March Forth!

A dear friend of mine always begins her birthday greetings with this expression. Funny how removing one letter from “March fourth” should bring such a smile to my face, but it does. Therefore, I march forth each new year that, for me, begins on March 4th. I now have 50 of them (years) tucked away in the nooks and crannies of my mind and soul and heart, and I look forward (forth?) to a whole lot more.

Earlier this year, Nancy White shared a beautiful celebration of numbers in celebration of turning 50. Now I can do the same.

I find this parade of numbers fascinating. I see so much variety and so many stories. This is not even over-analyzing the film. The variety and stories – the depth – are there in a flash. It awakens my curiosity. Who are we, the many-numbered inhabitants of this planet? Don’t worry – I am not attempting to get to know all 6 billion plus inhabitants of the planet! I can narrow down my fascination to a simple daily dilemma: who is my audience? Who are the people who read the technical documentation that I write each day. It is said that the technical communicator’s mantra is “know thy audience”, which means that you must know your audience if you are to provide them with the information they want.

The moral of my rambling is: watch out for complacency! You may think that you know your audience, and then, someone else comes along – the next in line – and the image of your carefully defined audience falls apart. Don’t despair. A new challenge can stimulate your creativity and take you to a new level, so let’s see what is coming up.

Next, please!