Today I’ve been thinking about a dear friend who is no longer with us. His name is Geoff Hoff and he and I came online around the same time. We became the best of friends, wrote two books together, and had many adventures until his untimely death from a heart attack in 2015. I’m taking care of his cat, Maggie and she is my daily reminder of this special man. Something I was reading had the word “balderdash” in it. That word and “poppycock” were two of Geoff’s favorites.
In fact, Geoff published a bestselling book titled Poppycock!: A Curmudgeon’s Look at the Myths That Keep Writers from Writing. He was a writer, a wordsmith, and a sweet soul who will never be forgotten. Thank you for indulging me here, as talking and writing about him allows me to smile at the memories that come up.
Geoff was and still is the most interesting person I ever met. That’s saying something, as I meet people regularly and have met quite a few characters in my global travels.
But we were much more than business partners. Geoff and I had become close friends, confidants, mastermind partners, and so much more. It’s difficult for me to imagine what life will be like now that he is no longer at the other end of the phone line. He was the kindest, most giving person I ever met, putting his own life on hold to help others in need. And he never said no when asked a favor by someone he knew, even if they had just met.
This past summer I emailed him from Europe to ask if he could pick me up at the airport the following day. He answered quickly that this would not be a problem, and took me to his apartment where I was able to shower, go online to do some things for my business, and make some phone calls before having him drive me to meet a colleague with whom I had agreed to connect with later that evening at a hotel near LAX. Without hesitation, and without asking me any personal questions about what I was doing and with whom, I waved goodbye and made the appointment I so needed to keep.
Geoff began speaking about creativity early on, and I always thought I was the example he was referring to when he spoke of people who did not feel like they had a creative bone in their body. He didn’t leave that thought hanging in the air; instead, he went on to prove to us that we were indeed creative beings. This is a video where he speaks on this topic…
Geoff Hoff on Creativity and Business
How to do you fill the void that has been left by someone who played such an important part of your life? First, of all, you can’t and secondly, we keep people alive in our hearts and minds and souls by speaking of them, writing about them, and thinking of them regularly. I talk about him regularly to Maggie the Cat. I imagine her understanding what I am saying and somehow communicating with him from beyond. This soothes me and I move on.
It was Geoff who encouraged me to keep writing when I complained that my ideas and vocabulary were not to my satisfaction. Then I invited him to write a book with me about time management and we wrote and published Time Management Strategies for Entrepreneurs: How to Manage Your Time to Increase Your Bottom Line within seven days.
We should all be so lucky as to have someone like Geoff to influence our life. What he taught me over the years we knew each other is based on the concept of mental toughness. Life can really throw you a curve ball at any time and it is important to have that mental toughness to deal with any situation.
How you deal with a stressful situation is directly related to your mental toughness. Having this skill is an asset when it comes to all types of situations including: sports, facing an emergency, dealing with a major injury and losing someone close to you. For example, a marathon runner needs mental toughness to overcome the pain of running so many miles. And I needed it to keep me positive and focused when I lost my special friend.
I’m Connie Ragen Green, living each moment as creatively as possible and writing my experiences to share with others. Come along with me, if you will and we will explore the nooks and crannies of a world where everyone lives in the moment and is open to new and interesting circumstances and experiences.
Leave a Reply