It’s been cold out there lately. And last year was colder than I ever remember it, a real palate cleanser. The weather decided it wants us to notice it in a big way. And we are, and we go on, and we remember here in Ohio what it means to be an Ohioan. What it means to be hardy. The cold feels a bit nostalgic.
It’s hard to want to do something outside, but I bundle up and make myself go out and do it regardless. I make myself appreciate the cold weather as best I can within reason. I’m going with the flow.
My family had a get-together for my brother’s birthday. We have a new tradition: drag out our assorted Christmas trees, truck them atop our cars to our parents’ and throw them onto a pile in the snow. We take a shot of rum in unison, run down the hill to the pile, and turn on the flame. Watch the old Christmas trees burn down to embers in the snow. They’re surprisingly quick. Slow in catching fire, but once they light, they are fast fat plumes of heat and tinseled light. And we, dark shadows in our rubber muck boots and wrappings, standing in profile against the flame, thinking and emotional about having cultivated something sparkly and marvelous. Our dogs wrapping, circulating around the circle, tails wagging at the novelty. The takeaways are to be in it together, be of good cheer, get outside and appreciate life with gusto.
This should apply to business. We spend much of our waking life dealing with business matters. So how we feel about our work is very important! Otherwise it’s kind of… not such a fun life.
How can I adopt practices to seize the moment and create real bonds with my business colleagues? I’d like to somehow keep it more in accordance with my ideals, more fun and more real… make the best of this.
A year ago I joined Lake Communicator’s Board, the interaction and collaboration a way to make this organization more real for me. And have repeatedly heard this iterated lately–that involvement is key to a successful member experience.
We’re burdened by time constraints; we can’t always do everything as thoroughly as we’d like. But even if we have to dole out our time sparingly, I like to think that everything we do to help is actually helpful in some way. It contributes either to some completed project, or at least the compost pile of lessons and practice and relationship building. The work we do can be kindling to some beautiful light.
– Kathy
Kathy Smith is a senior web designer for Lakenetwork.net. Photos by Steve Smith.