Deb Kim on the Concept of Change

I tried to come up with a lot of pithy thoughts on change. The fact of the matter is that in 2010 (and since the beginning of time, not to get too Darwin’y on everyone) change is fast, furious and unavoidable.   Think of your phone, your TV (where people have to call Comcast to figure out how to change the channel), your computer and even your books. How many of us read on a Kindle or iPad or Nook? (I love my Kindle. I love my hardcopy books too.)

The days of finding a job after high school or college and remaining there for 40+ years are long gone. Most of us will change jobs and even careers several times throughout our employed years. Think back to your job ten years ago or more. How much of your job has changed dramatically, either what you do or how you do it? I used to work in advertising in the 1980s. We had a huge art department where people set type, used Exacto knives to cut and layout ads, the smell of SprayMount filled the air.  ALL GONE.

Ask a literary agent how the Internet has changed the way queries come flying into their agency. Ask an editor about the publishing industry today versus a few years ago, let alone decades. (Have smelling salts available when you do in case (s)he keels over.)

It’s not always easy to accept change. But we have to learn to deal with it, sometimes embrace it, and move forward each day.

How do you face changes?

9 Replies to “Deb Kim on the Concept of Change”

  1. Koala Krisp here – but Panda Puffs are really good too! I have a GREAT GFCF cookie recipe using Panda Puffs I can share. One great thing about cooking – the result is the SAME each time – it’s reliable. Same with baking – you can bring back memories with a whiff of what’s in the oven. Could be why I love retro and homey things so much, as a way to buffer the discomfort of constant change?

  2. Change is hard and time consuming. Just when you think you have something figured out, it becomes obsolete. It’s a challenge though to figure out how things work and that can be fun. Some days it just gets to be too much. Like when there is a power outage and unless you have an old fashioned telephone you can’t even call to report the outage, unless you can use a cell phone, but we don’t get good coverage at our house. Have to use the gas grill to make coffee with the old fashioned percolator coffee pot that was my grandmothers and the coffee tastes better!

  3. Both J.C. and I have day jobs that wouldn’t have existed ten years ago, in industries that didn’t exist ten years ago, in a way (telecommuting) that didn’t exist ten years ago. I try not to think too hard about that, as I have a very small mind and it is easily blown.

    I try to see change as an opportunity or an adventure, which means I have a tendency to forget how stressful it is until I wake up with a pinched nerve in my neck and an overwhelming feeling that I’ve left the iron on. Cosmically speaking.

    I also notice that change is harder the older I get – does anyone else feel that?

  4. I thought you all were talking about ‘the change’…I came over to see if I had any symptoms that you all were having. My mom and hubby say I am going thru it early. HA!

    About this ‘change’…I think some are great. Some suck ass. But, you have to admit things in the olden days were pretty damn good too. I don’t think, wow I wish I had facebook when I was young, but I do think I’d liked to of had me an IPod for sure. I love that little peice of future…

    If y’all wanna talk about ‘the change’ let me know when you do it….I need to feel secure that I am NOT going through it early! =)

  5. Ha, ha 1Oserm)m! I think I’m the oldest Deb (no need to prove it ladies) but I’m not quite there yet. I think it will be a piece of cake compared to a lot of what we’ve already been through. I hope! KIM

  6. I’m laughing about the X-acto knives and SprayMount since that brings back memories of my early years in the newspaper world. Things have changed just a little bit since then! I’m in marketing now and still do the occasional page layout, but I haven’t seen an X-acto or any sort of spray adhesive for at least 20 years!

    Tawna

  7. The mental image that comes to mind when you ask “how do you deal with change” is that of a dog chained to one of those two-foot high stakeout stakes in a yard. Dog gets scared (or excited) and starts running around and around and around until it runs out of chain and ends up tied to the pole, chest heaving and eyes rolling as it wonders how on earth it’s going to get out of this one.

    Yeah, that’s me and change. To put it mildly, we don’t get on well.

    I’m fortunate to have a great husband and a couple of awesome friends who are skilled at unwinding my chain when I tie myself in knots. This happens with some regularity, so fortunately they’re also patient.

    Ice cream helps too.

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