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6 months, 182 days, 4,380 hours ago…
So the Hamlet analogy can only go so far since the ending is not something to aspire to, but the point of hesitancy is something very real to consider. How do other people make bold moves with so little certainty of the outcome? And what is it about the potential of success or failure that I'm afraid of?
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I know my calling: Reflecting on the book Limitless
Think about the name of Ms GO's book. Limitless. Without limits. Too often, we put limits even on our free writing, brainstorming and dreaming, as if what we articulate will be seen and judged by others, seen and judged by ourselves. You are allowed to dream as big and wild as you want. In fact, I not only encourage it, I demand (in as much as I can demand you, the unknown reader) you to go all out. The only thing you will "waste" is some ink and paper.
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Cross pollinating my recognized expertise
Then & Now When I started as Executive Director of The Arts Partnership in 2010, I was pretty much an absolute nobody. I didn’t come from a family name that mattered in my community, I hadn’t done anything that identified me as a powerhouse and I wasn’t married to someone whose name, title or reputation held any particular significance. In short, I had to build my credibility from the ground up. So I did. I made one phone call after the other, read one leadership book on top of another, drank one seemingly never-ending cup of coffee (eventually moving entirely to tea), introduced myself to one person and the next…
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Short & Sweet, aka Keep Going, Dayna!
My next retreat is February 19-21, and there are spaces available. I hope you'll sign up. But if you don't, I'm still going to do the work because I care, it's generous, helpful and absolutely worth the journey--mine and yours. But I can't control your journey, only mine. So I'm here.
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Lead from the Outside, ruffled feathers and the attempted sound of silence
This assignment asks us to be vulnerable, honest, brave and willing to both praise and censure ourselves as well as accept praise and censure from others. What could happen in your life if you got honest with yourself and if others were willing to go to a place of loving honesty to really give you the opportunity to reflect and grow as a person? Could you take it? Would you hear it and ponder it, or would you ruffle your feathers and defend your actions?
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Disrupt your personal systems to name and articulate your highest calling
You have dreams you want desperately to pursue. You’re also being pulled in a million different directions, and your plate is likely already full to overflowing. How in the world will you ever figure out how to make those dreams a reality much less take the first step? Through a Personal Systems Disruption retreat! Thank you for providing the platform and the tools for me to disrupt my personal systems, tools to help me define my ‘next,’ for introductions to some amazingly talented, creative, fun, loving people and for affirmations of who I’ve been, who I am, and who I can become. It was a wonderful journey that was…
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Getting over my own self…again
An important note of digression: the Universe's favorite thing to do to and with me is to wait for me to say the word N-E-V-E-R. "I'll never get married." "I'll never have a full-time job." "I'll never teach." "I'll never..."
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2020: my year in review
Beyond the devastation (and our late in the year diagnosis), COVID was a gift for Dr Marry and me. I closed down my offices in March and have been working from home ever since. That means Dr Marry and I had all spring and summer and much of the fall together since his job was also a hybrid of in-person and virtual teaching. We walked and biked more than we ever have. I baked copious amounts of bread and went back to my pre-full time job delight of searching for and trying fun new recipes.
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Moving through the dark
But the long, languid days of summer aren't where we are in the calendar. Instead, we're one day away from the shortest, darkest day of the year. And I'm up early, in the cold, pale light of the moon, wondering what I can take from this time. How can I reframe this season to be a lesson versus an obstacle, not just for myself but for anyone reading this?
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Gratitude goes a long way
I woke up trapped between wondering why I'm spending such an inordinate amount of time on these "side gigs" that don't seem to be getting me anywhere and hoping against hope that the Universe is busy paying attention to someone (anyone!) else and misses my doubts and despair so that I don't get smited (smote?) for questioning its pace or interest in my dream. Ugh!
