SHIFT INSIGHT
If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows.
Henry David Thoreau
Ravens and crows captivate me...
They follow me and sometimes hundreds of birds will gather above me, flying in circles and cawing loudly to get my attention. In the last several years I have recognized that when the ravens caw, this is symbolic communication designed to get my attention and lead me to deep contemplation about things that are occurring in my life.
Facts about ravens
Some people have ominous feelings about ravens because the folklore surrounding them says that they bring ominous messages. But I see past this negative image and continue to feel a special kinship with these beings regardless of their notorious reputation.
By doing a little research into legends and mythology, I found some interesting information. Native American folklore describes ravens as shape-shifters who have been known to possess a natural ability to travel between realms. One legend speaks of Quikinna'qu (the Great Raven) a creator Spirit who brought the world into being. This Great Raven was the first shaman, who was known for having an ability to transform animals and dead things into people?hence, a shape-shifter. There are also tales of ravens in Viking lore in that Odin (a very busy Pagan god whose multifaceted roles included being the god of wisdom, war, battle, death, magic, poetry, prophecy, victory, and the hunt) had two ravens Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) who flew about the world, delivering messages, gathering knowledge and reporting back to him.
Scientific research revealed that ravens mate for life and siblings from previous broods often participate in rearing the young. Ravens are born into a family and many stay with their clan for life. This strong bond means that they learn from each other and work very well in teams.
I believe ravens suffer from bad press. They possess such inspiring traits?loyal to their family, work well in teams, they are clever, creative shape-shifters, as well as representative messengers of thought and memory who gather and deliver knowledge. I greatly admire them and aspire to embody several of these fine traits.
A new way to fly
When I visited the Grand Canyon in August of 2005 hundreds of ravens gathered at the edge of the canyon. This time, however, rather than the familiar curt caw I found so endearing, they cooed sweetly, like babies do, flying above me upside down like they were swimming in the air, doing the backstroke and having a great time. Already mesmerized, I witnessed an amazing aerial dance as two ravens flew toward each other, united in midair by locking beaks, and together the duo performed a glorious spiral dive down along the edge of the canyon. It was beautiful, fantastic and very odd behavior. It felt like they were communicating something significant to me and further illustrating this by their unique way of coming together in this midair dance. I finally got it, the moment of inspiration and understanding and ah-ha, the ravens were modeling a new way to come together and giving me inspiration to take flight and use what I have learned to find a new way to fly.
Serve the work
Underlying my service in publishing has always been a personal mission and desire to be of service for the betterment of all concerned, whether it be to my employer, associates, employees, or the work. Under the confines of the traditional publishing model, my responsibility was to serve my publisher first. While visiting the Grand Canyon, an internal conflict had already arisen because I felt the need to serve the work first and in the manner that was most appropriate for the project. I needed to spread my wings and interact more freely. I knew that I wanted to facilitate the production of content that enhances lives, but was missing the freedom to relate in a fully interdependent, co-creative environment to produce the content.
What if I could serve by empowering people with my hands-on knowledge and with each of us ultimately having the freedom to fly off solo or together into the next project? The term independent publisher would be redefined by my becoming a publisher that is nomadic in nature and offers publishing services while being independent from a single publishing house.
Come together to create in new ways
With inspiration from the dancing ravens beak-locked spiral dive I began to create the format for Shift Insight. Now I travel where I am needed to serve in multiple facets of development, or I have the freedom to assist clients with one single element, all to ensure that content is delivered into the world in a timely, fully formed, appropriate and highly marketable fashion.
INSIGHT UPDATE: February 2010
Since that day at the canyon, Shift Insight has grown from an idea into a unique service provider based solely on word-of-mouth. The Writer's Immersion is the signature service offering of Shift Insight and is unique to the industry, setting it light-years ahead of what is offered through traditional editing services. Since 2006 Ja-lene has completed projects on 16 books using the Immersion process.
In 2009, industry veteran Jo Ann Deck, former Vice President of Ten Speed Press, joined Shift Insight as a collaborative partner, offering her wealth of experience to our client base.
To learn more about our client's experiences click here, or to learn more about inventive ways of coming together to create media visit the media development page and explore the many possibilities.
ALSO VISIT www.gatherinsight.com and take a look at the work that these industry veterans have created.
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