5 Things I’ll Do Differently Now

Last Friday’s group FireStarter session really did light a fire under me. (Never let it be said that there is no truth in advertising.) I’ve never before shared such an intimate space and purpose with so many inspiring people. It was as exhilarating as it was humbling, and one of the best things about it was that everyone else seemed to feel the same way. It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve come away changed. Here are a few of the things I’ll be doing differently as a result.

1. Seek out my tribe. I spent the last five years in corporate America, being the odd one out. So much so that I didn’t even notice anymore my assumption that I will have very little in common with others when I find myself in a group. But patterns emerged as these brilliant, daring people shared their stories with one another. And one of the biggest for me was that nearly everyone had an extensively varied background. “I’m good at [career option], and I did it for a long time, but it didn’t really thrill me anymore…so I decided to become a [chef/assist international peace talks/head up a think tank/insert eyebrow-raising career option here]. And now I want to [insert equally eyebrow-raising career choice here] but I’m not really how to [make the money part work/get new clients/insert challenge here].” Um, yeah, I totally get that. As someone with a rabid interest in nearly everything and a past that includes film production, public relations, human resources, massage therapy, editorial, corporate communications and a host of other exciting items, I get that. It felt so good to feel so normal. [See part one of Assimilation is Futile.] Which dovetails nicely into…

2. Remember that with authenticity come ease and synchronicity. Meaning that when you’re doing what you’ve been created to do, there’s a very natural flow to life. It sounds simplistic, maybe, but its beauty never fails to amaze.

3. Exercise my requestus muscle more often. Danielle made reference to the requestus muscle and I made note of it. Some of us have a harder time than others when it comes to asking for what we need or want. But making those things known is helpful. To you, to the rest of the world. It’s not personal, when you really think about it. I decided to make use of my requestus muscle after the workshop. Although I was fairly terrified, I approached a well-known design guy who was there, handed him my card and said, “I want to work with you.” We’re having lunch in a few weeks.

4. For the love of Pete, stop tilting my head down in photos. What the heck? Why of all the unattractive..! So many photos from the weekend, rendered unusable. Le sigh!

And speaking of photos…

5. More photos. And some video. Watch this space.

The world needs more people who are on fire. Yes? Yes.