Tweet

Authenticity Draws Attention Wings Story

Written by: Elizabeth Mullen

Article Overview: When my dog Wing acts on his authentic nature, he almost always draws extra attention-- and it is not always applause. It may be that this is not so different from what we humans experience when we are so bold as to act in accordance with our nature.... you decide...

Authenticity Draws Attention Wings Story

When my dog Wing acts on his authentic nature, he almost always draws extra attention-- and it is not always applause. It may be that this is not so different from what we humans experience when we are so bold as to act in accordance with our nature.... you decide...

Yesterday Wing and I were walking at a park. He was leashed due to concerns about his sprained shoulder and to hinder his natural tendency to "run off" his injuries. Wing is a 10 year old reddish golden retriever who loves any outdoor excursion, no matter the constraint.

As we headed around the small hill, a man at the top jumped out of his van and started yelling. "Squeegie! Come here dammit... Squeegie!" An old brown and black short-haired dog headed down the hill toward us. Wing stood at the end of his rope wagging his tail, and Squeegie approached, despite his master's angry fits up the hill. I paid special attention, lest Squeegie was a mutt of lethal character, but the dog's meeting was uneventful. They sniffed butts and walked away.

Not two minutes later, Wing got his leash tangled in bull briars, as he tried to emerge with a dead rabbit in his mouth. I unleashed him, and he finally emerged victorious with a beheaded rabbit carcass in his mouth... he is a retriever! I kept him off the leash, as carrying a "kill" always slowed down his walk to a proud saunter. The rabbit dangled from its high-held position.

Wing's "catch" did not go unnoticed by Squeegie's master who gruffly yelled down the hill, "Hon! I'll get that rabbit away from your dog!" "No thanks!" I replied cheerfully. He countered incredulously, "but... but he'll carry that thing around!"

"He usually does."

"Thank you anyway!" I called up the hill, but the man was shaking his head and turning back to his van. He yelled at Squeegie a few more times before they all got into the vehicle and drove away. I wondered if they had had a good time.

By the time we rounded the northern shore, Wing was doing his usual and looking for a place to bury the rabbit. He's grown quite good at digging holes, positioning the "deceased", and covering over the hole with all kinds of materials. A proper burial, it seemed, meticulous.

A middle-aged woman coming toward me said, "eeewww!" and grimaced. Did I see what my dog had? she inquired. "He's all animal," I replied with a smile. She tilted her head, then smiled abruptly and stopped to talk to me. Then she took "Jigs" off his leash. Wing kept looking for a burial site. I had to keep going.

Within 100 yards of our car, I asked Wing to please find a place for the bunny, as I did not want it in the car. Wing lowered his head, lightly sniffing along the periphery of the bushes.

In a few moment we found a tuft of grass, protected by a tree and sheltered by some brambles. Wing dropped the headless carcass, paused, then circled round it and headed back with me toward the car. He got into the back seat at my request, and rode home with his head out the window...

Just another doggie day for a natural character.

What does your nature dictate today?

Related Articles
  "Learn to Let Go"
  Being authentic: How can you be who you really are?
  Self Promotion Small Business Marketing and Your Core Values
  Authenticity
  Butterflies and Thinking

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: Attention Age Doctrine - Hi Andy, So how did you find of "The Attention Age Doctrine" Part 1? And has following its guidelines yielded any positive results yet?
Advertisement that sales - Plan your marketing programme. It should include commitment to capital resources. If you run a small business, you aren't likely to have a generous enough advertising budget that will allow you to run costly branding or campaign ads. Every advertisement you run must convey to your prospect a solid offer and attractive reasons to act quickly, and result in increased sales and an enhanced image of your company. Good advertising always pays its own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs and shortened selling cycles. A useful formula that will help you increase the effectiveness of your advertising efforts is A-I-D-A, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. When creating an advertisement, always remind yourself that it should: (1) capture your prospects' Attention, (2) arouse their Interest in your offer, (3) create their Desire for your product or service, and (4) provide a powerful spur to Action, that is, turn your prospect into buyers. Remember, bad advertising is an unproductive expense, and good advertising is an investment in future profits!
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - One thing about characters is that you can make them do things that real people can't do (such as fly). Depending on what you are selling, that can make it seem like if you use/buy their product, you'll have super powers. I know that sounds goofy, but flying is something we all wish we could do at one point in our life and the thought of it brings out the child in us, which makes us WANT. Also, kids are more apt to watch the commercial and say, "Hey, Mom, look at that......!) Attention getting, which is always good.
Favorite Christmas Movie - Hands down- for me it's the original (black & white) version of "Miricle on 34th Street" and I have seen the colorized version, but still prefer to watch the B & W version. Coming in second is "A Christmas Story" which is set in the 1940's where the little boy wants nothing more than a BB gun for Christmas. And last, I would say it's a wonderful Life (with Jimmy Stewart).
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - [quote="mbrand2222":3jr8ndgd]One thing about characters is that you can make them do things that real people can't do (such as fly). Depending on what you are selling, that can make it seem like if you use/buy their product, you'll have super powers. I know that sounds goofy, but flying is something we all wish we could do at one point in our life and the thought of it brings out the child in us, which makes us WANT. Also, kids are more apt to watch the commercial and say, "Hey, Mom, look at that......!) Attention getting, which is always good.[/quote:3jr8ndgd] Hi Mary, I don't think it's goofy at all. Isn't this business is all about making wishes come true? That's what a good sales page do, so why not a flying character?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Life is a Balancing Act!

Emotional Energy is Our Engine

Are You Listening?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.