Connector Field Notes #14
Seasons, not quarters
I still have seasonal check in calls with my Beautiful Work Lives research group, even though we wrapped up formal work on our project a couple years ago now. Once every few months, whoever can make it joins a one hour Zoom from wherever we are in the world. We do our best to accommodate all the time zones; our most recent one had five people calling in from three countries.
There are many things I love about these calls, but I want to talk about the seasonal aspect. A couple weeks ago was our spring call, and our next call will be a summer call in June. Of all the ways we could have organized and scheduled what are essentially quarterly calls, I'm really glad we chose seasons. Something about reflecting on time in seasons feels so much more connected.
How was the winter? What do you have coming up in the spring? How is the transition from winter to spring going? Where are you seeking and finding community lately?
Pleasantly surprised
Sometimes I’m on the fence about going to an event or taking a call. The purpose may seem ambiguous, the relevance uncertain. It would be much easier to say no. Conventional prioritization advice is to ruthlessly prune such things from our calendars. A meeting must have a clear agenda, the time spent at an event must have an immediately apparent ROI.
I think that’s a short sighted way to live. Of course, schedules don’t allow us to say yes to everything that comes our way, but if I’m on the fence because I’m trying to nail down the value but I’m at least a little bit curious… I say yes anyway. Almost always, it’s different and better than I was expecting and I’m pleasantly surprised I went to the event or had the conversation.
Bring them along
When family or friends come to visit, do you bring them along to your regularly scheduled plans and community interactions, or do you fill the weekend with special activities?
On a recent weekend, I got to meet the sister of a yoga class regular. Her sister’s routine was to go to yoga, so she joined in when she was in town for the weekend. It turned out she was visiting from the place I grew up, and we had a great conversation before class. Her sister was beaming, getting to introduce her to her yoga friends and show her the community where she loves to spend time.
It can seem natural to want to plan tourist activities or nice dinners when friends and family visit, but it’s also a unique opportunity to bring people from different parts of your life together and connect your communities.