Where is Jennifer?

The last few years have been unusual times.  Like most people, my roller coaster ride included times of success, failure (or what felt like failure to me at the time), joy, sadness, celebration, sickness, health, anxiety, travel, quarantine and even times of a deeper sense of peace than I’ve known since I was a child.  

Part of my ways of handling life were to withdraw from social media, stop writing blog posts and recording video tips.  But I didn’t stop working, learning and thinking about things.  I was actually working more, then working less, rediscovering how I best contribute to the world, and getting comfortable with finally having the right balance in my life.  Professionally, I’m in a great place right now.

I had a little bit of a head start in this process.  My step back from social media and visibility began in November 2019 with a six-week cruise to celebrate my husband’s 65th birthday. With a conscious decision to be fully present for this time together experiencing the South Pacific, I stepped back from work responsibilities, put the phone away, and canceled everything else on my schedule.  We still checked email and had phone calls with family and friends but I didn’t post or look at social media.  We flew home from Australia in time to celebrate Christmas 2019 with family and friends, never imagining that our “trip of a lifetime” could very well have been just that.   

Travel changes our perspective on our world and our place in it.  Once back in the real world, I no longer felt the pull to check my phone whenever I was bored or wanted a distraction.  I was better able to focus on my priorities.  Then as I began to re-engage online in 2020, what I saw generated feelings of anxiety, anger, conflict and sadness.  I remained withdrawn for what I justified as self preservation and my own mental home.

But during this withdrawal, I also missed the joys and celebrations.  I didn’t share things that might have helped someone else.  Even as a private person and an introvert, I now remember that we all need connections to not just survive, but to thrive.  This time has allowed me to focus on deepening the bonds of individual relationships, which is where I find much strength. Now it’s time to find balance in my use of social media to stay connected, share in both joys and sorrows, and participate in the world.  I can’t avoid conflict or the negative things continuing to happen in our world.  I can control my focus, my reaction and how I engage in the world and the contribution I can make to help others.

What does that balance look like for you?

Stay tuned for observations about the changing nature of what “work” looks like for many of us, and the opportunities for both individuals and organizations to thrive during this sea of change.