Jason Landry's Blog, page 8

Thursday’s Thoughts: Are You A Fearless Leader?

“Playing ‘follow the leader’ is a waste of your time. If you work at your craft long enough, and take a few risks, you just might carve your own unique path.

If your bold ideas are sound, you won’t even have to leave crumbs along the way, the well-worn groove in the trail will lead others to you. People are always looking for fearless, new leaders.” ~Jason Landry

Photograph by Samuel Quinn

The post Thursday’s Thoughts: Are You A Fearless Leader? appeared first on Instant Connections.

Cautiously Optimistic

“Cautiously optimistic is one way of looking at life, or the future. The ‘optimistic’ side tells us we’re confident that things will work out as planned, while the ’cautiously’ side tells us to prepare for the unexpected, because things don’t always go as planned.

If what you seek isn’t as lucid as you had hoped it to be, reach back through your mental Rolodex and try and remember what advice your Mother might have given you. She helped to get you this far, right?” ~ Jason Landry

Heidi Kirkpatrick, Mother, 2001 — German/English Vest Pocket Dictionary

The post Cautiously Optimistic appeared first on Instant Connections.

Francois Laxalt via The Huffington Post

Francois Laxalt

Carrying the Message of Peace Through Senbazuru is a short post that I wrote about Parisian photographer Francois Laxalt for The Huffington Post.

I first met Francois in Paris in 2013, and then got a chance to review his portfolio at FotoFest in Houston in 2014.

The images are whimsical and abstract, but the story of Senbazuru is what really fascinated me. Click on the image to read the full story.

The post Francois Laxalt via The Huffington Post appeared first on Instant Connections.

Mooselookmeguntic via The Good Men Project

Stephen Sheffield

Check out my recent story, Mooselookmeguntic via The Good Men Project.  It’s about photographer Stephen Sheffield and focuses on the balance between being a working photographer and father.

The title comes from the name of the lake in Maine where Stephen and his family spend their summers. It’s also the spot where many of his most iconic photographs where created.

The post Mooselookmeguntic via The Good Men Project appeared first on Instant Connections.

As Fluid As Your Thoughts

“Your actions should be as fluid as your thoughts.

If someone does something good for you, don’t just thank them, find ways to reciprocate the gesture.

Building your network is a two way street.

Make sure things are flowing in both directions.”

~Jason Landry

Scott Lerman, Liquid 2

The post As Fluid As Your Thoughts appeared first on Instant Connections.

Today’s Quote: What is Mightier?

“The pen might be mightier than the sword,

but the keyboard never runs out of ink.”

~Jason Landry

Kevin Van Aelst, Elsewhere, 2009

The post Today’s Quote: What is Mightier? appeared first on Instant Connections.

These Are My People

Frank Armstrong, Alpine, AR, 1991

People enter our lives in a variety of ways.

Some people we refer to as family––both blood relatives and those that are like family without the genetic makeup. You might be closer to some than others. This isn’t your fault or theirs––life just happens.

Then there are friends––some stay, and some go. Your taste in friends changes as you grow older and begin to see who you are as a person. Your priorities change and that’s when you realize you want to surround yourself with like-minded individuals who have similar life goals and dreams.

We also have teachers, mentors and advisors. Some of these people are hand-picked and some find us––we have no idea how they arrived on the scene, and frankly, we don’t care. We like them around. Some stick around even after their jobs are done. Some become friends.

And let’s not forget our loves and lovers. We are attracted to them for one thing or another. Remember that the beauty on the outside is just a facade to their inner-most beauty. It’s important to look beyond the shell because one’s inner beauty never changes. Love radiates from the inside out.

We the people. . .

People are people. . .

People are strange . . .

These are my people.

Who are the people in your life who have helped enabled you to do great things? You don’t need to have a large family, or a wide circle of friends to figure this out. It’s not about the number of people in your life that count. Leave numbers for bankers, accountants, and mathematicians to deal with. It’s the quality of those people that matters most. Make sure to thank them once in a while.

The post These Are My People appeared first on Instant Connections.

Life is a Roller Coaster

“There are no perfect life plan formulas. It’s a roller coaster with various exit ramps.”

~Jason Landry, Instant Connections

Harold Feinstein, Screaming on The Cyclone! Coney Island, 1955

 

The post Life is a Roller Coaster appeared first on Instant Connections.

In Memory of Man’s Best Friend

I had a dog for almost as many years as I’ve been married. I don’t know if she ever thought of herself as a dog because we never treated her like one––we always treated her like a child––for 15 1/2 years.

We gave this small, little Lhasa Apso the name Booches, a slight take on the Jay & Silent Bob saying “snoochie boochies”. She almost never barked––kinda like Silent Bob (a non-talker). She didn’t give a shit about the other dogs in the neighborhood. She was cool like that. She eventually earned a few other names: Boocheena, Booches-Booches Galli, Boo Boo, and the list goes on and on. We used to change the lyrics of songs and sing to her. My Sharona became My Boocheena. There were a bunch of those, again, too many to count.

A couple of weeks ago she got to go on her last vacation. She liked it up in Maine. She liked the long car ride, roaming around in the grass, and even walking by the lake. I think she especially liked sleeping on the bed in the boathouse while we all listened to the waves roll against the shore at night.

The house is so quiet now––too quiet. There are no more squeaky alligator toys to pick up, or the pitter-patter of her long nails running around on the hardwood floors. The zebra striped blanket that she used to lay on is gone, so are the dog bowls and random dog food kernels on the floor.

I used to speak to her and tell her, “I love you, do you know what that means?” I think she did, although she would never kiss me back or lick my face––ever! She always ran to her mother––my wife seemed to be the calm to my wake. My wife would tell me that when I was away, she always used to sleep on my side of the bed––that probably was the only way that I knew that she missed me. Every time  I left the house, I would always say, “Be good. I’ll be back soon.” She would look at me probably thinking, “hurry up and leave, so I get my nap on.”

Pet owners will understand this rant more than anyone else. I wasn’t trying to get all sappy and depressing––I actually should have used the hashtag #NSFW (not safe for work) on this story since some people might have a tendency to tear up while reading it. I did before I even finished writing the first sentence.

Anyhow, I feel a little better now. I need to thank my wife for being my rock, the kind folks at the MSPCA Angell for taking care of us yesterday, and for the folks at Regeneration Tattoo in Allston for making sure that I never forget her.

I hope you get to eat an endless supply of cooked chicken wherever you are.

The post In Memory of Man’s Best Friend appeared first on Instant Connections.

Focus on these 3 Powerful Words

Michael Donnor, Connections, 2014 from the series Notes on a Paper Universe

Today I want you to concentrate on these 3 powerful words: Networking, Connections, and Mentors. These are words that you should get use to seeing. They are very important in today’s society where millions of people are trolling the Internet and becoming “social”––as in “social networking”. You’ve heard that term before, right?

People were social before the Internet––I’m certain of this. But the definition of being social had changed quite a bit from interacting in person, to then interacting via a telephone call, to now interacting via email, text massages and social media sites. We attend fewer social gatherings in person. They have been replaced by chat rooms, virtual meetings via Skype and Hangouts on Google+. I actually think our society is less social now even though we are more connected as ever to practically anyone in the entire world.

The three magical words (Networking, Connections, and Mentors) can be applied to your everyday life, regardless of what business you are in. You could be a corporate-type or an artist––it doesn’t really matter. When building your personal brand or climbing up that corporate ladder or even taking the leap to start your own business, it’s much easier if you have a defined and well-rounded network, a group of people who are connected within your industry, and mentors to bounce ideas off of, stroke your ego, and guide you away from a variety of pitfalls. The people defined by these 3 magical words should be people that you have actually met. People that you have shaken hands with or shared a meal. People who can vouch for you as a person, not just someone that is a connection on a social media website. There’s much to be said by this. Real networks, real connections, real people––real, real, real! They truly matter.

I love the social media websites that I visit on a daily basis. I get my news from some of these sites, I get inspired by words and stories people write, and I can catch up with family and friends. But I honestly would be lost if I didn’t have the core group of people that I refer to as my network, connections and mentors that I work with and speak to on a daily basis. They mean that much to me.

Today’s exercise: Think about these 3 sentences and see what you are doing in your life to fulfill them.

What are you doing right now to build and create your real, true network?


How are you creating connections in your industry without the use of social media?


If you wanted to have some mentors in your life, are there people in your network that could connect you to them?

The post Focus on these 3 Powerful Words appeared first on Instant Connections.