Excited.

I’m relaxing into it. Feeling excited. Three weeks away with the loved one – away being the word – is so long overdue for Momo’s engine of creative sparkle, bless him. But it’s disheartening when people don’t get excited about the good stuff you’ve been doing for them.

Change is tricky for clients. More often than not, I end up getting at least a little bit of the loved up feeling that us creatives really go to work for – a client excited about the new things you’ve opened up for them. But sometimes, obvious as the good stuff might be, it isn’t obvious to people who see things from a different angle. And that’s the deal – brand development is about articulating a single vision for someone – a consensus, in internal terms. Which often means you have to negotiate one first.

Brand developement is always at least 50% about the internal delivery – taking the client’s family with you in your creative thinking. And, honestly, I like this really. It’s about people. It’s about getting people excited or relieved that you’ve shown them a way forward. But it’s never going to be 100% back-slapping glass clinks, is it.

Given the sheer number of things I have going to press or going live with only one official day left on the schedule, it’s remarkable how cool my clients are with my prolonged absence. Been a long time coming, I guess, and most of them know it. Which is when work becomes a partnership. And all the jollier. After a tough time last year – a fight, I seem to recall it feeling like – this years been easier and I feel lucky to have the business friends around me that I do. Extremely lucky in a number of cases.

So, the glass of red beside me tells me it’s all good, even if I am working tonight again. It’s all good. Indiana was fun lastnight and it was good to see friends a fair bit over the last week, even if Momo’s schedule has frowned on it. The ol’ brain simply needs Away now…

Where more diplomacy is needed, I’ll work it. Simple as that. It’s the job, ma’am.

Or it will be when I come back.

After three weeks away from being creative, I suspect I’ll just be starting to feel a twinge of excitement about it.