looking back: 7 questions for 2017

photo credit from nordwood themes on unsplash

i gained inspiration for this post on the questions/answers from the on being blog post by courtney martin. what are some of your answers?

1. what was one of the moments i was most proud of this year? what does that tell me about what i want to spend my energy/time/money on next year?

i accepted a job at box working closely with their marketing team to build sites on drupal. i think it affirms that i want to be more engaged with the open source community and specifically looking to support and grow the diversity initiatives within drupal.

2. who really enriched my life this year in a big way? who is someone i am wanting to get to know better in the year ahead?

lots of people have been influential to me this year. great thinkers in the twitterverse, my new team at box and my former team at verizon. i am looking forward to getting to know and grow with my current team and role.

3. it was a year of resistance for many people. what did i resist most effectively? what did i surrender to?

i really enjoyed the women’s march movement and watching the online community rise up in favor of net neutrality. i think the biggest piece that i continue to work on surrendering to is our current president and the pushback against some core beliefs that i desire of a society.

4. who did i feel most jealous of this year? what is that person up to that i want to bring more of into my own life?

there are several people that i have been jealous of — kudos to your incredible instagram pictures — but the theme is the same: connection. while working not to sound trite, i want to focus more on connecting with my day-to-day community/life and finding balance at home.

5. when was i most physically joyful in 2017? how can i get there more in 2018?

in the most non-physical way, it has been those moments of downtime. i have been keeping busy this past year: work, freelance, travel, social events, etc. i feel very fortunate for each of these experiences and look forward to the quieter moments: coffee, sunshine, books, organizing little folders and drawers.

i believe that there needs to be a component of self-care. i am hoping to connect with that side of myself a bit more this year and prioritize these moments of calm.

6. what is one question that you found yourself asking over and over again this year? what version of an answer are you living your way into?

is it possible to be caught up on everything? i have been pondering this for some time. as an adult we have a series of commitments: work, friends, errands, bills, improvement, organization, digital lives, etc. etc. etc. i tend to wrap myself into other people’s portrayals and wonder if it is possible to get everything done.

my current answer: make little goals and accomplish them. revel in the completeness of what you committed to and then make another little goal.

7. what makes me despair and what gives me hope right now?

our current political climate is a disaster. that is pretty disappointing (understatement of 2017). i feel hopeful that our country is waking up and pushing back. it has been satisfying seeing people of various walks of life support each other.

also, watching sarah mei’s enjoyment from simon & schuster’s rebuttal to milo’s lawsuit was quite amazing.