Ever wanted to jump into a bin of balls?

Posted by random olio

I have alway had this childlike zest for kid things. Maybe it was because I had to grow up fast, but I love skeeball, bowling, batting cages, whack a mole, bumper cars, roller coasters. I love them all. There are times where I can just stop in the middle of the day and just want to go and play, kick ass in a batting cage until my hands hurt from gripping the bat. Call me crazy.

I just want to add to the list. I have always wanted to jump into a bin of balls. Since I am a simple Indiana girl, and the only place I can ever remember that had a bin of balls was McDonalds, and well for one reason or another I never partook in such adventures of bins and balls. So when I saw this video, I had a grin on my face and a feeling of zeal, or maybe it was a twinge of jealousy.

I would have no problem jumping into the bin of balls, and I think I might have a mighty time connecting with another individual in said bin of balls. It is funny and endearing. I laughed at 1:45 (because the teeth comment is odd and made me laugh.) I had tears when the mom said: “My daughter is everything I ever wanted to be.” It made me wonder what it would be like to have a mom think and say that. I want to know what it feels like. I think you will enjoy this video.

The world is amazing when we open our eyes, reach out to others and take adventure into our world. Let me know if you know of a bin of balls in Portland!

Tired, but puzzle pieces galore.

Posted by random olio

Yes, it is Friday. It has been a long week. Last night, well actually 3 nights this week I came home from work, skipped my run, slipped into my pajamas, and curled up on the couch to work for the rest of the night. There are some crucial deadlines happening in the next few weeks that require my attention. I have had back-to-back meetings all week, which means that my true focus time on emails, writing, and strategy is at night in my sweatpants, glasses, and The Voice on DVR. It is my life this week. What is funny is I do not really mind. I love the variety of projects I have to think through and execute on. What I miss is my daily run and book.

It is funny to me that the hardest part of my week is the lack of movement. It has become an addiction for me. Sometimes life throws us a curveball and we have to make different choices. Even if I did not need to come home to write and strategize, I am not sure I have the energy this week to strap on my LunarGlide 5’s. If I had a window for this week, I think I would either slide into a steaming hot bath, or crawl into bed. Why? Well, I am tired.

You might think, wow. You need to find a balance, and yes, I do. What is great though is that right now I love what I am doing. I like the vast variety of projects I am working on, that I constantly have to think of how it is all going to come together. It is like a puzzle that you have to put together, but you do not have the picture on the top of the box. Instead you have to figure out what the puzzle is going to look like without a guide or a map. Funny right? Isn’t that what life is all about? We do not have a map, and if we did the world would rip it up, smash it into a wad, soak it, burn it until we can handle that blank puzzle, and design the pieces new everyday.

Sometimes we have days where we are able to connect all the dots, and finish the puzzle and other days where we can barely find all the edge pieces amongst the 4000+ other pieces. Isn’t that what makes life interesting? If we kept putting together the same damn puzzle (that only had 10 pieces) wouldn’t you be so so so bored? I would. I love the adventure of putting together what I know, meeting new people in the process, learning about their life, finding out how they fit in my puzzle, or I in their puzzle, and finding out what glorious picture ends up in front of me. Then I smile and start all over again with a new puzzle.

For now though, I look forward to some sleep, and time with my better half. I have earned it.

“More than just a princess.”

Posted by random olio

Last night I spent the evening with a group of colleagues, all women. It was a badass bunch of women. Loads of talent, creativity, ingenuity, and well…sassy spunk. I am a sassy spunk kind of girl. I like to laugh. I like to ponder the world, deliberate on how individuals interact, and at the end of the day explore how women can rule the world. Why not, right? The mind of a woman is complex, intricate, and full of multi-tasking wonder. It is fun to have an evening of good food, conversation, and appreciation in the middle of the week.

I drove home thinking, “would I have had the same kind of evening with a mixed group of men and women?” My answer is yes, and no. See I did not know everyone well. I knew some better than others. And yet, I feel like women know how to bridge that gap, and find ways to connect, in ways that men don’t. Or so I think, since the last time I checked, I am not a man. Thank God.

Which is why this video resonated with me (much like “Riley and Pink Toys“). A good friend shared it on Facebook, and I had to share it, because while it is about future girl engineers, and toys for girls, it also makes me think of how the woman’s mind works. How everything in a woman’s mind is interconnected, a puzzle always being put together and solved.

A Beastie Boys twist of lyrics is what also does it for me. By the way, I love the girl’s t-shirt. “More than just a princess.” Damn straight! I am grateful for the openness, sisterhood, and connection that can happen so easily between women.

#womenrock

Staying True to Yourself

Posted by random olio

Fitting in or not. It is a fact of life. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. What matters most is what we do when that happens. Do we try to change ourselves to fit in, or do we stay true to ourselves and not let who we are go even if it means not fitting in?

You would think that it only happens in school. Right? No, it is part of the world we live in, whether we are in school, at work, with friends, and sometimes even in our families. I definitely struggled at different points in school with fitting in. First, there is the question, do I even like the “cool” kids? Do I want to hang out with them, or are they annoying, mean, you fill in the blank. If there is a desire to hang with those so-called unattainable kids, then maybe you want to solve the magic 8 ball to find out how you can hang with them. You might find though that it is not always what it is cracked up to be.

It happens from toddlers to an old folks home, fitting in is just a fact of life. We all create tribes and cliques. We all have preferences and choices of who joins us. Yet, through it all, the most genuine way to fit in is to be yourself. I can remember countless times in my life when I never really felt I fit in. When I was younger and my mom was sick, my life was different, and it made it hard to relate to my peers. In high school when my mom died, I was back at boarding school within a week, and it made it hard to process and who I wanted in my life at that time.

Eventually something happens in your life and you learn that you just have to stick to who you are, regardless of whether others do not like you for who that is. It was in college when I finally said: “I don’t give a shit what others think. I am going to be me, and if others like that person, great, and if they don’t that is fine too.” We just have to stay true to ourselves, and let the rest happen. Otherwise if we divert from ourselves, it will take us that much longer to find our way home.

Johari Window

Posted by random olio

Many months ago a colleague told me about the Johari Window. It was an idea I had never heard of, but the concept keeps coming back into my thoughts. If you are not familiar with the Johari Window, think of it as a communication model shown with a grid with four boxes. The top left is our open area, it is the part of ourselves that both we and others see. The top right is our blind spot, it is what others see, but we are not aware of. The bottom left box, is the hidden area, it is only what we see. The bottom right box is the unknown, of which we have not learned, and others cannot see. I have seen these shown or described in different orders, but the gist is still the same.

The area that I am most interested in is our blind spots. This is the quadrant we can learn most about ourselves because we have the option of feedback from others. In teams where trust has been earned and communication is open, sharing feedback can be a constructive way to help others see their blind spots. An example: let’s say that a member of your team always cuts others off (I am sure I am an offender on that from time to time), and it is frustrating to everyone on the team. Cutting others off falls into their “blind spot” quadrant, if they have no idea they do it. If other members of the team share their frustration and constructive feedback, it could lead to helpful team dynamics going forward. It would mean they have opened this individual’s blind spot.

The idea of the Johari Window as a model of communication is that we constantly move between the different quadrants. If I share something new about myself, I have moved that information and insight about myself from my hidden area to my open area. If my team has taught me about a blind spot, it has been moved to my open area. Many of the things that might fall into a blind spot have to do with body language, mannerisms, style, and tone. This model helps to encourage feedback, so that individuals can know how their behavior impacts others. It is then their choice to work on it, or leave things untouched.

Ready to learn about your blind spots?