Yin, Yang and the Flowerpot-Man

This has nothing to do with either the Love & Rockets song (which I always liked) or the Bitter Pill blog entry I found by accident while Googling. Well in all fairness, it probably does have more to do with latter.

One of the ways for creative folk to earn enough to eat is by going into the advertising/branding world, or becoming a prostitute...which is essentially the same. If they're really good they can try to start a cult, and like all good cults, they have to make it look legit. One of the best ways to do this, is to disguise it as a revolutionary strategy model; something that will promise creatives and business leaders an understanding of their target audience. Where are they? How can we speak to them? In the end, how can we become one with them...and then take their money. It's a cross between marketing nirvana and a safari.

One of these models - or the only one if you're a true believer - is the Yin, Yang and Flowerpot-Man. Models, of course or not accurate representations of the world around us, but rather a simplification to help us understand key features of interest. For example, the key features of runway models in order of significance are: tall, thin and cost a fortune. Whereas in real women, this is almost always reversed.

With this in mind, we have the extreme existence of the world demographic:

Yang; this is the masculine, competitive, world focused on personal gain, accumulation of wealth, instant gratification. Where logic and reason being the only modes of thought and the term of association is "I"

Yin; this is the feminine, nurturing world focused on well-being and social harmony. Emotional maturity is of importance and there is the association with the "we".

Now anyone whose seen two drunken women in a Toronto bar fighting, scratching, and pulling out clumps of hair over why the other bitch was talking to the guy she clearly found will be hard-pressed to associate "feminine" with "yang". Then again it would be hard to associate those women with the notion of "feminine" in the first place!

And lastly we have the Flowerpot-Man. This name makes no sense, but since there is no other name for it, it's as good as any. This is the playful, harmonious existence driven by intuition; where things are done not just for the sake of doing, but for doing the "right" thing. Basically, it's just artfully vague enough to make everyone think that they're sitting in this space, or at least wish they want to. And if reality is perception...

None of these worlds actually are meant to exist in such a form, but facets of each exist in varying degrees in the world today. And if you know the general area where your target is, it much easier to aim and fire!

Of course, if you belong to a different cult, you will know that the world is divided into hot, cold and room-temperature. Or whales, monkey and beetles. Or apples, oranges, kiwis and Gautamalan Insanity Peppers. Or…

It doesn't really matter, in the end. If there is an end.

Wait...No end? No beginning? Hey...I think I see room for a new cult.