Adversity

You may find yourself dealing with adversity. If not this week, there may soon come a week where you soon will, whether that be at home or at work. Be that as it may, I had a random movie scene pop into my head today from Lord of the Rings that I thought I'd share just for you:

Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.

Cedar Point Sign Shop Behind the Scenes

Fun fact - this project was created by two talented people who I had the pleasure of working with - Gabriel and Emma.

Each were separated by their respective times of employment within my department at Cedar Point.

Though they don't know each other, both of their talents contributed to making it a great piece. The project kicked off about a year ago. Over the season, Gabe captured some great visuals, then he departed and went on to other adventures.

Emma entered the picture, sprinkled in her creativity, and had wrapped it up in a nice bow. I am priveliged to have worked with both of these talented individuals. 🙏

Honorable mention - thanks telling your department's story, Mike!

Nostalgia

Nostalgia is something easy to become gripped by. Longing, yearning and holding on to what was. I, myself, get caught into a nostalgic gopher hole occasionally. I’m not trying to paint it as a bad thing. But, in abundance, to what end is nostalgia helpful in the present?

The risk with indulging in nostalgia is a lack of gratitude for the now. It can cause a side effect of jadedness. We’ve all seen jadedness…it makes things complicated for all.

A year ago, I posted this as I changed jobs: “The future is always unknown. However, I embrace the opportunity for change. After all, isn’t change the only thing that doesn’t change? Change is constant. Adapt - now that’s the antidote to change.” Golly, did those words reign true this year…

I want to focus on gratitude. Gratitude for the past, gratitude for the now, and gratitude for the potential of what’s to come. Yearning for the way things were isn’t going to solve your problems now, so why not embrace the potential for renewed “good old days” being formed at this very moment? Acknowledge your blessings.

I feel gratitude to be able to embrace my creative muscle. I included some highlight pics from the year of moments that made it FUN. That gratitude, I feel, has paid dividends in the work. It’s helped build synergies with my colleagues. It helped us reach great metrics on social and set a high bar. Might things hypothetically get rough in the future? Sure. Maybe a creative drought could happen? Sure. But that won’t stop me and I’m open to what’s next.

If you made it this far - look in your mind’s eye and ponder today - do you feel gratitude? If not, what’s stopping you? The dark side of social media tells you that you need to be angry and bitter and critical. About EVERYTHING. That’s a fallacy. Lastly, what would be the ideal state in order to be able to demonstrate creativity in your job? If you’re not there yet, how do you get there?

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.” -Rick Rubin

Season end 2025

It was a roller coaster of a season but was thrilling to return to Cedar Point this year. On the social team, we didn't hold back. We experimented with many concepts and had lots of fun along the way.

One theme I've taken away from this season is - you are only limited in your job by your imagination and creativity. Boundaries, rules, process and policy are only there to set a framework. How you work within the confines of those boundaries is up to you. Creativity is the tool that will help you navigate and overcome the challenges that come your way.