Take A Walk With Nick

Hi, folks. How you doing? My name's Nick the poet. Thank you so much for taking a walk with me today. Maybe you're outside taking a walk. Maybe you're just hanging out regardless. So excited that you're here with me today. And I hope you take something from this that you can then bring into the rest of your week. Maybe you could bring it into your day. Maybe you can bring it into the moment that you're in right now. So I was doing some writing this morning, and I'm like, what am I going to talk about on the live stream today?

And for some reason, Walt Whitman came to me. I'm a poet. I also work as a creative strategist at a marketing agency. And I like to share different career advice in my take a walk weekly live series. And I was kind of combining those two worlds today. What would Walt Whitman say about career? What would he say about your career? And then, in one of these great winks or knobs from the universe, a synchronicity. That is so cool. I really like it when these happen. I go into this automotive store, and sure enough, there's a.

For some reason, in this automotive store, there's a copy of a Walt Whitman poetry book in there right after I'd been thinking about this. And to me, that's the universe to say, hey, Nick, you know, you're on the right track here, so hopefully you get something out of this today. So you might be wondering, and just for the record here, I have used AI to help me with this live stream presentation. So, just putting that out there, I think it's a good ethical statement for all of us working with AI these days.

But so you might be wondering, what can a 19th century poet possibly teach us about navigating modern careers? But as we're going to explore today, Walt Whitman's words are timeless, and his insights can be surprisingly relevant to the challenges we face in our professional lives. So grab a cup of coffee or start taking a walk, and let's get started. So many of you might know that Walt Whitman was the author of Leaves of Grass. This was a revolutionary collection of poetry that celebrates individuality, nature, and the human spirit.

It's quite a read. Don't feel like you need to read the whole thing. You could pick it up anywhere and get some real gems. But Whitman, he was an interesting guy. He wasn't just a poet. He was also a printer, a journalist, a teacher, and even a nurse during the civil war. I forgot that I've got some visual representation here today. Yes, this is Walt Whitman himself. This is Walt Whitman. So he lived a life filled with varied careers, and through his writing, he offers us some profound lessons about finding meaning and purpose in our work.

For anyone just joining, we're talking about how Walt Whitman can help impact your career. So here is the first piece of career advice that we could learn from Whitman. Thank you. Speak wonder. Thank you. We're talking about Walt Whitman, who you have most assuredly heard of. So let's kick things off with some of this career advice. So, do what you love and make your work your own. So work in the fields that you really, really feel like you have are inspired by. So, in song of myself, Whitman writes, I celebrate myself and sing myself.

This line isn't just about self expression. It's a call to embrace what makes you unique and to infuse your work with your own passion and creativity, no matter what you're doing, even if it's a job that you don't like right now, see if you can bring that. Bring yourself into the job and see how it might transform that job for you. Okay? So, once again, going back to another visual representation here. Here's Whitman. Just kind of a nice thing. His main book, as we said earlier, was called leaves of grass.

Speaking of taking walks, I'm sure Whitman took many a walk. So, yes, his message is really simple. Don't just go through the motions, right? Find what you're passionate about and make it central part of your work. And remember, like I was talking about last week, with your job with a capital j, just because your job maybe isn't something, maybe you love your job, maybe you dislike your job. Who knows? But whatever it is, remember that your purpose goes beyond your job, and you can bring your job with a capital j.

As John Kabat Zinn, who wrote, wherever you go, there you are. Another highly recommended book. You can bring that into whatever work that you're doing. So when you love what you do, it stops feeling like a job and becomes a reflection of who you are. So this is another visual representation. So, this is a reflection of who Whitman is. And so I created these with Dolly, which is an AI image service text to video. Dolly. It's named after the famous artist Salvador Dali, but the AI version is called D a l l e, I believe.

Or is it? Yeah, D a l l e. So, anyways, let me continue here. So, Whitman advises us also to be open, to change, and to embrace the unknown. He writes, I am large. I contain multitudes. This speaks to the idea that we are all capable of so much more than we might think. Our careers, like our lives, are not fixed. They're ever evolving. So going back to that job, your career, if, whether you love it or dislike it, whatever it is, just see. Remember that you're so much more than that job, and try to bring your full self to it and see how it may transform.

So Whitman encourages us to be adaptable, to welcome new opportunities, and to constantly reinvent ourselves. So don't be afraid to take risks, switch paths, or explore new interests. Your career doesn't have to be linear. It can be as varied and dynamic as you are. Okay? Finally, Whitman teaches us the importance of finding connection and purpose in your work. In leaves of grass, he writes, I am the poet of the body. And I am the poet of the soul. Whitman saw his work as a way to connect with others and with the world around him.

And work is definitely a place that we can do that in our careers. It's important to find that sense of connection and purpose, whether it's through helping others, contributing to a larger cause, or simply finding joy in the everyday tasks. Let your work be something that not only sustains you, but also enriches your life and the lives of others. So, to sum it up, really, walt Whitman's career advice might just be what we need in today's fast paced, ever changing world. Yes, this 19th century poet may know something about how we should be living today, or at least provide some real nuggets of wisdom.

If you haven't been listening since the beginning, check out his book.