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September 24, 2020

Out-of-the-box.

I have finally figured out why I hate the phrase ‘thinking out-of-the-box’ so much and why I have grown weary of people who use it. Allow me to share.

I’ve been a self-employed copywriter for as long as I can remember. What I love about it, besides the writing, is that I get to take full responsibility for both my accomplishments and my mistakes. Aside from the fact that I am called to action by my own desire to better myself, I get a real kick out of stirring up emotions by switching on that very particular part of my brain where things can be made to sound good. ‘Thinking outside of the box’ is as much second nature to people like me as picking up an instrument is to a musician. It’s why chefs sharpen their knives or florists tend to their gardens. It’s how we keep our little ‘box’ safe from other little boxes. We’re like little maniacs chiselling away at our own sense of perfection, making sure we’re fully prepared to catch the incoming flame that could –perhaps- stoke the artistic fire.

So please don’t tell us to think outside of the box. In fact, I would like to officially petition for striking the phrase from corporate vocabulary. If you are not getting high on what you do, you have no idea what it means to think outside of a box. Chances are you might even currently be inhabiting one yourself, in which case you might have something to look into. In the meantime, I’ll be taking care of my own little crib and revelling in every minute of it. Because to people who are truly passionate about something, it’s ALL about the box. And yes, that involves stepping out of it on occasion, but it also means keeping tabs on all of its angles and thinking about new ways of adapting its surroundings to its innermost needs. The biggest challenge for me as a freelance ‘creative’, is making sure the ‘box’ I work so hard at keeping relevant, vibrant, interesting and competitive is not stolen from straight under my feet.

As a (copy)writer, it’s my job to look at things from a different perspective. As a client, you can rest assured that I know how to form a sentence and that I will meet your deadline. What I pride myself on, as a professional, is making sure I create a refreshing context for your product or service to get noticed. I will do whatever it takes to come up with a baseline to strike the mother of all chords, if that is your request. My job is producing an original idea and then using all the right words for it to come to life. Writing is my craft, it’s my box, and I take great pride in keeping it as creative, exiting and alive as possible.

The point I am trying to make is that anyone who gets up in the morning to the sound of that voice urging them to pursue a calling, deserves respect. My biggest admiration goes out to artists who are prepared to venture way beyond all of the existing boxes, into the great unknown, where new realities hover in space and hope to catch a glimpse of some genius’ light. I’m not that brave. I enjoy being somewhere in between, searching for refreshing ways to highlight the familiar so my brain can have fun being flipped upside down. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that I choose my words with great precision. Writing is more than a job, it’s my joy. So please don’t steal my words. Don’t steal anyone’s words for that matter. Some boxes are simply not yours to own and standing in someone else’s light will not make you shine brighter.

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