Dogfooding

Eating your own dog food. Novel concept. If you don't like the taste of your own shoe leather, don't feed it to somebody else.

At work, the entire company is spending the next six weeks executing 'Project Empathy'. We're using our own software, experiencing the pain our users experience, and hating ourselves every step of the way.

But I don't want to talk about software. For one, after a long day at work, I'm sick of the stuff. Two, nobody can put an audience to sleep faster than computer scientists talking shop.

How does dogfooding apply to real life?

Birthday gifts are a prime example. When you give a gift, it can be difficult to give something that you yourself would like to have. So... and this is entirely anecdotal... most gifts are something the giver either doesn't want or is indifferent to.

The result? You aren't eating your own dogfood.

Be willing to give. Generously. Give as you would have given to you. If you love others as you love yourself, you're doing both yourself and them a favor. You're still eating your own food, but it's good stuff: caviar for the Russians, ice cream for everybody else.

Maybe this seems petty and materialistic. And granted, if you're measuring your friendships by finery, that's just sad.

However, I'd like to propose something to you. Honesty, candor... all that stuff we like to harp on and talk about... I'd maintain that it's rooted in our wallets.

Words are cheap. Actions are more expensive. Gifts are you-did-what-with-your-bank-account???

If you won't back up verbally communicated friendship with a day at the beach, a hike in the woods, or a surprise birthday party, you probably aren't the sort of person who will invest monetarily during hard times and in desperate circumstances.

A corollary can be found in Proverbs 14:20:

The poor is hated even by his neighbor,
         But those who love the rich are many.

In the same vein, you don't go around buying everybody on your Facebook friends list an iPhone 4GS. Friendships are founded with words, developed through actions, and matured through investment. As has been astutely noted by some of you, you don't go from anonymity to intimacy in one fell blow. Don't give your heart, time, and money away without a thought.

Learn what it means to be a friend. Hold nothing back, but be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.

Me personally, if I see one more SSL error, I'm going to scream. If your computer screen spontaneously cracks, now you know why.

Until next time,
- Daniel