It’s snowing again! I thought this will all STOP after last week’s biggest snow storm of this year. It is after all March: birds should be chipping; flowers should be blooming, because spring should be coming!
I loved the snow when I was little. I think they are fluffy, pure and dreamy. Since Taiwan does not snow. So I got those impressions from storybooks and movies. Imagine my excitement when I know I am moving to Toronto, a city that actually snows every winter!
However, my fluffy and dreamy version of the snow started to shutter when all the shovelling started.
When I had to shovel almost 25 cm of snow in February, I told myself it is part of the North American ritual. You don’t become a true Canadian if you don’t shovel in the winter. Besides, I got to do it with my sister and brother, who are both in high school and barely have time to talk to me. Therefore, all those shovelling was also a great sibling bonding activity. We worked as a team: observed how our neighbour shovelled and divided up the driveway so we don’t mess up each other’s designated areas. Beside the pain and cold I got the second day, it was a good memory.
Nevertheless, it snowed again. Biggest of the year, and my sister and brother are away on their March break. So I end up shovelling about 30-40 cm of snow for two days, all by MYSELF. And it is official: I do not like SNOW anymore.
Yet, I did still learn something from that painful experience:
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The importance of mentor and their experience: my neighbours saved me with their shovelling tips
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The importance of team work: I miss you sister and brother L. With their help, we would have cleared the driveway in no time.
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The importance of handy tools: our snow blower does not like me. It wouldn’t start, so I had to shovel manually, which takes five times longer.
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And most important of all: Do not believe everything the storybooks and movies tell you!
When I come to think of it, shovelling is actually a lot like PR. Our industry is ever-changing, there are simply too much to learn. We rely on our teachers, classmates and colleagues to update us on the latest trends and share with us their valuable experience.
We also rely on our team. Because each individual comes to the table with different strength, we cover each other’s back and together we can offer a strategy that’s diverse and well thought-out.
And then there are the tools. The Caps and Spelling and the CP Style Guide all come in handy when I wrote. It puts everyone on the same page with the same set of guidelines (although I still have a lot to learn when it comes to writing).
How about you? Do you have some PR tools that have been really helpful to you that you would like to share? Please share and comment. You can also give me some shovelling advice J
