‘Bicameral’ is a term that means having two legislative chambers. Psychologist Julian Jaynes applies this to the underlying principle of the left/right brain in his book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. (1976)

Jaynes was a bit out there in that he believed we had two thinking beings residing in one body. While he could be correct – think of it as the left and right brained – many had a difficult time grasping the concept. They viewed it as being too far to be mainstream accepted.

Early hominids had one, reactive mind, where it would only present higher thought process when a problem was faced. The brain only reacted to situations in the here and now, and didn’t really think to the future or how to improve situations. It was all based on gut instincts. There was a shift to where the brain has the ability to function each hemisphere separately at the same time, improving the thought process.

No wonder so many have a hard time keeping it simple.

My favorite Greek philosopher Democritus once said, “I would rather discover one true cause than gain the kingdom of Persia.” In college, I posted that on my apartment bathroom mirror as a reminder to find that one strength, that one cause to give all of my energy to.

As a society, we tend to get so caught up in being better than everyone else that we forget to be humble. We forget to focus on the good, no matter how small it may be. We thrive and want it all, forgetting what is in the present. We forget that it’s not difficult to reach your goals, unless you make it. This thought process furthered the philosophy into being extremely blunt and open, as I’ve found that I lose a lot of respect for those that play mind games. There isn’t a need to make it complicated. Live in the now, tell it like it is and reveal in those that do the same.

It’s difficult to keep it simple with a bicameral mind. Focus and dedication is key, as well as the ability to switch from one situation to the next with ease and little stress. I’ve found that if I need clarification, I ask. If I want you to know something, I tell you. I only call/text those that I want to – time is an investment. It sounds turbo douche to say, but if I feel you’re worth it, I’ll make the effort. Life doesn’t need to be complicated. You only live once – and if Mike dying at 17 taught me anything, you never know how long it will be.

Don’t question. Go for it. How do you keep it simple?

Update: Through the encouragement of Samantha Ogborn and Beth Harte, I have made a list of what I’m looking for, etc in my job search. You can find it here.

As much as joking can help me cope with life situations (and we won’t delve into personal, only professional), I really don’t want to be a plumber. Even if Mario and Luigi made it cool, or I believe acid-wash overalls can make a serious comeback.

Yep, your conclusion is correct. I’m unemployed. This month has been the most up and down, crazy ride I’ve ever been on.

A month of self discovery. A month of realizing who my true friends are, who would be there and who only cared about what I could do for them. A month of mental exhaustion, of beating my brain/myself up and thinking that I wasn’t good enough. Of hearing through the grapevine of what was being said behind my back and the false conclusions that were drawn.

A month of consistently calling/IMing David Spinks, Jeremy Pepper, Elysa Rice, Scott Bishop, Sam Ogborn, Katie Morse, Beth Harte, Alex Tan, Stuart Foster and countless others, seeking advice and just needing a pep talk. My friends and my amazing family have been there through it all. I’ve had good days, I’ve had bad.

Do you know what else this month has been? A month of reaching out behind the scenes and coming away with some really solid leads. I learned not only about myself, but about who I was. I really pinpointed what I was good at, and why I got into public relations in the first place. The mesh of traditional and digital PR fascinates me more and more everyday.

I’ve gone out on limbs and tried more these past two years of my career than I ever thought was possible. I have so many people to thank for the opportunities that have come my way. However? I’m not sure if I liked some of the facets of my professional personality. The hard working, detail-oriented, giving it my all person is still there – but I’ve also improved on areas in my life that needed a serious facelift.

Maybe that’s what this point in my life is for. I can’t tell you where I’ll actually end up being. I’m so grateful for the mentors, for the numerous career opportunities, for the amazing people in my life. The me you see on Twitter, or my blog, or even through IM conversations is only a small fraction of who I am, both personally and professionally. This journey isn’t easy. No one will ever tell you that it is.

I told Jason Keith that I was writing down every feeling, thought or experience that happened to me during it. I don’t want to profit off it, and I don’t want to bring attention to myself. What do I want to do? To show people that you aren’t alone. This can happen to anyone. We aren’t invincible – but it’s those that still rally around you at the end of the day that make this worth it.

So what do I hope to accomplish with this post? I’m just putting it all out there. I don’t want a post that screams “Hire Me!” or lists off accomplishments. I don’t want to beat your head with it. If you hear of anything, let me know. That’s all I ask. You can see my experience here.

This is where I am now. This uncertainty scares the hell out of me. But, for once? I’m ok with it. Cheers to the next chapter….. whatever that may be.

Did you know that September is the national Childhood Cancer Awareness Month? Did you know that in the United States in 2007, approximately 10,400 children under age 15 were diagnosed with cancer and about 1,545 children will die from the disease? This makes cancer the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children that are 15 and under.

Think back to when you were 15. What were you like? What were your friends like? Because for me, I remember that sweet boy that teased me in our lifeguarding class, and the one who helped me with my chemistry homework. The one that taught me how to play kickball in 2nd grade, and who was never mean to anyone. The one that would walk with me to our English class sophomore year, until one day he forgot – until I saw that he had fallen asleep in his class right before. I woke him up, annoyed. To this day, I hate myself for that – because that was the start. The start of the brain tumor that would take his life right after he turned 17. The tumor that no surgery, or prayers, or support from his amazing friends and family could get rid of. That as his favorite saying “I love you more” floated through the hallway couldn’t save. That I cried and had to see my friend buried in his cap and gown – with his last wish being that he graduated high school.

I write this because I’m starting to forget. Not his kindness, or the way he alwas had so much energy and love for everyone he was around. I’m starting to forget little things, like when he ran for class president and our teacher would only wear his button. See, she knew he was special too. Or that time he let me borrow his soccer shirt for some hokey swim team thing I had to do. His birthday was yesterday – he would have been 25.  We were always the youngest in our class. But to me, he will always be frozen at 17. The memories are fading. And as October approaches, I feel that sense of dread I’ve felt every year since 2002.

There are many organizations that work toward this cause – and sometimes, even just volunteering at the hospital for a day can really brighten that child’s day – and even their parents. So, if you can, just once…..

1. Find a local or national organization and volunteer for a few hours one Saturday (Great example of one in Dallas is the Princess Alexa Foundation)
2. Find a local hospital and see if they have a play act program (people, like candy stripers, go around and sing/act/cheer up the kids)
3. Donate your hair to Locks of Love
4. Make cards for a local hospital and see if they would be interested in giving them out to the kids
5. Run in a race for cancer reasearch, like both my friends Carla Blumenthal and Laura Scholz did/are doing (or just donate to them)
6. Spread the word about this month and encourage others

What can you do to help today?

I debated about writing this, because frankly, my blog is focused on PR and social media. But really, it’s my blog, and I do what I want. (Anyone think of Cartman from Southpark with that sentence?) I promise to relate it to PR at the end, but like my friend Sydney Owen, time to get unfiltered.

I’ve been feeling out of sort the past couple of days, and I can pinpoint it to Sunday. I received a call around 2 p.m. EST while still in Boston that my friend (who I consider a brother) had been hit by a car head on while crossing the street. He is living in Spain for a year, and the next 24 hours were up and down. He’ll make it, he won’t, the next 24 hours are critical…. not the best way to travel.

I’ve changed a lot in the past 6 years – appearance wise, personality wise. When I tell people I was really shy, they can’t believe it. Swimming was pretty much my life. I didn’t really care too much about my appearance (and its why I don’t wear much makeup, even today.) I went to college in a different place and transformed – largely in part to the sorority I was in, known as the pretty blonde southern belle party girls (Go figure, I didn’t really fit the looks M.O.). I go back home and people don’t recognize me. I am who I am.

Losing someone close to you that isn’t family can sometimes be just as hard. For me, he is my big brother – the one who protected me when kids at high school who teased the shy, insecure girl put notes on my back, pulled terrible pranks and just acted on general meanness. He was the one who told me to never let them see me cry, and its part of why I have a really hard time crying now. I never told anyone about that except him and one other person (who was coincidentally around me on Sunday.) Those people who made fun of me? Some of them have changed too. Many are actually good friends.

This isn’t supposed to be a woe is me tale. I had a great group of friends that never knew what was going on. My parents didn’t even know – but I guess my dad does now, since he subscribes to my blog.

When I say things have changed, boy have they. You just have to be my friend to know that. I make friends easily, I do a lot of stuff. It’s also a big reason why I’m always constantly trying to be better – because there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

So, how does this relate to PR? You need those people in your corner. The ones that can support you, the ones that are always there for you – no matter what. You don’t need people who won’t listen to you. My co-worker Chad yesterday told me “Lauren, we are a team. We are here to help each other, no matter what.” How awesome is that? I have the worst time opening up to people – pretty private in general, this blog post withstanding – but you have to have that mentality. I have the worst time letting people in, but I’m trying to change that.

Told you I would relate it back to PR. My friend? He’s hanging in there. He’s stable, and things are going back and forth. For all of you that have been there , I know I’ve told you all individually- but thank you again. I’ve learned that having people in your corner, instead of pushing them away, is the best philosophy.

I opened up an idea to my community a few weeks ago: a panel of professionals that could answer submitted questions about PR and Social Media. I asked #prbc to be the first group and asked them four questions. Since they are a chatty bunch with great insight, I will be posting one question at a time. Read through their answers (although I edited for length, not content – Sorry!) leave your thoughts in the comments or what your answer is, and let’s start a great discussion.

QUESTION: What effect do you think Social Media has had on the public relations industry?

Keith Trivitt: Social media has allowed the PR industry to learn new ways to circumvent the traditional gatekeepers of the news industry – an industry that is quickly diminishing, both in terms of influence and overall scope. We are now able to demonstrate to the key stakeholders within our own organizations or in our clients’ business that there are very effective ways to reach your key audiences and influencers by creating and promoting your own content.

Danielle Cyr: Social media has dramatically changed the PR industry. To its credit, SM has increased communication amongst peers, opened up new channels for accessing information and identifying sources, and taught PR pros to be increasingly succinct. It has improved the ability for PR pros to build relationships with both their peers and the media because of its real time capabilities.

TJ Dietderich: Y’all know how I feel about social media. We’re all broadcasters now; SM has turned what used to be called PR into customer relations. Imagine that, having to actually relate to your customers! Is traditional media still important? Of course, as long as our customers need it. But what social media has done is put the responsibility of actually doing the right thing for the people who need your product on us, not the media. We have no excuses anymore. If our message isn’t getting to the right people, we have only ourselves to blame, because they’re out there.

Marie V-B: I’ll take a little bit of a different twist on this question. I think social media has had a tremendous impact on how public relations pros operate. In the olden days it was okay to make mistakes; we could get away with sending out poor pitches, pitching the wrong person, etc. Now, there is no room for error. Journalists, producers and bloggers have multiple platforms to broadcast the mishaps of publicists. I think social media has improved the art of public relations. It makes us think and triple think about every action we take. That’s a good thing, in my opinion.

Christina Khoury: I’d have to agree with Marie here, there is definitely less if no room for error. So yes we’ve learned to not only think and triple think our actions, but personally I’m learning because of these errors by media professionals. I’ve definitely learned a heck of a lot more on “what not to do” and enjoy reading the “how to” posts that usually stem from an frustrated media colleague.

CT Michaels: Social Media has connected people that normally wouldn’t be connected. I honestly think it has helped make people a “real person.” I have been able to interact directly with CEOs of companies, and celebrities – which is great! I think it is still in the works though, meaning the PR Industry has not fully gotten the grasp of the concept and by the time they do, it will be to late. If I signed e-mails @ctmichaels, people would be like, Whoa!

Kate Ottavio: I’d have to say we are fortunate to have SM in today’s PR world. The field of communications will be forever-changing. My professors in college who had worked at agencies would joke with us about how they sent press releases via snail mail back in “their day.” What a neat situation we are in to have the challenge of figuring out how best to capitalize on SM for ourselves and our clients . . . keeping ideas and forms of communication fresh and consistently expanding.

Jess Greco: I just started writing my response and realized that Keith said it pretty perfectly. Social Media has allowed us to help brands connect directly with their consumers without going through all of the traditional channels. While this concept has definitely been used and abused, the brands that are doing it right are seeing ENORMOUS benefits in terms of communications, brand loyalty, and brand recognition.  Beyond clients, I think social media has dramatically enhanced our research skills and has really provided the opportunity for PR people of all backgrounds to collaborate, come together, and attempt to understand where our industry is going.

PR Cog: I’ll take a different tack with this one — Social Media has given any level of PR Pro the ability to really brand themselves. No longer is the ability to demonstrate your skills limited to those high on the totem pole or those running million dollar campaigns. Are you a 3rd year employee that ran a successful campaign on a shoestring? Provided you can get employer approval, a case study (or white paper or blog series) discussing the strategy (bragging) is only a few keystrokes away. Spreading the word on that, if done right, is even easier. Calls from executive recruiters….

Ok, community. What do you think? What are your thoughts?