Natal Day Navel Gazing

It's been a big year for me. I didn't get all retrospective and contemplative for New Year's because I was in Europe and very much in the moment, but with an upcoming birthday i'm showing all the signs. The past few years it's been the opposite, living in Europe in March but domestically in January, so I've had things reversed for awhile.

I like the tradition I started at 30, of spending the day exploring someplace new and interesting, so I'll be heading up to Vancouver on Monday after the close of the Olympics. Hearing what eveyone has said about the city I'm eager to see it, and I'll get a chance to visit friends I haven't seen in awhile. I'm quite looking forward to it.

But, to return to the subject at hand, the evaluations on my personal direction are rolling in. I'm really happy with where I am both personally and professionally, which is a neat trick, but I'm not sure what comes next. Now is the time to Iook back and relive how I got here and where I might want to go, figuratively and literally. Greece is a good start; I feel like it's got a lot of potential, and it's out of my comfort zone without being too far afield. But for someone who's lived in a series of five year plans I know surprisingly little beyond that.

But where was I one year ago, five years ago, ten? And where, then, did I hope to be now? It's a tricky question because I've improvised so much that there is at least some aspect of my life that would never have occurred to any of these three past selves, but I think they'd approve. And that gives me confidence that my current lack of long-term planning is itself a plan; I will see what comes my way and embrace opportunities as they arise. It's worked well for me so far.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Natal Day Navel Gazing

It's been a big year for me. I didn't get all retrospective and contemplative for New Year's because I was in Europe and very much in the moment, but with an upcoming birthday i'm showing all the signs. The past few years it's been the opposite, living in Europe in March but domestically in January, so I've had things reversed for awhile.

I like the tradition I started at 30, of spending the day exploring someplace new and interesting, so I'll be heading up to Vancouver on Monday after the close of the Olympics. Hearing what eveyone has said about the city I'm eager to see it, and I'll get a chance to visit friends I haven't seen in awhile. I'm quite looking forward to it.

But, to return to the subject at hand, the evaluations on my personal direction are rolling in. I'm really happy with where I am both personally and professionally, which is a neat trick, but I'm not sure what comes next. Now is the time to Iook back and relive how I got here and where I might want to go, figuratively and literally. Greece is a good start; I feel like it's got a lot of potential, and it's out of my comfort zone without being too far afield. But for someone who's lived in a series of five year plans I know surprisingly little beyond that.

But where was I one year ago, five years ago, ten? And where, then, did I hope to be now? It's a tricky question because I've improvised so much that there is at least some aspect of my life that would never have occurred to any of these three past selves, but I think they'd approve. And that gives me confidence that my current lack of long-term planning is itself a plan; I will see what comes my way and embrace opportunities as they arise. It's worked well for me so far.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.