The wayback machine
Photo by Mohamed Osama on Unsplash
There's an amazing online tool which lets you go back in time to see a website page or pages. Depending on the site and when the machine "crawled" the internet to get the image, you could have loads of options over the years or just a few. But I've been using the wayback machine to find images of websites I've updated in order to show the before and after. It's an internet archive and free like Wikipedia in that they ask for donations to maintain the site. And like everyone, I pretend not to see the ask at the top. (you know you do the same!)
But part of the appeal of the archive is seeing things in their "before" state.
How rudimentary they were or what the original design and content were.
But it's also a reminder that we all start somewhere.
That many of these sites started with an idea that was real and honest and well-intentioned.
And perhaps some have improved over time, but perhaps others have lost their way.
Have gotten caught up in trying to be something they're not or had too many people try to influence the message.
Kind of like people.
The wisdom of Bukowski
Recently I was at an event at The Glass Ceiling, which is an aptly named bar and restaurant on top of Luminary, the co-working space and community I belong to in NYC. And upon visiting the bathroom (as I always do), I saw this quote framed on the wall:
Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?
Talk about a gut punch but in the best way.
So many of us, too many of us, have forgotten who we are at the core.
Who we really are.
Not who family wants us to be.
Not who bosses and jobs molded us to be.
Not who we think we're supposed to be.
Just who we actually are.
The real authentic us.
I'm sure a lot of you can barely remember that person.
But I bet you miss them.
I bet you think wistfully about the "good ol' days."
And isn't that what those are?
The times and days when we were the most free.
The most joyful and the most ourselves.
What would it mean to rediscover that person?
The other side of fear
The reason many of us aren't who we used to be is fear.
Fear of not being liked.
Fear of being seen.
Fear of not being seen.
Fear of rejection.
Fear that who we were/are isn't good enough.
But in the immortal words of Barbie, you are Kenough!
And who you were is possible to rediscover.
And moreover, who you were is who you should be and who other people want to meet. In business and in life.
I promise you that nothing is more freeing than being you. 100% you. Always and forever.
And once you get past the fear, you'll realize you were afraid of a story that doesn't exist.
One in which you truly believed that being someone else is easier.
And nothing could be further from the truth.
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