BAReed Writing, Business Writing

Sprinters Running Marathons

Random thoughts, Work Life April 9, 2014 Comments: 4

I don’t run. For that matter I don’t jog, trot or canter either. I have been known to lope and I’ve been told I walk at a pretty fast pace. I well remember the joy that came along when, as a child, I would burst into a sprint. (And then because I was mostly bookish, I would gasp and pant for several minutes.)

But I digress, I think in part due to the burgeoning spring which encourages thoughts of being outdoors and being active. This post isn’t about literal running of any kind. It is about understanding the right pace and energy level for a project or activity. Most of us start out full of energy and enthusiasm for a new venture but if we didn’t clearly understand how the venture would go, we can let our pace lag well before the finish.

I’ve been known to sit comfortably on my couch and turn on the last portion of a long race like the Marathon during the Olympics or the Tour de France. It amazes me that the athletes who are still in the race at this point can find it in themselves to increase their pace at the very end. These people have mastered the art of being in it for the long haul. They can portion their energy and hold something back to make a strong finish.

How many times have you found yourself agreeing to something, thinking in the short term, only to feel disgust build as the thing goes on and grates at you? I’ve told the story how I accepted the request to be called by my first and middle names at the start of a job only to have to get everyone to change a now established habit when I started to think long term. How many marriages end simply because the two people weren’t really thinking long term at the start, were just entranced by their love goggles? How many times were you ill-suited for a job that you took? How many projects are in a partially completed stage around your house?

Relationships of all kinds can be entered into casually, even if intensely, and rarely do we think about how they may develop and last. Sprint or marathon tells over time.

Tasks and projects should be easier to identify as sprint or marathon, but this will require a bit of planning before the plunge.

Have you mastered the art of identifying and planning properly for a sprint or a marathon?

Change: Affinity vs. Ability

Personal Growth, Work Life April 7, 2014 Leave a comment

Life is so much nicer all around when we like what is happening; what we are doing, where we are living and so on. Sometimes we forget that there is a difference between liking, affinity, and skill at a task, or ability. We all have skills that we could use to our advantage but often don’t because we just don’t have the affinity.

I’ve met plenty of people who, without saying it straight up, think that they will know they are on the right track because everything will snap into place – life will be easier and smoother if they are in the right place. If things are difficult, it must be the wrong direction or place or whatever. How many times have you been in a discussion with someone who shuts you down on a topic with something like, ‘oh, I’m not any good at (fill in the blank)’?

The world is ever changing. (public domain image)

Math doesn’t have any sort of magic for me like words do, I just don’t have much of an affinity. But I have come to understand the importance of having a math competency – in financial dealings at the very least. I will never gravitate to math, but I can be proud that I can master the more important math concepts and make use of them in my life. And I have discovered that there are fascinating parts of math – statistics and economics do stir my curiosity.

We don’t get to arrange all of the pieces of our lives so that we can focus only on those things that we like. (We’re lucky to arrange most of them, the big ones hopefully.) And it isn’t always clear to see when you are on the right track, because that track might be just as bumpy and difficult as the wrong one.

Writing is a skill that makes plenty of people grimace, I both understand and feel consternated about this fact. But like math for me, it is an ability that can be developed to serve your overall purpose. You can like what a competency in a certain skill brings you without having an affinity for the concepts of the skill.

What’s for Dinner?

Random thoughts, Work Life April 4, 2014 Leave a comment

Thoughts on dinner have been trending in my mind. My son, now the primary cook in our house due to his culinary interests, has been involved in other things these past few days meaning that I am coming home after work and fending for myself. At Toastmasters earlier this week the Table Topics were all about tables and invariably dinner was part of it too. And I have been remembering my changing role in dinner activities over my lifetime to date.

The 50’s cliché was the male breadwinner coming home to sit down to the family dinner cooked from scratch by his lovely wife all dressed up including pearls. I’ve experienced some of this ideal in different ways and can see benefit. When I was growing up mom and dad both put high importance on having a family evening meal. Mom did the stay-at-home thing which included dinner from scratch for most of my childhood. She didn’t have much interest in cooking per se, but she did have enough interest in healthy eating. Her forte was conversation, the exchange of ideas once we were all at the table. Even once she was working and going to school, we managed to keep the family meal going.

One of my son’s most recent creations.

I became a stay-at-home mom cooking the dinners from scratch, ready when my husband came home and before we had to head back out to whatever event or practice my boys had going. I had a greater interest in cooking than my mom had shown, along with an equal interest in the exchange of ideas while we ate. Feeding our minds and bodies, as well as feeding the family bond.

Even after becoming a single mom working a full time job, I felt it was highly important to keep up the tradition of a sit-down, scratch-cooked dinner. The actual cooking part wasn’t so important, but the shared experience and time together was something that I could give my boys.

And now I would be hard pressed to find the energy and mental capacity to whip up a dinner every night. I am happy to leave this task to my son who is caught up in the magic of creating maximum flavor experiences with food. When he isn’t otherwise occupied at dinner time.

Being a ‘foodie’ is trending now along with an interest in fresh, sustainable ingredients. The shared familial experience, the flow of talk and ideas doesn’t seem to have the same esteem though. Dinner might just be another meal that we squeeze into our day, perhaps not one that even two people in a family have at the same time.

How do you feed your mind, body and the family bond these days?

Glitchy

Random thoughts, Work Life April 2, 2014 Leave a comment

Sometimes a computer just gets balky and glitchy and needs a do-over – hitting restart can shake whatever temporary demon is creating difficulty out of the programming. Well, a day or a meeting or your brain can be glitchy too – you know what I’m talking about.

Glitch (Dictionary.com)

noun

a defect or malfunction in a machine or plan.

2. Computers. any error, malfunction, or problem. Compare bug¹( def 5 ) .

a brief or sudden interruption or surge in voltage in an electriccircuit.

verb (used with object)

to cause a glitch in: an accident that glitched our plans.

I like what Dictionary.com has to say about the word origin:

Glitch

1962, Amer.Eng., possibly from Yiddish glitsh “a slip,” from glitshn “to slip,” from Ger. glitschen, and

related gleiten “to glide.” Perhaps directly from Ger.; it began as technical jargon in the argot of electronic hardware engineers, popularized and given a broader meaning by U.S. space program.

Glitch sounds like what it is – something that tripped up what was supposed to happen.

If a computer can purge a glitch by restarting (sometimes several times), how do we humans get a do-over when we have glitchy moments? Ah, not so simple.

photo credit: Wikipedia

A big game, a player gets the ball and becomes confused and heads the wrong way – a glitch for sure – he or she can’t take it back. Teammates, the coach and fans are furious. A very public oops moment. The player can only go forward and learn to take the ribbing every time that moment comes up again.

Computers don’t have to worry about the embarrassment factor. If the computer that holds your most important presentation decides not to get going just when your presentation is due to start the computer won’t feel stupid or inadequate.

Humor helps in these moments, for humans not computers. (Though I hear that Siri has a sense of humor.) Shared laughter can get us past the glitch, ease any tension. Sometimes it’s the closest thing we have to a restart.

Here’s hoping for a glitch free day. Human and machine.

Oh, If Only

Random thoughts March 31, 2014 Leave a comment

There is one good thing about winter and that is that it provides a ready reason why much of the to-do list lies dormant for the season. Now I must dust of the list and sit down with it and a calendar to figure out what should be done, where it will fit in my days, and whether the budget will allow. But just next to the to-do list is my list of books that I’d like to read.

If only there were enough time in the day to be able to read more of the interesting books that come out so much faster than I can digest them. (And then there are all of the older books, too.) In addition to the books that I hear about and put on the list are all the books that I could stumble upon in the library or a book store if I go and browse.

It would be simply lovely if I could take a chunk of time off from all my other obligations and I could devote my time and energy to devouring these worthy books. I do read all day – emails, procedures, articles, and at the very end of the day a few pages from my current fiction selection. Just a handful of pages for me, so that it takes ages to get through a single book. So that sometimes I forget some of the subplots in a book.

Reading is right there with all of the other necessities – food, water and shelter – it provides comfort and education, understanding and enjoyment, inspiration. I sometimes long for my younger years when a whole Saturday could be absorbed by a book. I dream of reading sabbaticals when my days get too stressful. Would I love reading as much if I could be paid to do it? I would love to find out, I think.

If you dream of taking a sabbatical to do one beloved activity, what would it be?

I Hear Birds

Random thoughts March 28, 2014 Comments: 2

Meteorological spring and the Vernal Equinox (astronomical spring) have both passed – not that you can tell based on how often my furnace still cycles on a day. Or by the layers that we are still wearing. Or by the dusting of snow that greeted the folks in my region earlier this week. These dates are just markers on a calendar.

I smile every morning for the last several because I can hear the birds chittering, twittering, and singing to each other just outside my window each morning. They must be quite chilled, but they believe that spring weather is close so I will too.

Eastern Yellow Robin (photo credit: Wikipedia)

I haven’t actually seen the little feathered fellows, but my ears believe. I have seen the geese – particularly as they stake out their nesting area around the building where I work. A few people – 2 co-workers and later a customer – were chased by the hissing goose parents to be. Winter might still be loath to give up it’s hold but all of these birds are determined that spring weather is near.

One good thing about the continued chill is that I have finally managed to cut back an out of control clematis. On the one warm day that we’ve experienced recently. And after 3 years of good intentions. Now that I’ve had a chance to weave the branches through the trellis better, I have my fingers crossed that it will continue to grow as heartily as it has these past years. And once again be a refuge for the birds that have sung good morning to me.

I hope that the birds are singing about spring wherever you are as well.

A Singular Purpose

Random thoughts March 26, 2014 Leave a comment

It seems to be the thing to do these days when your life is altered by some sort of speed bump, start up a foundation. If you have the means, or access to the means that is. People at the lower end of the economic ladder might have fund raisers to help cover the unexpected bills that go along with these speed bumps. If enough money is raised to cover their own bills, the remainder might go to help others with the affliction.

I’ve been thinking about causes and diseases that attract multiple foundations, which then often compete for the same donation dollars. It’s that competition that got me thinking. I understand that people want to honor their lost loved one (the most frequent reason to start a foundation in my unofficial research) but perhaps there are other ways. A foundation has costs that take money off the top, whereas a donation to an existing organization in the person’s name could go directly to something useful for others still struggling through similar experiences.

Perhaps a singular purpose should be combined with a shared purpose to better serve the cause? The question is what is most important – a cure, a solution or establishing a permanence for the lost person? The best thing would be to find a method to do both.

When my dad died, we asked for donations in lieu of flowers to established causes that were meaningful to him. He had a nearly lifelong association with Boy Scouting and so we also created a camp scholarship in his name at our local council. I’m sure that money is long gone, mom was the point person with the council. We wanted his name to live on with an organization that he loved and supported in many ways. Hopefully there is a handful of young men out there somewhere who can say that they got to go to camp thanks to my dad.

Keeping the fund alive and continuous probably could have been accomplished, but it didn’t happen. And this was a relatively small effort in comparison to a foundation.

When mom died, we again asked for donations in her name in lieu of flowers, this time for ovarian cancer research through an established organization. I continue to give as part of the greater shared purpose to give families affected by this disease more solutions. And more time than we had with mom once she was diagnosed. Even if we had the means, I don’t think that we would have considered a foundation in her name. Associating with an effective and established organization allows our assistance to be multiplied.

I wonder at this moment what mom would have to say to my idea, she worked as a fund raiser for a large hospital in Chicago for years. She had some interesting stories about the large donors that they courted. Ego was often involved.

What Has Your Comfort Zone Done for You Lately?

Random thoughts, Work Life March 24, 2014 Leave a comment

It’s comfortable, I know. But there needs to be more, yes really. Now, I’m not suggesting something outlandish like going camping with nothing more than a tarp and a book of matches. (In fact, I’m not suggesting camping at all, there are limits to going outside of your comfort zone.) We don’t have to endanger our lives to shake up the limits of our comfort zones.

c1907 camping, photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

How many people do you know just keep doing something that doesn’t particularly fill them with joy just because it is familiar? The evil that we know, as the saying goes… If that something is a job, or a relationship maybe it will just take a bit of thought about how to freshen it up a bit.

Or maybe it would be to take a step or two in a forgotten or new direction. When was the last time that you drew, or danced, or sang, or grew something, or biked, or, or, or? Things drop out of our lives, or interests get forgotten as we settle into our adult pattern. My dad kept his hunting gear in the bottom of his closet through move after move even though he didn’t hunt throughout my childhood. He returned to it in retirement and his eyes would light up as he told us about it. I have a picture of two camouflaged hulks standing in my kitchen from his turkey hunting adventure with my then-husband.

This picture both makes me smile and sad. Why did he feel that he had to turn aside from this activity for so many years? Finances certainly played a role, but perhaps didn’t need to be the absolute hindrance that they appeared.

I remind myself of this when I miss out on yet another Broadway in Chicago event because I couldn’t justify the cost of the experience. There is huge benefit in trying new things and revisiting old interests. I say this as much to myself as to any reader.

What is it This Time?

Random thoughts, Work Life March 21, 2014 Comments: 2

The White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland scurries into the story early on, frantic and muttering to himself that he’s ‘late for an important date’. If there is a human anywhere who cannot relate, I would love to find out the secret for not ever being late. (Perhaps it is to never have appointments or dates?)

public domain image of The White Rabbit

Well, he scurries about in my thoughts sometimes as I juggle the various parts of my life. It often seems to be the transitions from one aspect to another that are most difficult to time just right – leaving home for work, leaving work for an afternoon appointment of one kind or another. Getting to work on time seems to be quite difficult for everyone at one time or another (the disruptive weather this winter over much of the US as case in point), but for some it seems to be darn near impossible every day.

There was a teaser announcement on the news the other day that they would be doing a story on employee excuses for being late to work on a later broadcast (must have been a slow news day) and that got me thinking. As a boss I have had employees who have struggled with timeliness and as a person I have had moments of untimeliness.

I don’t think that I’ve been given any really interesting stories for tardiness from employees, nothing is coming to mind since I heard about this on the news. Perhaps it is because I’ve never demanded explanation. ‘Sorry that I’m late’ mostly suffices for me. If it becomes a pattern, we’ll talk – but it will be focused on solutions like changing your routine, possibly changing your start time, not on why. Reasoning is important, excuses are a waste.

As an employee I have had two instances that were a bit out of the ordinary and they occurred about a year apart.

The first was after my mom had died and since I wasn’t sleeping very well at that time, I wasn’t actually late just nearly so. I woke up that morning thinking of a particular photo of my mom from the previous Christmas so strongly that I had to find the picture. I could not start my day until I had that one and only that one photo with me. My responsible side argued that I didn’t need the photo to go about my work day and I could find the picture after work. But the pull was too powerful, grief demanded that I get my hands on that picture. I did find it, I put it in an envelope in my purse (I carry it still) and got on with my day.

On the morning of the second example, I was mentally ready for work – I was currently without a direct boss and reporting to the senior manager and I wanted to be sharp. I pushed the button for my garage door, it went up an inch or two and stopped. I pushed again and it went down. I pushed again and it whirred, but did nothing. Uh oh. I pulled the door up manually and it slammed back down (I found out later that the springs were shot.) Hmm. My boys were already at school. How could I get the car out of the garage? I called friends, family to find someone to hold the door open while I drove the car out. Time became short and I had to call the senior manager to explain that I couldn’t get my car out of the garage. I even thought about flagging down a stranger and asking them to hold the door open – I was getting desperate – when a friend called back and was able to come over to help.

What is your weirdest or best excuse for being late?

Plaintive Pull

Random thoughts March 19, 2014 Comments: 2

The nature of blogging lends itself to posting in early morning. Morning is a time for building energy, gathering thoughts to plan a successful day and not necessarily a time to bring up a plaintive, lamenting note. But seasonal transitions seem to lend themselves to a plaintive and wistful mindset, at least to me.

I had a cat once who would stride through the house, usually in the evening and let out a sorrowful loud plaintive cry from a room or two away. Perhaps he wanted me to do what I often did, which was to come and find him and ask him to tell me about whatever seemed to be on his mind. And give him a nice scratch behind his ears. Maybe he just liked the way that his meow would bounce off the walls and ceilings when he got a good lungful of air behind it. (He did occasionally seem to have a theatrical bent.)

Evening seems to be the right time for plaintive reflection – not as heavy as a lugubrious or dolorous ponder but a few moments to think. The right sort of evening reflection can lead to a better day in the morning.

Plaintive thought isn’t meant to be about all of the things that I meant to do in that day and didn’t get around to completing – too many people spend too much energy at the end of the day in this mode. How about what I learned, what I can build on in coming days, what needs to be reworked…

As thoughts for this post started to form in my head, I realized that plaintiveness is often best expressed in music. And songs by The Fixx and Counting Crows among others went through my head. But I really sat down to write when the evening light brought Taps to mind.

photo credit: Wikipedia

The mournful sound of a single bugle in the soft summer evening air brings me back to my childhood when my dad was Camp Director. This day is over, time to rest. Nature and humans have done what could be done in this day.

All is well.