About

I once was asked to do a 10 minute individual presentation during a company meeting.  There were 6 of us that were asked to present – we were all relatively new employees but identified as ‘change agents’ in the organization.  (For those that aren’t familiar with the term ‘change agent’, it’s a positive designation – someone that can move the needle, initiate positive change, influence.)  I was told that the presentation could be about anything I wanted it to be about – but it couldn’t contain anything related to work.  This was a challenge for me because…well…most of my focus is work related.

My colleagues spent their time talking about their children, their hobbies, their recent trips.  I probably would have resorted to the same format had these things existed in my life.  But they didn’t at the time so I needed to be creative.

During my allotted time, I spent 7 of the 10 minutes sharing things that didn’t actually exist in my life (I don’t have a dog but if I did, it would be this dog – queue the picture of a french bull dog, I don’t have children but if I did, they would look like this – queue the picture of a cute blonde toddler wrapped in a pink towel ).  The remaining three minutes were spent showing slides of stick figures that illustrated my aspirations (a stick figure rock climbing, a stick figure meditating, a stick figure writing, a stick figure cooking).

The presentation was a hit.  I received at least three rounds of applause, many many laughs, and quite a few colleagues introducing themselves and letting me know my presentation had been the highlight of the meetings.

A bit later, when I was reminiscing about such a wonderful experience, it struck me that none of my aspirations had anything to do with the corporate world.

I’ve gotten my fair share of success and satisfaction in the corporate world and I’m quite comfortable in the setting, but it bothered me that I was spending my time on something that I had no aspirations toward.

So this [blog] is About my aspirations coming to fruition.

Those aspirations can be summed up in two words – Elevate and Communicate

More About Those Words:

• Elevate –   Taking the time to elevate experiences, from every day chores to special getaways,  increase my chances of experiencing bliss.

• Communicate – Writing is my natural form of communication.  Whenever I have a point I want to get across or a thought I want to articulate, I write.  When I write, I lose track of time.

Elevating [everyday life] and Communicating are what can bring me to the state of bliss (some would call it flow).  I emphasize ‘can’ because it doesn’t happen all the time.  But it does happen.  Those are the moments I seek. And those are the moments that inspire me to blog.