Stanton started his blog in November 2010. Initially it was his goal to garner 10,000 followers. Perhaps that falls under the category of “Think Big”! Can you imagine having 10,000 followers on Facebook?
Initially, when I signed up for Facebook, my immediate challenge was to find 6 friends. I didn’t anticipate that I would be crossing over to the “sweet by and by” anytime soon, but it always helps to be prepared. Anyway you cut it, I’m not a spring chicken. By the way, Spring Chicken – Stay Young Forever or Die Trying really is the title of a best selling book that reportedly is both helpful and funny. On the outside chance that you didn’t read between the lines, let me explain. Most funerals need at least 6 pallbearers unless of course, the departed has been condensed to the contents of an urn. Either way, it probably won't be my call. The General will get the last word on that one.
At any rate, Brandon Stanton, former (out of work) bond trader turned photographer, started taking candid portraits on the streets of New York. He subsequently posted his pictures and they became overnight hits on his Facebook page. Can it be that a picture really is better than a thousand words? Reportedly, folks in the know pertaining to social media, say that no one (obviously that includes my wife) wants to read a thousand words.
Maybe Stanton was on to something. In the process of posting pictures, Stanton added a brief caption about his subject. A few written details coupled with the snapshot garnered immediate results. The number of his followers increased dramatically.
Perhaps the only error Brandon Stanton made in his thinking related to his potential. When he hoped for 10,000 followers on Facebook, he obviously was selling himself short. Today, Humans Of New York has 14.6 million followers on Facebook and 3.7 million followers on Instagram. In December 2013, Brandon Stanton was named one of Time Magazine’s 30 Under 30 People Changing The World.
Wow! Nothing excites me more than success stories of folks who both dare to dream and then close the gap by following their dreams. My only knowledge of Brandon Stanton is the snippet of information shared on the 6:00 news, but at face value Brandon Stanton’s story is one worth duplicating. By the way, his book “Humans Of New York” is reportedly “a collection of 400 of his best portraits, telling small stories that are outsized in their humor, candor, and humanity.”
Stanton’s story has lured me in like a Red Grouper in search of fish food. I am captivated by stories of people. Everyone has a story. Sometimes all you have to do is ask a question and folks enrich your life by sharing a portion of their own.
Yesterday, while enjoying a leisurely day of boating, I asked the owner of the boat, who coincidentally is a very successful architect, about his life. Mine was a simply question, “So, did you know when you were in the first grade that you wanted to be an architect?” He laughed and said, “Absolutely not! Nothing could have been farther from my mind”. He went on to say that it had been his intent to become a dentist?
Are you kidding me? Wouldn’t creating house designs have to be a lot more satisfying than pulling teeth? Was this guy sadistic or what? (My apologies to the dentists that I know – Yours is a critically important health care service) Obviously not! He has an amazing sense of humor and his whole demeanor adds an extra level to the term gregarious.
The architect went on to say, “My family was in the building business. All of my life I was told by my dad, “You’re not going to do this. You’re going to do something else.” Fortunately, while he was in college, he did an internship at a hospital. In the process, he made the discovery that whenever the sight of blood was involved, he wanted no part of that scenario. He subsequently talked with a cousin who was in graduate school related to architecture. He looked at his cousin’s schoolwork and said, “I can do that”! Innate ability? You got it.
Don’t we all come pre-wired with a skill set or area of interest that motivates us to invest our time and energies in perfecting the gifts that we have been given? The problem is, most of us opt to want to color outside the lines on that one and it seldom works. We look at the big ticket occupations that either produce income or the “perception of importance” and we want a job that “makes us somebody.” That is always a mistake. We were already created a somebody with built-in potential. All we have to do is lock into what we’ve been given and invest the effort to perfect the skill.
As you already know, my stories are pretty simple. Unfortunately, they are also too long to captivate most people’s interest. I know what some of you are thinking. You’re thinking, “Your delusional. Staying engaged in one of your stories is worse than having a tooth pulled. And by the way, we reached that conclusion by the end of the first paragraph". Okay, so it’s a pipe dream. But the dream occasionally gets a boost when someone opts to share one of my postings.
Whether it’s out of a sense of duty, expectation, or kindness, my son regularly shares my posts. He periodically tells me, “A friend I didn’t know was reading my Facebook selected ‘like’ on one your post.
Several months ago, someone sharing a posting I’d written, made the notation, “I don’t know who this guy is, but he is hilarious.” It was music to my ears! “Yes”, “Yes”, Yes”, I heard myself saying. You may not have noticed, but I have purposefully attempted to mostly steer clear of politics and religion as subject matters in my blogs. Those two issues divide people rather than unite people. Laughter on the other hand is universal. It brings folks together on a level playing field where everyone is a winner.
Who knows, someday my blog may emerge into book form. If so, I’ve got a title in mind: “This Laugh Is On Me”. If you think it has promise, let me know. If you think not, let me know that too. Just remember "No" is a complete sentence. If that's all you say, it will soften the blow.
All My Best!
Don