- Shift my filter from creating a life from a filter of responsibility TO creating a life from the filter of my desire and passion AND THEN figure out the how and the where.
- Discover "my juice" and it is NOT called survival.
- Write my great story from my authentic self (I have X in my life and it has been a great gift to me)...not my small story (I work at X) or my overcoming story (I overcame some significant tragedy in my life).
- Develop a capacity to CHOOSE help from others versus needing or feeling obligated to ask for help.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
I Have Work To Do
I came across some old notes from coaching sessions that I had with an amazing individual about 3 years ago. Reading through those notes, I am struck by how relevant the insights from those coaching sessions are today.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Doing "right"
There is a lot of noise in our national system about "what has gone wrong":
--with the economy...pick your story
--with public institutions - wire-taps without warrants, secret operations that Congress has little/no knowledge of, etc.
--with formal religious groups - Catholic church child abuse scandal, etc.
--with major American companies - GM, Chrysler, AIG...pick your company
And not enough about what continues to go right. I stumbled across one such institution that is doing "right" every day...the deCordova Museum, Sculpture Park and School in Lincoln Massachusetts.
The Sculpture Park encompasses 35 acres of beautiful rolling woodlands and lawns, is the largest park of its kind in New England, and is open to the public every day of the year from dawn 'til dusk. It contains up to 75 artworks at any given time. The school is the largest non-degree studio art program in Massachusetts and offers programs in painting, photography, drawing, calligraphy and book arts, ceramics, design, fiber and decorative arts, jewelry and silversmithing, printmaking, and sculpture.
What is amazing out this institution is the story behind this jewel in Lincoln, Massachusetts. The museum, park and school are located on the former estate of Julian deCordova (1851-1945). Self educated and a son of a Jamaican merchant, he built an successful business empire. He was passionate about travel and art and collected "everything that took [his] fancy in every country of the world." In particular, he collect visual art objects because he believed visual arts served as a "medium" for self-improvement and enlightenment. As his collection grew, he began to envision a place where art would continue to educate and excite others beyond his lifetime. To realize that dream, he gave his summer estate to the town of Lincoln in 1930 with the stipulation that his estate would become a public museum of art following his death.
What touches me most about his story...in his success and wealth, he gave back...he realized and then shared his passion through this gorgeous oasis of visual art (see my facebook page photos) and provided access to everyone for all time. This is capitalism and entrepreneurism (is that a word?) done right!
Yesterday I felt like I had the opportunity to "touch" his passion through my eyes, my ears, my fingers, and my feet...how cool is that! I will be back!
--with the economy...pick your story
--with public institutions - wire-taps without warrants, secret operations that Congress has little/no knowledge of, etc.
--with formal religious groups - Catholic church child abuse scandal, etc.
--with major American companies - GM, Chrysler, AIG...pick your company
And not enough about what continues to go right. I stumbled across one such institution that is doing "right" every day...the deCordova Museum, Sculpture Park and School in Lincoln Massachusetts.
The Sculpture Park encompasses 35 acres of beautiful rolling woodlands and lawns, is the largest park of its kind in New England, and is open to the public every day of the year from dawn 'til dusk. It contains up to 75 artworks at any given time. The school is the largest non-degree studio art program in Massachusetts and offers programs in painting, photography, drawing, calligraphy and book arts, ceramics, design, fiber and decorative arts, jewelry and silversmithing, printmaking, and sculpture.
What is amazing out this institution is the story behind this jewel in Lincoln, Massachusetts. The museum, park and school are located on the former estate of Julian deCordova (1851-1945). Self educated and a son of a Jamaican merchant, he built an successful business empire. He was passionate about travel and art and collected "everything that took [his] fancy in every country of the world." In particular, he collect visual art objects because he believed visual arts served as a "medium" for self-improvement and enlightenment. As his collection grew, he began to envision a place where art would continue to educate and excite others beyond his lifetime. To realize that dream, he gave his summer estate to the town of Lincoln in 1930 with the stipulation that his estate would become a public museum of art following his death.
What touches me most about his story...in his success and wealth, he gave back...he realized and then shared his passion through this gorgeous oasis of visual art (see my facebook page photos) and provided access to everyone for all time. This is capitalism and entrepreneurism (is that a word?) done right!
Yesterday I felt like I had the opportunity to "touch" his passion through my eyes, my ears, my fingers, and my feet...how cool is that! I will be back!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
RSS Feeds
I have a small...no maybe medium pet peeve. I am regularly reading other blogger's posts and if they offer an option to follow them and I am interested, I am raring to sign up. The pet peeve....many bloggers bury the RSS feed button on their site! It reminds me of trying to program my DVD player! My simple suggestion....make the button large and visible and put the button at the top of your website! Your readers will be thrilled!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
1st week of July
First full week of July...hard to imagine that 6 months of 2009 are gone. I am sitting at my desk as I write this. It is a glorious morning in New England - the sun is shining, cool breezes are wafting from the Charles River to my open window, and my husband and I are engaging in our favorite Sunday morning routine of coffee and the New York Times. I am struck by this moment's opportunity to enjoy with no agenda, no to-do list, and only muted worries.
Nameste
Nameste
Saturday, July 4, 2009
He's gone
A special man passed away last night after a long battle with cancer...a husband, a dad to two great kids and the beloved master of Riley, a son, a musician, and a work colleague were only a few of the important roles he played for over 50 years. It is hard to imagine that he is gone...really gone. He was such a large presence.....at work, at church, with friends and most of all with his wife and kids. He was a man of integrity, commitment, curiosity, and with a heart of music. It sounds trite to say "he will be missed" but HE WILL BE MISSED! ...he was too young, still had much to contribute, many more songs to play and....
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
It's May
I cannot believe it is already May....the middle of May to be exact. I have had the luxury of reconnecting with dear friends over the last week.....I know some amazing women...smart, insightful, discerning, accomplished...and I am thankful to have each of them in my life. I also am thankful that they tolerate my enneagram "5"ness and draw me out to my better and sometimes best self!
It is interesting that our relationship is moving to a new place...it has less "herman miller" and more "us"...I like that!
Now I just need to figure out/discern my next move...enough of the unwind and recoup...I have new energy that I want to expend on what matters to me!
It is interesting that our relationship is moving to a new place...it has less "herman miller" and more "us"...I like that!
Now I just need to figure out/discern my next move...enough of the unwind and recoup...I have new energy that I want to expend on what matters to me!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Start again
I finally rediscovered this blog and as I read the entry from January I am struck by how much has happened.
I am unemployed now....my last day at my former employer was March 20, 2009. Even though the exit was my choosing, the last couple of weeks of employment were really painful...not because I regretted my decision to leave; rather because the process of letting go of this 31 year connection with all the memories, friendships, learned lessons (both good and bad), triumphs and failures, etc. was incredibly wrenching...so much more than I imagined it would be. Even now as I write about the process of letting go, I am flooded with tears. I don't think it is understated to say that this was a "death" of one of the most significant, impactful relationships I have had in my 50+ years.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop in Pennsylvania titled "Breakthrough Intensive". In addition to meeting some amazing people, the biggest takeaway for me was their model of Breakthrough....a self-renewing, cyclical model of moving from "high performance and ordinary" to "the unthinkable" to "high performance and breakthrough", which then becomes "high performance and ordinary" to "the unthinkable", to......you get the idea. What I realized is that I have chosen and moved from "high performance and ordinary" to "the unthinkable" - I left my employer of 31 years, a good paying job, and I am 15 years away from being officially eligible for social security. And what became glaringly obvious to me after the first revelation is that I need another "unthinkable" in this "unthinkable" space in order to move to "high performance and breakthrough" (and meaning and purpose as I define it).
And that is where the rubber is meeting the road (so to speak)....I am trying to find "it" but there is no road map (only a sketchy plan of first steps) and I am treading water with no obvious foothold.
And I hate being here!
I am unemployed now....my last day at my former employer was March 20, 2009. Even though the exit was my choosing, the last couple of weeks of employment were really painful...not because I regretted my decision to leave; rather because the process of letting go of this 31 year connection with all the memories, friendships, learned lessons (both good and bad), triumphs and failures, etc. was incredibly wrenching...so much more than I imagined it would be. Even now as I write about the process of letting go, I am flooded with tears. I don't think it is understated to say that this was a "death" of one of the most significant, impactful relationships I have had in my 50+ years.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop in Pennsylvania titled "Breakthrough Intensive". In addition to meeting some amazing people, the biggest takeaway for me was their model of Breakthrough....a self-renewing, cyclical model of moving from "high performance and ordinary" to "the unthinkable" to "high performance and breakthrough", which then becomes "high performance and ordinary" to "the unthinkable", to......you get the idea. What I realized is that I have chosen and moved from "high performance and ordinary" to "the unthinkable" - I left my employer of 31 years, a good paying job, and I am 15 years away from being officially eligible for social security. And what became glaringly obvious to me after the first revelation is that I need another "unthinkable" in this "unthinkable" space in order to move to "high performance and breakthrough" (and meaning and purpose as I define it).
And that is where the rubber is meeting the road (so to speak)....I am trying to find "it" but there is no road map (only a sketchy plan of first steps) and I am treading water with no obvious foothold.
And I hate being here!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
It's the new year and I will soon be unemployed. Not sure what to make of the "unemployed" status.
I have been working since I was 18 and most of the working has been fulltime (40+ hours). I have cleaned houses, worked in retail, waited on tables, been a bank teller, drove a hilo, worked as an administrative assistant, ran a mill machine in a production shop, administered a suggestion program, hired lots of people, fired a few, developed and built processes to enforce policies, built and delivered training, co-led the conversion of paper process to technology - Performance Planning & Review, Compensation, Development Planning, Talent Tracking, to name a few, expanded organizational efforts in Talent Management, mentored young women and led fairly large teams. As I look back at the work, it doesn't seem significant....just work.
I want meaningful work....work that matters to me (boy do I sound like a GenXer, which I am not)...work that provides maximum learning, stretch, significance as I define it, reflection, and big picture...and I am scared that I have traded this dream for income and security all of these years; that my window has closed and I am left with the ordinary.
This blog is intended log my journey - both body + soul - on this "unemployment" and reinvention pathway. I am not sure what is in store for me for 2009 but I want to risk it....all of it.
I have been working since I was 18 and most of the working has been fulltime (40+ hours). I have cleaned houses, worked in retail, waited on tables, been a bank teller, drove a hilo, worked as an administrative assistant, ran a mill machine in a production shop, administered a suggestion program, hired lots of people, fired a few, developed and built processes to enforce policies, built and delivered training, co-led the conversion of paper process to technology - Performance Planning & Review, Compensation, Development Planning, Talent Tracking, to name a few, expanded organizational efforts in Talent Management, mentored young women and led fairly large teams. As I look back at the work, it doesn't seem significant....just work.
I want meaningful work....work that matters to me (boy do I sound like a GenXer, which I am not)...work that provides maximum learning, stretch, significance as I define it, reflection, and big picture...and I am scared that I have traded this dream for income and security all of these years; that my window has closed and I am left with the ordinary.
This blog is intended log my journey - both body + soul - on this "unemployment" and reinvention pathway. I am not sure what is in store for me for 2009 but I want to risk it....all of it.
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