How I've measured a year

A year ago today was my last day at the office. The time had come for me to do the next thing, after spending 17 years growing with an organization.

The office world is full of evaluation and metrics, and that’s hard to shake off. But I have been reflecting on what I’ve done and learned over the past year, without judgment or measuring. I know that I feel happy, content, and often joyful. And that’s really all that matters to me.

Photo of my joy by the talented Hillary Johnson.

Here's what this year has looked like:

Friends and family

• My son and I went to South America for two weeks for spring break last year. We bodyboarded sand dunes and lived through a government shutdown in Peru, ate all the chocolate and visited a volcanic lake in Ecuador, and saw blue-footed boobies and swam with sea lions in the Galapagos.
• I get to drop off and pick up my son from school.  Those 20-minute car trips are often my favorite times of day (and I really dislike driving)! I got to volunteer at the book fair and I get to chaperone an upcoming field trip. I’m so glad to have the flexibility to be more involved in his school life.
• Spent much of the last year catching up with travels and people I'd missed during lockdown times - went on a mid-week trip to New Orleans, joined a botanical tour in Jamaica, and visited friends and family in California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Michigan (and about to add Ohio and Pennsylvania to the list).
• When I got super sick with RSV in the fall, I was able to take the time I needed to recover, without worrying about using up all my sick time. When my son is sick, I can keep him home with me.

Photo below from the Galapagos - My flipper at bottom left, with sea lions all around!

Work life

• In the nonprofit and philanthropic sector: 

  • I'm working with nonprofits to clean up data and create and document SOPs. 

  • For an amazing international foundation, I served as interim grants manager.

  • With a software company I love, I presented at a conference about some CRM tricks and did a software implementation.

• Photography: 

  • I'm a published travel journalist and attending my first Women in Travel Summit soon.

  • My photography site is up for purchasing photos and gifts.

  • Helping people deal with their photo collections: Sorting printed photos and ephemera, solving tech issues with digital photos, curating to make albums and photobooks.

• Note: If you want to hire me for any of these things, just reply to this newsletter.

I did not come to this by myself without doing a lot of work and having support from lots of people. Shout out to my beloved partner, my parents, my kid, my bestie, my friends, fans and sounding boards. I wasn't exactly sure what that next thing was going to look like, but I worked with a communications coach on identifying my core values (amongst other things), with my squad to envision my Life of Yes, and with a money mindset coach. And thanks to RENT - for everything - and especially for the inspiration for the title of my first ever Substack newsletter.

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