Digital Insanity Magazine by Bruno Amaral

Saudade

Wed, 13 Dec 2017 11:45:32 +0000

sau·da·de |au| ou |a-u| (latin solitas, -atis, solidão) female noun

grateful memory of someone that is absent, of a past moment, of something or someone that is no longer there or reachable.

Grief, sorrow caused by being deprived of someone or something.

Translated from: https://www.priberam.pt/dlpo/saudade

Ask any portuguese, he will tell you that saudade is something very portuguese and that can’t be described.

Bullshit.

If you let the person keep talking they may go on to talk about the discoveries and women were left behind, missing the men who had gone out to sea.

Maybe, but that’s not the whole story.

They didn’t all go in search of new worlds, some were fishermen.

Exchange a few more words and the person will link it to Fado, how that traditional portugueses genre embodies saudade like it was a rare gem. Not all true.

In Brazil and Cape Verde, and other parts of the world, other genres exist that bring with them that bitter-sweet taste of saudade.

And everyone has their own definition and way of explaining.

I once heard the sentence “Saudade is cleaning up the room of a dead son or daughter”.

Such grief, and dismay, and darkness.

I do agree that saudade exists with a mix of good memories and sort of unpleasant present.

For me, saudade is a cup of coffee once shared with friends and family.

Make your favorite kind of coffee, or tea. Alone. Take your time to make it.

Go sit down wherever you feel like. Relax and let it sink in. With whom do you enjoy having coffee? Who was the last friend you shared a cup with, in a rush or taking it easy?

Was the cup you are holding the same as that time? Does the aroma bring back those good memories?

That is saudade and that is not exclusive to Portugal or any other part of the world.

And I am probably being called an heretic for shattering that barrier that gave the Portuguese something only they own.

To that, I can only say: There is more to life than owning a melancholic feeling guys.

Nani Williams

The art of repairing broken things

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 11:14:10 +0000

The idea of repairs is on my mind lately. For a number of reasons that include my health, my day to day, my goals.

It also includes stuff I have around the house and that I no longer have use for and that have been selling or giving away. Because you see, when you rebuild you should take the opportunity to improve what surrounds you. That sometimes means trimming away what you don’t need and that may be useful to others.

And yes, it may lead to a more frugal life.

The idea that our society does not value repairs is not new. it’s much easier to buy something new than it is to fix that belt that broke, or those shoes that broke at the heel.

The japanese have an amazing form of repairs called Kintsugi.

it doesn’t erase the past, it turns a page and uses it to bring beauty to what was broken.

Kintsugi; the japanese art of fixing broken things embracing it's flawes and making it more beautiful and stronger then it was before.

What it does not say, is that repairing things take time. Glue needs to stick, wounds need to heal, and it takes time and dedication. It takes a world of patience.

But that’s part of the return. To gain or keep something that is full of good memories and hidden smiles.

Daniel Tafjord

There is no such thing as digital strategy

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 14:37:46 +0000

Digital Strategy 101 from Bud Caddell

Budd Caddell has an interesting presentation on Digital Strategy 101 that you can see above.

If you are looking to a way to provide your company or your clients with a solid method for digital communication, then this is surely worth your time.

My only critique is that Budd’s definition of strategy does not fit the common taxonomy of the concepts of strategy and plan. This is something I began by talking about when my research on strategy began.

First, lets please agree on one premise: Strategy is about long term thinking, a Plan is the way you assemble tactics to meet a specific objective in short or medium term.

Budd’s definition starts off with:

A digital strategy is a plan to accomplish something with the benefit of digital tools.

He breaks this down brilliantly and explains a great perspective on how to look at a brand’s digital planning. Right now, I would suggest a definition more on the lines of :

A strategy is a long term thinking, with objectives and associated resources to reach them, and a digital plan is a set of tactics to accomplish objectives with the benefit of digital tools and channels.

At this point I need to take charge of my own shortcoming on proposing a definition of “Communication Strategy”. This concept will have to be applicable to both online and offline communication, otherwise it won’t be any good to me or anyone else. Budd’s slide deck did raise a few questions and showed a few solutions that may be interesting towards that objective.