Category: Deep Thoughts

It’s that time of year again…the time when we reflect on the past year and look forward to what’s to come in the brand new shiny year ahead of us. We talk about what we learned from the previous 365 days while setting goals to improve ourselves.

A few years ago, some friends decided to select a personal #Themeword each year instead of a resolution. A word to give us hope and remind us of what we think is important to focus on. My themeword from 2012 was Passionate and while I didn’t remind myself of this word throughout the year, I do believe it was an theme in many areas of my life. Truth be told, I couldn’t even remember what my word was until today when I tried to remember what it was.

I believe that I’m at a place in my life now where I am passionate about what I’m doing in life. This has been a constant reminder for me over the past few years as I hope everyone can always be passionate about what they are doing in life. If you can make money while doing your passion, that’s a freaking bonus! Bottom line…love what you’re doing and if you’re not loving it, then move on to something else.

This past year has been one of highs and lows and includes starting an event production company that has been very successful. I’m creating the business and life that I’m passionate about and it’s an amazing place to be. I’ve worked hard to get to this point and look forward to what 2013 has in store for me.

So why “balance” for my themeword this year? As I’ve started the business, I’ve really focused on making sure that I have a good work/life balance and am making sure that I’m keeping myself as a top priority. But more than work/life balance, I really want to work on things like fitness, eating healthy, staying educated, and challenging myself. This is quite a list and will definitely require balance of my schedule, my thoughts, and my intentions in order to enhance the life I want to live.

Here’s to a year full of balance!

*Cheers,

I often say that what some people call ADHD, I call multi-tasking. I’ve never been diagnosed with ADHD but I’d bet that there’s a good percentage of those who work in the internet space who would agree, to some extent, that they have it. There are always so many opportunities that need our attention that it’s hard not to be a little scatterbrained.

It doesn’t help that we’re always connected. For instance, I spent the day at Walt Disney World, riding rides and doing research for a conference I’m planning in a few weeks. (No really—it WAS research!!) The beauty of the day was that I was able to answer emails while waiting in line for rides. However, that was also the downside to the day as I was constantly staring at my phone. At one point, all four of us that were together were all on our phones.

The distractions are always available and I hate when I get antsy to check my phone while sitting face-to-face with someone. HOW EFFING RUDE IS THAT?!?! And yet…it still happens, sometimes without realizing what we’re even doing. I will say that it’s been a few years since I’d wake up every night to check the Blackberry for emails. Maybe it’s because I’m using an iPhone now which is *thankfully* without the blinking red light, taunting and teasing me about new emails waiting for me.

It actually feels good to write this all down. I have this blog and have neglected it for so long. It has such a pretty design thanks to a great friend and yet, I don’t pay attention to it. Truth be told, it’s not only because I have other distractions, but the list of reasons includes overthinking the posts and it’s so hard for me to slow my brain down enough to get my thoughts out in a coherent way. Sprinkle all of that with the fact that I have the worst grammar ever (hey–I’m from Oklahoma. What do you expect?!) and the anxiety is too much to bear.

However, it’s a new day and as Michael Jackson said, I’m gonna make a change…

I’m going to try to get my thoughts down in this space at least once a week. I consider it a way to discipline myself to ignore all of the distractions as well as a way to focus on myself and my thoughts. Need to wipe some of those cobwebs out of my headspace a bit!

Now…wonder what I’ve missed on Twitter in the 10 minutes it took me to get this out. 😉

A few weeks ago it hit me…I’ve been hiding. I haven’t been out to many tech events lately, am much more comfortable at home, and am being selective in the people I’m hanging out with. This surprises me as I score extremely extraverted on Myers-Briggs (I’m an ENTP) and have been a social butterfly for many years.

But something’s changed lately…

I feel like my social media life and my real life are becoming more and more separate. Wait, that’s not true. I think I’m putting more of an importance on my real life instead of my social media life. I don’t share everything on Twitter like I used to, even though I do share completely random things. I’m getting more and more annoyed when people are tweeting/texting or whatever when we’re sitting together at a meal.

I honestly think I have a bit of an addiction to social media and what’s going on ‘out there’. Don’t judge…you know you have the same addiction to a certain degree. 67%

What’s funny is that by being addicted to ‘what’s out there’, we’re missing so much of what’s going on RIGHT HERE…in front of our faces…in the same room…with the people sitting next to us. There are things that happen and conversations you have when you’re F2F and hanging out IRL that could never be communicated in 140 characters or less.

Don’t interpret this as I hate social media, because that’s far from the truth. Social media has allowed me to meet some of the most amazing people. I’m reconnecting with friends who knew me back in Oklahoma, keeping up with those I love deeply but only see every now and then, getting news updates and even doing business via social media. It’s great.

But I’m ready to take it back to the old school a little more often. Unplugging and just having good ol’ fashioned hanging out time, just like it used to be before we all had computers and smartphones.

Who’s with me?

I love making lists. I love crossing things off of my lists.

But this is one list I hope I’ll never be finished with:

• Take better care of myself…physically, emotionally, mentally.
  • Physically–I’ll definitely need some good stress relief with the new job. I live in an area where I can walk the Embarcadero every day, have a workout room in my apartment building, and love taking classes like hula hooping, hip hop, and ballet. Now, if I could just get my butt TO the classes…
  • Emotionally–I have a tendency to ignore my feelings and push them aside when something is bothering me. Not only do I want to pay more attention to things that upset me, but I also want to pay attention to the things that bring me joy.
  • Mentally–Sometimes I feel like my brain is mush. Did you know that I’m a member of Mensa? No really…I am and I feel like I need to exercise that big beautiful brain muscle more often.
• Make (and take) time to show others I care.
  • I really do care about the people in my life. I think about my friends often throughout the day, and not just the ones in San Francisco. I think about my friends from all over the world. Yet, don’t take time to make sure they know this. With the social media in my life, this shouldn’t be put off any longer.
• Send more hand written notes.
  • I love stationary and have oodles and oodles of it. And I don’t know about you, but I love getting REAL snail mail. Makes up for all the bills I get.
• Travel more…for pleasure.
  • Thanks to a job earlier this year, I made it out of the country for the first time…ever. Yes, I have a solid 3 decades under my belt and no, I don’t have a good reason why I haven’t traveled more.
• Challenge my mind/learn something new.
  • So often I feel like I’ve stopped learning since I’ve been out of school for so many years. I’ve talked about learning French or Italian. I should just do it. Anyone in for learning with me?
• Be honest.
  • Not only with others, but first…with myself about things. (See EMOTIONALLY above.)
• Stop using the phrase “I don’t care.”
  • I really wish we could erase this entire phrase from the English language. It’s a freaking cop out and I’m not going to use it anymore. Very rarely do I NOT have an opinion on something…even if it’s something simple.
• Find 3 things I love about each day–that are different than the day before.
  • Taking time to appreciate my life and the blessings I have needs to be a priority. I’m realizing that I have a fabulous life.
• Get. off. the. computer. 😉
  • Holy crap–I waste SOOOO much time online. There is so much happening in life that I’m missing. I have an entire list of Meetups that I want to do. Not to mention, this is a great way to meet new people OUTSIDE of the interwebz.
• Blog more.
  • I have multiple drafts started, yet don’t take the time to finish them and complete my thoughts. Then…I avoid blogging entirely because I feel like I need to complete those thoughts before moving on to anything else. What a catch 22. *Sigh* I really do love getting my thoughts out and having conversations with my readers.
• Read more.
  • Books and blogs (which may contradict GET OFF THE COMPUTER above.) I have an entire stack of books I want to read. Oh, and let me add that I shall finish one book before starting another. I’m really bad about starting and not finishing…when reading, that is. 😉
• Engage more.
  • So often, I feel like I’m passing by so many people doing so many cool things. I’m so ‘busy’ that I don’t take time to engage in conversations and with the amazing things people are doing.
• Take more photos.
  • I’ve recently found that I love doing photo walks. It’s a great way to see the city and take some time to enjoy my life. I should be doing this EVERY DAY in some way. My camera may very well become just as important as my Blackberry when I leave the house. And yes, I know I can take photos with my Blackberry, but it’s just not the same.
• Laugh more.
  • There is something so amazing about a great belly laugh. It’s those moments that you remember for many, many years.
• Love more.
  • I’ve prevented myself from loving others for years. Deep reasons for why this is. However, I’m realizing that it’s not fair to myself to not love others. I know that loving others will also mean being hurt by others at times, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

So there it is…my To Do list.

What do you have on your To Do list that you’ll never finish?