The past two months has seen quite a change in my normal routine. After going to work at NASW-AZ every day for the past 12 years, it has been quite a shock to the system to be working on my own. I am enjoying the ability to work from home, or Starbucks, or Wildflower, or Paradise Bakery... :-) I sometimes feel like a nomad as I go from place to place with laptop, Ipad and phone in tow. I do have to say that the best part so far has been actually working on my back patio in the beautiful Phoenix winter weather.
The new year will come with a remodeled shed that will become my little "Mom Cave". Pictures to follow. I also look forward to heading over to Gangplank to check out their co-working environment and meet some new smart and wonderful people. If you haven't heard of Gangplank, it is a really cool co-working location in downtown Chandler where people can come in and use the tables, wifi, couches, and even the video games. (It's very "silicon valley"). The have brown bags to help with small business topics as well as conference rooms and even a pod-casting studio that you can reserve.
So to sum it all up, I am still here. But the definition of "here" will change from moment to moment. Let's just say that if you call my cell phone or send me an email, then I'll get it. I am "here".
So the cat is out of the bag... the news of my impending departure from the AZ chapter of NASW is now widespread and the farewell party is being planned. So for all of you who thought I might be sitting in this chair til past the age of 65 (myself included), I guess you might want a bit of an explanation.
This decision did not come lightly. In fact, I agonized over this decision for 4 long months before making the final call. Serving as the Executive Director of the AZ Chapter of NASW has been an amazing experience and one I will always treasure. One of the things that made this decision so hard is that I wasn't leaving NASW, rather I was going to something new. While that may seem like mere semantics, I think there is a very important distinction between the two. I was not looking to leave my current position, but opportunities seemed to present themself again and again. And I felt the need to grasp that new Trapeze bar flying towards me and launch into a new adventure. So what is this thing that drew me away from the amazing organization and people I have worked with for the past 12 years...
...It's an idea, a vision and a dream. One of the gifts that NASW has given me is the ability to develop myself in the area of technology. I truly enjoy all things tech. Who else do you know who chooses to read "Search Engine Optimization" techniques as my preferred bedtime reading. :-) So my departure comes as I pursue a dream to help other non-profits and small businesses harness technology in their respective organizations. I am thrilled to pursue this opportunity and hope that I will continue to cross paths with the many amazing people I have worked with for the past 12 years.
So sadly I say goodbye to one chapter of my life (but not the people). If you want to stop by and say "so long", join me for a "Farewell Reception" on Thursday, October 28th from 5:30 to 7:30. Check out the evite for more information. Hope to see you there.
The following was posted on my dear husband's blog. I cannot take credit for the writing, but I echo the sentiment exactly. Feel free to check out his blog as well.
Chris Frailey: Slug Bug: "Slug Bug", my 7 year old yells out. "I wanted that one" screams my 2 year old. Yes, my kids have learned the ancient game of seeing a VW bug and crying out "slug bug". So now the game is a foot every time we get in the truck. What I find amazing (for now) is how they immediately start playing the game once we are underway. I always seem to forget until the first bug is found. And then I'm quickly reminded of being behind 0-1.
These silly games keep me young as I join in on the fun. I even find myself yelling "slug bug" when driving alone. But more importantly these silly games remind me of how time is passing by with my children. Before long this game will pass as many others have. My daughter will hit the teenage years and my wife and I will cease to exist.
My 2 year old still wrestles with me on the bed. He loves to do a flying leap and land flat on top of me. Not too many of these matches left. Before long he'll be into other things. Hopefully good old Dad will still be a part of those things like basketball, baseball, and bike riding.
So the next time you see a bug go ahead and say it, you'll be glad you did.
As I sit here on a Saturday night watching the original Star Wars with my family, I am struck by the genius of George Lucas in the mid 1970's. (That, and how young Harrison Ford looks). :-) George Lucas was actually so far ahead of his time regarding movie special effects that he was unable to do certain things that he wanted to do in the original movie. He later went back and added scenes to the movie when technology would allow. Clearly, George Lucas wasn't just on the "leading edge", he was on the "bleeding edge." The very fact that he was so far ahead of his time helped propel the entire industry forward.
While being on the bleeding edge is often looked at as a detriment in conservative organizations, hats off to those trailblazers leading the way. The bleeding edge isn't always a comfortable place to be, but thanks to those who are leading us to the next greatest innovation.
Yes, this is me getting ready to jump off a platform and swing on a trapeze during my very first Trapeze lesson. But more on that later...
Anytime I get ready to make a big decision regarding my life, my work, or my happiness, I revisit an old personal mission statement that I wrote for myself back in the mid 90's. This mission statement was inspired by a series of events in my life. One of the most significant of these experiences was my great fortune to be trained in Adventure Based Counseling by the incredible people at Project Adventure. During my week long training at Project Adventure, I learned the essential elements of conducting group therapy through experiential ropes courses. On my final day in Boston for this training, I scaled a tree and made it to the highest "initiative" only to come inches short of catching the trapeze bar as I lept through the air. A fraction of a second after I left the platform, I knew that I didn't commit. I knew that only an ounce more of effort and commitment would have netted me the trapeze. Of course I was on "belay" and my partner held my rope and eased me down to a soft landing. My lesson from that day is to never hold back and to go for it with gusto.
One of my fellow classmates in that class sent me a writing that has shaped my life in so many ways. I do not remember his name and I barely remember what he looked like, but I am thankful for the message that he gave to me and continue to use all these years later. Here is that writing:
Fear of Transformation By Danaan Perry
Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I'm either hanging onto a trapeze bar swinging along, or for a few moments in my life, I'm hurtling across space in between trapeze bars.
Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my "trapeze-bar-of-the-moment". It carries me along a certain steady rate of swing and I have the feeling that "I am in control of my life". I know most of the right questions and even swinging along, I look ahead of me into the distance and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swinging toward me. It is empty, and I know, in that place in me that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, my aliveness coming to get me. In my heart-of-hearts I know that for me to grow, I must release my grip on the present, well known bar and move to the new one.
Each time it happens to me, I hope (no, I pray) that I won't have to grab the new one. But in my knowing place, I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar, and for some moment in time I must hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time I am filled with terror. It doesn't matter that in all my previous hurtles across the void of unknowing, I have always made it. Each time I chasm between the bars. But I do it anyway. Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the "faith experience". No guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyway because somehow, to keep hanging onto that old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives. And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of the past is gone, and the future is not yet here. It is called transition. I have come to believe that it is the only place that real change occurs. I mean real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time my old buttons get punched.
I have noticed that in our culture, this transition zone is looked upon as a "no-thing", a "no-place" between places. Sure the old trapeze bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope that's real too. But the void in between, that's just a scary, confusing, disorienting "nowhere" that must be gotten through as fast and as unconsciously as possible. What a waste! I have a sneaking suspicion that the transition zone is the only real thing, and the bars are illusions we dream up to avoid the void, where the real change, the real growth occurs for us. Whether or not my hunch is true, it remains that the transition zones in our lives are incredibly rich places. They should be honored, even savored. Yes with all the pain and fear and feelings of being out of control that can (but not necessarily) accompany transitions, they are still the most alive, most growth-filled, passionate, expansive moments in our lives.
And so, transformation of fear may have nothing to do with making fear go away, but rather with giving ourselves permission to "hang-out" in the transition between trapeze bars.
Transforming our need to grab that new bar - any bar- is allowing ourselves to dwell in the only place where change really happens. It can be terrifying. It can also be enlightening, in the true sense of the word. Hurtling through the void, we just may learn to fly.
From "The Essene Book of Days"
So while this video of trapeze school may seem shallow on the outside, know that there is something far deeper to this experience than appears on the surface. And I WILL catch that trapeze bar!!!!!!
Having worked with non-profit associations for most of my career, I found myself drawn to the technical side of the business. Whether it was e-communications strategies, communicating through social media, or creating videos to bring awareness to an issue... all of it was energizing. I found that I was most happy when I found a new tech tool for my toolbox and sharpened it for use. So one of my wise friends said to me one day, "Do what you love for a living and you will never work another day in your life". Hmmmmmm, inspired words from a wise man. And from here, Tech Tools, LLC was born.
This is a new venture for me and I am terribly excited as well as a bit nervous. I cannot wait to see what the future holds. But one thing is for certain... I will enjoy my path as I help others discover how to harness technology for the good of their organization.
The past two months has seen quite a change in my normal routine. After going to work at NASW-AZ every day for the past 12 years, it has been quite a shock to the system to be working on my own. I am enjoying the ability to work from home, or Starbucks, or Wildflower, or Paradise Bakery... :-) I sometimes feel like a nomad as I go from place to place with laptop, Ipad and phone in tow. I do have to say that the best part so far has been actually working on my back patio in the beautiful Phoenix winter weather. 
