end up there permanently one day, God willing, and this sticker, though simple, is a constant reminder of that goal.

  

Guitar Slide

To live without a particular musical instrument, in this instance a guitar, would be easy.  Odds are, someone else would have one.  But my interests in music are more specific to open D blues, a playing style for which a slide is essential.  But not everyone has a slide.  More so than a slide, I in actuality could not live without front porches.  Unfortunately, I don’t currently own one of those. But with a slide and an open D tuned guitar, I can easily replicate my ideal porch experience on practically any outdoor, outward facing, hardwood surface. 

Outer Circle 

Sports Radio (particularly in the south, and in the fall)

I abhor most music on today’s FM stations.  And though I naturally prefer talk radio, the average midday caller on a political show is not nearly as colorful as the passionate, slightly irrational, personality types that make up your typical southern college football fan.   

Fiddle

Though I can only string together a few audible songs, most of which are campfire Civil War tunes, a fiddle is just a damn fun instrument to play.  In situations where someone else is annoying the hell out of you, its also the perfect equalizer, as for every one note I can play well, I can make blood curdle with four others. 

Johnny Walker Red

I like scotch.  Especially when a particular brand manages to elicit a feeling of a specific time and place.  While living the Democratic Republic of the Congo for six months, about the only familiar consumer goods product in Africa that was on par price wise with its counter part on US shelves was Johnny Walker Red.  So I drank a lot of it.  And continue to. It tastes like fetid third world jungle. I appreciate ambition in my liquor brands as well.  Keep Walking indeed.

Very bottom (a map of New Orleans from the late 1800s)

I love maps.  Not in the sense that I look at them to get direction or find out where things are.  I just enjoy looking at them.  Especially old maps, as comparing what once was to what is now is a fascinates me.  Back then, the scarcity of planned and paved streets meant a lot more thought went into naming them, versus the modern subdivision which relies it would seem on picking two words at of a hat filled with endless synonyms for the words “babbling” and “brook.”  Street names in old maps tell stories, and have history.   And I like stories, and history.  

Part II

I rely almost exclusively on half a dozen or so websites for news and information, and I begin everyday by checking them.  I’ll start with the websites of two local newspapers – the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN, and the Times Picayune in New Orleans.  I then will check both the Huffington Post and the Drudge Report (I’ve labeled these as National Magazines Online). Then check CNN, Fox News, and the BBC.  Outside of these routinely checked sources, if there is specific information I am seeking, I will just do a web search. 

Part III

Meet Jane Evans

Jane Evans is divorced. It wasn’t fast, nor exactly by her choosing, but it was probably necessary.  The decision to get married wasn’t irrational or short-sided.  She wasn’t too young and the chapel was shotgun free.  She wasn’t then, nor is she now, a bad judge of character.  She’s quite the opposite actually.  And she has never been quick to get into relationships, though she’s long to stay in them. It’s probably why she fought to stay married well beyond the shifting priorities of her then husband, well beyond a point that made personal or emotional sense, and way the hell past the point of financially viable.  For better or worse, it defines her current perceptions of herself and those around her, and she’ll admit as much to those trusting enough to hear it.  In her early thirties, she is still young and capable of starting a family.  But a date-book full of competing priorities, both personal and professional, and the financial and emotional repercussions of her divorce, have delayed any permanent decisions regarding the long-term until now.  She is in an essence at a crossroads and getting to this point hasn’t been easy. 

Divorces are expensive, and Jane has several years worth of credit card debt to prove it.  Those who don’t know her might say she is bad with money. But her financial troubles are unique in that they arise from truly selfless endeavors.  She has a strong desire to please those for which she deeply cares, which leads to untenable situations where others are inclined to take advantage of her and she inclined to let them out of genuine love and affection. Her ex-husband didn’t take advantage of her financially, but the situation did.

A working professional with a college degree living in Washington D.C., Jane’s debt necessitated a second job in the service industry. Right after her divorce, she took jobs that gave her emotional security versus financial security, sacrificing higher pay for lower stress roles that she enjoyed.  Working below her skill set and pay grade caused her to stay in the service industry longer than she would have liked it, consuming all the additional emotional value of the primary job.  But within the last year she has become an assistant for a top-level executive at a Fortune 50 company.  Her boss complements her thoroughness and attention to detail, and Jane feels as if she may have finally found a career path she can commit to with a company she loves.  Most importantly, the pay is enough to where she doesn’t have to work two jobs.  It allows her to spend more time with her friends.

Above all else, she values family and friends.  It’s why she hasn’t yet re-married, as the strength of the relationships she has with those she cares for most is enough.  These relationships - emotional, built on trust and loyalty - are not formed quickly, but are durable and enduring.  Her friends view her as “fiercely loyal” and wise.  She is more often than not the conscience of those around her and a go to source for personal and professional advice, from people that should or should not be dated to proofreading work emails.  She is also commonly tasked with intervening on the behalf of her group of friends whenever an individual has veered dangerously off a professional or personal path.  She is a light drinker, so naturally more prone to make better decisions than those around her. 

Because Jane places her set of friends in such high regard, she goes out of her way to please them.  Unfortunately it eats into a lot of her free time and she struggles to keep up.  Her desire to keep pace is a large reason for her recent affixation with technology, especially applications or platforms that allow her to efficiently stay up to date with her friends. 

Outsiders may label her particular group as affluent - some might even call them “scenesters.”  Though Jane’s social scene fits well into stereotypes, and there are certainly some within it fighting for grandiose awareness, she is not one of them, and not interested in being the center of anyone’s attention.   Some would call Jane and her friends “spoiled”, but she knows the high character of those she confides in, as they otherwise wouldn’t be her friends.  She is also aware that, despite any troubles she may have, she certainly has it better than most and is grateful as a result.

If you were to meet her out (and she’s out frequently to keep pace) you’d find she has a very classic look.  She is often complemented on her fashion choices, though she personally doesn’t think she has any style at all.  She wears what feels right, and considers herself a creature of habit when it comes to wardrobe.  She has the same nail polish day in and day out and always, without fail, a pearl necklace given to her by her aunt and pearl earrings (from an ex boyfriend oddly enough). 

You might remark how polite and inviting she comes off as.  Warm even.  The conversation will probably begin with pop-culture before becoming more personal, though it would never become political.  You might go so far as to say she is an extrovert, though she would disagree with you.  Unless you had her one-on-one, where she is down right chatty.

Today she finds herself in a good place. She has a position with a company that she can potentially turn into a career and is in a relationship she would like to see turn into marriage. But past experience has taught her to worry.  He has demonstrated a deep seeded fear of commitment and Jane is concerned she may be once again wasting her very precious time.  Further frustrating her are the basic challenges of life that seem to come in successive waves, such as a flat tire, followed by a $1,000 vet bill for her cat Emma, on top of a good friend deciding to have her wedding in Dubai.  International plane flights are expensive when you are trying to get out of debt.  Though these obstacles irritate Jane, she understands the superficial nature of them, “Big city problems of big city life.”  She worries that these somewhat mundane obstacles might deter her motivation, as there are so many things she want to do (travel the world, learn to cook) and increasingly less time to do them.  She desperately would like to continue along the positive path she has recently found, as she is excited about the potential that her current situation is much more than just a place, and actually a destination.