Opinions And Ramblings By Adam Kmiec On All Things Media

Last week I went to Mexico. It’s one of my favorite destinations. I’ve always found relaxation, piece, clarity and direction every time I visit. This time I came to Mexico with foggy head, cloudy eyes and a heavy heart. I was hoping to come back from Mexico with clarity about 3 key things. Unfortunately, I only nailed 2 of them.  I promised to share the 3 things once I got back from Mexico and a deal is a deal.

1. My Career: I often take stock of my career.  I think about what I’ve done, what I’m doing and more importantly, what I want to be doing.  There’s a great line in the movie, “Road To Perdition” where Jude Law says to Tom Hanks, “To get paid to do what you love, isn’t that the dream?”  Well, amen to that.  I think, I’ve always thought that I loved marketing and advertising.  When an ad comes on the television I don’t skip it, I watch it.  I snap photos of in-store signage.  My spine tingles when I see a smart print ad.  Yeah, I’m an ad guy.  I also live and breathe the interactive space.  There’s a reason you’ll find a litany of related links when you Google, “Adam Kmiec.”  I took a lot of time to think about what all of that and you know what I realized?  I don’t love advertising and interactive.  I just love that I’m good at it.  That sounds a bit egotistical; I realize that.  But it’s true.  What I love is photography.  I’ve always loved photography.  I grew up with a camera in my hand.  It’s one of those things that my dad passed down to me and I’ll pass it down to John.  So while I enjoy what I do, I don’t love it.  It may sound like a duh, but it’s not.  This was a huge revelation to me.
2. My Kids And Being A Dad: What makes a good dad?  Is it face time?  Is it your ability to provide for them financially?  What about emotionally?  Any time you go through a divorce and you’re not the person “living” with the kids I think it’s natural to wonder, how will I be a good parent?  I’ve largely lived by the idea that it makes more sense to bust you ass working while the kids are young, so that when they’re older you can spend more time with them.  But, the more I’m on the road, the more time I spend in a plane, the more nights and weekends I’m working…only to see how much the kids have changed and the moments I’ve missed, I’ve started to rethink that proposition.  In a post divorce world what it will take to be a dad is vastly different than in a pre-divorce world.  One of my big ah-has was that what it takes to be a good dad to John will be different than what it takes to be a good dad for Cora.  I’ve got a pretty damn good idea of what being a good dad means, today, and I’m ready to live that idea.
3. That Special Someone: We’re all looking for love, aren’t we?  It’s no fun going through life alone.  Experiences are less powerful without having someone to share them with.  I had a pretty good idea of who that person was before I came to Mexico. But, I wasn’t sure if she thought the same way.  When I landed on US soil I thought we were on the same page.  I was all ready to put a check mark next to this one, but the jury is still out.  I won’t lie, I’m bummed.  I think I went through all those crazy stages…all at one time…denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  I’m finally at acceptance.  But, it’s an interesting version of acceptance.  I’m going to live by the idea that you should never make someone your priority when they only make you an option. Life is too damn short to waste time chasing after someone who clearly doesn’t value you for you. It finally hit me the other morning that sometimes we need to remember that people are who they are, not who we wished they were. And the real question is can we live with that?

Ok, so this has nothing to do with the iPhone, fourSquare or DSPs. I recognize that as of late there’s been less marketing and interactive content on this site…and there’s been more personal content. But, you know what, it’s my site and I can do that Your regular programming will be retuning shortly!

I genuinely love the Ted series. Their mission, their content, and their willingness to share are amazing. I often find inspiration from the different Ted talks. Each talk, in some small way, has influenced my approach and philosophy to life and business. Not unlike the great book 4 Hour Work Week, this Ted talk by Stefan Sagmeister will have you rethinking the concept of work and time off. It’s 17 minutes in length, but well worth the time.