This year has been a huge time of change for me. Each decision leading to another bigger one. Massive changes that have been keeping me a bit off balance, and that appears to be a good thing, a gift from the universe:
1) Knowing I wanted to change
In the beginning of the year, I know I wanted to change they way I was living my life, but I had no idea what to do next. I felt bored and smotherey and just the wrongness of where I was. That discomfort pushed me to start looking for what I needed to do next.
2) Serendipity
Wow. This one has actually become more of a life theme than I could have thought. I had two big serendipitous events in the beginning of the year, one of which lead to the other.
Bev Garvin followed me on Twitter and put me on a couple of lists. I went ahead and followed her back, which I don’t automatically do. A day or two later she tweeted about a conference she was hosting in Dallas. I didn’t really think I had the money to go, but I checked my account and was surprised to find that I had that and wouldn’t suffer any for not working that day either.
At Social Business Boot Camp I got irritated with how the MC handled a question and so, The Social Caterpillar was born.
Ori (the MC) responded to my post when I tweeted him about it and then reached out to help me make some adjustments to the blog to make it more useable.
Since we were both going to be at SxSWi I made a cake for him as a thank you, the whole time thinking that it was crazy, because I had no idea how I was going to find him to give him the cake.
Then I wore the wrong shoes and eleventy billion other things went sideways and he ran out of gas, so we met. And we’ve been fast friends ever since, even though sometimes I want to knock him down and stick beans up his nose. Because I can be mature like that.
3) Having time alone to think
A road trip I had been supposed to go on fell through. So I drove to NYC instead. I worked along the way and took a few days to make it out, stayed a few days, and then took a few days to make it back. And spent hours alone in my head. That can sometimes be a dangerous place to pass so much time, but I saw that I really could work from anywhere and if I wanted to travel like I said I did, then there really was *nothing* stopping me.
4) Following through on the big decisions
Ignoring my brain screaming at me “Oh-my-god, oh-my-god, oh-my-god, what-are-you-doing?!?!?!”, repeatedly. And keeping going anyway because I couldn’t see how going back would make anything any better.
5) Meeting my people.
I must have stumbled over The Fluent Self three or four times before I really read it, but when I did, I read all the way through the archives. And started chickening and VPAing, almost weekly. Through the reading and chickening and VPAing, I found so many wonderful people. Now we play on Twitter and FB and in chats and forums and eventually in the real world this year.
6) Finding my question of the year.
The question. My question. (Not really mine at all, it’s from Lisa Brady, but I have taken it as my own.
“If you trusted yourself the same way you trust that there will be enough air for your next breath, what would you do today?”
Wow. Again. The question that I turn to in order to see what I *need* to do next. Whether I want to or not. Sooooooo important. To me. And possibly you. But I don’t want to push. Much.
7) Deciding to turn SC into a business.
This one really happened in the soft. I realized that people were really resonating with what I was writing and I could help them while taking care of myself. A life made of win! We’re still in the early stages, and Yay! I prefer growing slowly and consciously and making each decision in its own time. Again with the Yay!
It’s been an exciting year and thank you all for being a part of it.
Tags: Awareness, Beginning, couch surfing ori, get out there, sxsw, travel, what i want
Pingback: Tweets that mention Seven Gifts from the Universe « The Social Caterpillar -- Topsy.com