Photograph by Journey Streams
I was once called by one of my dear friends, “The Optimizer.” It never occurred to me that managing your calendar for work, personal, and home in three different colors on your iPhone wasn’t a normal part of everyone’s thought process and daily habit. The reason for her comment however, was not in response to something I was doing in my life, but because of recommendations I was giving to her. I have always been a consultant, starting in business school, “classically” trained by one of the big five and branching out to a start-up, so it is second nature for me to improve upon business processes, strategy and marketing. I never realized that I do this constantly in my daily life and in the lives of my friends.
I am a creative at heart. In fact, my father, appalled when I announced I was going to business school, responded “but what about your dance, what about your art?” Not a typical response from a father I know, but you can imagine, with a name like Love, I don’t have typical parents. Because of this passion for the arts I have always attracted creative people to me. All of my closest friends are artists; painters, photographers, clothing designers, writers, DJs. What I have found over the years is my relationship with these people is hugely fulfilling ultimately because we each fill something in the other the empty spaces in each other. Me with my organization, business savvy and marketing know how, and them with their fearless ability to put their heart into their creative work and on public display. I so admire this quality.
Optimizing life with friendships balanced in such an equal sharing of brilliance is much more fun than optimizing a business or marketing strategy, but I am finding I am equally adept at both.
