Lessons from 2010

  With the year behind me I sit and reflect on what has been an amazing year.  How can it not be amazing when one discovers her passion? I have learned from several lessons that have been dealt to me through my choices, and the choices of others.  I have decided to recap those lessons here.  
  
1.  Procrastination does not pay most of the time.  
  In just completing and submitting a video to the Ford Focus Global Drive, the deadline for video submissions was set for 11:59 p.m. December 31, 2010.  I managed to get the video in by December 30, and thought that there would be plenty of time to have the video viewed and liked by our supporters, but alas voting ended at 11:59 p.m. on December 31 as well.  I feel as though I have been punched in the stomach.  I worked really hard on it for the previous week, spent many late nights (the toils of having a full time day job), with a few times of utter elation, utter despair, some tears of frustration for progress lost, only to have Ford say "That's it folks.  Voting is now done."  Granted, it is only a small part of the selection process, but sheesh, they could have extended it longer.  I have known about it for a month, but since I was not inspired, and was busy with the holiday season, I procrastinated it until the last minute.  Not a good idea.  I let my charity down, and I know this.  Bottom line, procrastination is usually a bad idea, and I now have to live with the consequences.  The video was good though, so feel free to check it out here.

  2. Things do not happen overnight
  As the year started out,  things felt as though they were happening over night, first the trip then the move to Austin felt like it was happening overnight, but as the year progressed I learned in both my day job and the work with FoCo, that things don't just magically happen.  It takes time and sometimes a village to accomplish that.  That especially became evident in the Chase Community Giving Facebook contest.  Even though I came in late on that one, it all came down to the last minute, and those of us who were working towards just maintain our rankings in the top 200.  For our fearless leader, sleep deprivation became a way of life, but she was able to rally a village and I think even a couple of neighboring ones as well to accomplish that goal, but that was an entire month long process.  Definitely not overnight.  Through that she taught me patience is a virtue, but sometimes we need to put that virtue aside for the greater good.  After all it was twenty grand on the line, sometimes one just needs to be pushy.  

 3.  The importance of the social side of social networking
  Again the Chase Community Giving brought that to a major forefront in my life.  Had I not maintained the social side of my social network, with the chats and the like, I don't think that I would have gotten the response I did from my group of friends.  Some of whom I already knew in person, jumped right in and helped me out, but mostly it took me personally asking them through the personal chat to illicit some sort of action.  Had I not maintained those relationships prior to the contest,  how rude of me to expect an action on their part.   Lesson here, no matter if you have met them through strictly internet or in person, do not neglect this aspect or your mission will fall on deaf ears.  


  4.  Discovering your passion is an amazing thing
  It has only taken the last 37 years of my life to discover it, but finding one's passion is an amazing feeling.  I had just resolved to float through life doing what interests me at the time.  In my professional life I worked in industries that I thought would be fun and they have been, but to find my passion fuels a whole different fire from within.  It is amazing how one can refocus on goals and what becomes important.  Like finishing my education for one.  In realizing that nonprofit work is what I want to do, I also realized that without my degree, my choices are very limited.  Plus, it is another long time goal I have had in place since as long as I can remember, but to have the drive to complete it has not been with me until now.  I am thinking that a business degree is a good thing since I seem to have the head for it, but computer tech also interests me as well, so I might as well minor in that.  I just want to pursue my passion plain and simple.  I love the visual arts, and I love how that comes into play with nonprofit work since we are such a visually stimulated society and I love working towards the greater good, improving someone else's life, leaves me with such a sense of satisfaction.   


  5.  Having one day a week set aside to be "unplugged" is a good thing
  In this day and age when technology and the internet surround us in every aspect of our lives, be it at work, home, via our smart phones or ipads, it is important to "unplug."   I have set aside one day per week, Sunday, as my unplugged day.  Even though I sit and write this on a Sunday (do as I say, not as I do), I can always tell the difference in myself when I do take that time.  We all need to give our brains a rest so speak, so on my unplugged day I read and knit, and what ever else strikes my fancy that day,  just to rest my brain.  Sometimes it is just a mindless movie that I can become lost in,  but it is amazing how much I can actually accomplish on those days.  If you have family it is a great time to focus strictly on them.  So going forward with 2011, I normally don't make New Year's resolutions, but I can make an exception in this one case, I resolve to take one day per week and just give it a rest.  Starting next week of course.
  I was going to end with just this five, but one other lesson just occurred to me so I will include a sixth.
  
6.  No matter where you live, a turtleneck shirt is always useful
  I thought in moving to South Central Texas, wow still sounds weird but I digress, that I would no longer need my cold weather clothes so I donated them to charity before I moved, but the one item I wish would have kept is my turtlenecks.  Contrary to popular belief it does get cold here in Austin, and what I wouldn't give for a couple of my old turtlenecks to keep me warm.  They were colorful and warm, and looked great on me, and would have been very useful in many circumstances.  Now I know I could go buy some but that is not the point.  I already owned them, and I should have held on to at least a couple of them.  Hind sight is 20/20.  Lesson here, you can always use a good turtleneck.  
  
  May all my friends, colleagues and fellow man find all the prosperity, joy and happiness they deserve in 2011.  I know this is going to be one great year, I can just feel it.  

The Learning Curve

  I have so much to learn.  Each day I am reminded of this fact.  Twitter seems to be the way to go, and I am making some connections that I think are valuable, but one never knows.  Trying to figure out how to best engage, I know that I need to build my following, which I am trying to do each day.  In the last 3 days I have managed to pick up 20 more but it is slow going.  Slow and steady wins the race?  I just would rather have it done in a sprint, but this isn't a sprint it's a marathon.  The resume building that this whole experience gives me is amazing, but will I ever be able to do anything with it?  I hope so.  I love doing this type of thing.  I was speaking with an ex of mine a couple of nights ago, getting caught up on what is going on in each of our lives, and when I told him what I have been up to, the first words out were "wow, sounds as though you have finally found your passion."  He is right, I have found my passion, it's so cool to know that, finally, after searching for so long.  I need to get a grasp on the task at hand, and I am really not sure how to go about it.  I feel as though I don't have the time to properly devote to it, which scares me because of the responsibility involved.  I just want so badly to do well for them, the mission is amazing, I am engaged, and yet sometimes I feel as though I am spinning my wheels.  I want to do well for them, I just know that we are going to succeed.
  We came to the harsh realization yesterday that there is still so much more to learn if we are to go to the next level.  There are careful considerations to be made, and little big stuff that wasn't really thought of.  Like the importing aspect, there are a lot of little details associated with that, such as do the baby garments have to be flame retardant?  The fibers must be disclosed on the label, and god forbid we use real wool, then the restrictions get even worse. The textile industry in the US is carefully protected, through limits of the amount of items that can be imported.  Can you imagine?  Then the duties, are they from a most favored nation status?  If so then the duties are less, if not why state the obvious.  I for some reason have a hard time believing that Colombia is in the most favored nation status list.  There are special considerations for items that are knitted or crocheted.  a whole chapter in the importer's manual, which I might add is like reading stereo instructions.  It is just a lot to wrap the brain around.  Not having the funding to spend to bring in expert, we are left to rely on contacts, and and self discovery.  The stakes are high, and the losses  could be even greater.
  In the mean time, this past week has been one of tremendous growth for me.  I managed to put together a video
 Check out the video here
I also put together our first flyer to start an email list, with an e-newsletter.  I am discovering that the visual medium is one that I enjoy working in.  I am realizing that there is more I have to offer, most days I learn so much, the resources are endless, if you have the time to look, it is out there.  I also came to realization that I really don't know that much when it comes to leveraging social media for maximum exposure.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well as there are others depending on me, and I worry I will let them down, but I am still on the learning curve on that one.  One day at time.
This is what gets me up in the morning

Mr. Toads Wild Ride

This has deffinately been an roller coaster week.  I have felt the swoosh of decending down the steep hill only to dip back up to crest of another peak.  When all looks lost we must look forward and continue on. 

The week started with the loss of an important sector key to taking this thing to the next level, the battered women we were training.  It looked hopeless, like this was yet ANOTHER set back to getting the co-op started,  but the universe will provide.  Another door has opened, and the future looks bright for now.  

  I am learning that when dealing with a completely different culture, and being thousands of miles away, that in and of itself presents a  whole new set of challenges, but also the uncertainty that we constantly face.  Will we be thrown out of our current location?  What if we loose our current group of women?  What will happen to them?  How will we get more funding?  How do I make the most of our virtual networks? How do I maximize our exposure? If it were easy then everyone would be doing it.  

  For now the program will continue in a positive direction inching closer to formation of a knitting co-op.  Closer to having these women who have been cast aside by society to having a better future. Closer to that utopian world I so dream of.  I am a realist, I understand that true utopia will never exist, but is it so bad to continue to strive for it?  

  In the meantime I will continue to learn more about the virtual network and how to build it.  How to best gain exposure in this mass market glut of NPO's all looking to grow and gain market share.  Each one having a compelling story, each one looking to be heard.  I will look for the formula that resonates out.  I will shamelessly advocate for those whom society has cast aside because they were broken.  I will advocate for their repair because I care, because they are worth something.  I will advocate on their behalf because they can't.  Someone has to speak for the voiceless, until they can find their own.  I will do what I can.
Check us out here

The Passion

So I have figured out my passion, what gets me moving and motivates me, it's working in the nonprofit sector.  I have always had drive for it, my former and current employers usually having something to volunteer for, I always sign up.  I'm not sure what floats my boat about it, other than I can sleep at night and wake up knowing I have played a part in changing or improving another human being's life.  It keeps me humble too. I have always wanted to work with a group that actually teaches people how to improve and empowers them with the skills to help themselves.  I have found such an organization, grass routes starting from scratch, with one goal in mind, that morphed into a greater goal.  An incredible mission with an incredible goal, and need for growth, and funding.  

  I have grown so much in the last four months, learning on a curve, sometimes  flying by the seat of my pants, but still growing.  Some days my brain hurts from information overload, but still I want more.  I so want to see the individuals in this program succeed.  I want them to taste the flavors of success and accomplishment.  I already see the pride in their eyes coming through in pictures that don't lie.  That's what it's all about, giving someone a sense of self worth that once was not there.  

  So I continue on, pressing towards the goal.  Working towards a greater good, after all it's not a sprint, but a marathon.  I constantly think how can I improve this or that? What can we do different?  What is working, what isn't working.  It's amazing how consuming passion can be, but it keeps my brain firing on all 4 cylinders, maybe even upgrading it to a V-6, with the eventual goal of a V-8.  It keeps me sane.  It keeps me grounded.  I just wish it would pay the mortgage, but when one is doing what they are passionate about, "the universe will provide" a friend has unknowingly reminded me, more times than she knows.

This is what keeps me going. Click to check us out