When we speak about #7ways2newConResConversations, we often reflect on the ways in which saying yes to invitations that were just a bit outside our comfort zone has been incredibly beneficial in our professional lives. In fact, if Emily hadn’t said yes to coming to Vancouver one weekend in 2014 for a Game Jam (after a 5 minute conversation with Sharon), PignPotato would not exist!
Saying yes to new adventures outside of the professional realm can be just as important – and can have wonderful impacts on the energy and creativity we bring back to our professional lives. We, at PignPotato, all spend a great deal of energy on GISH (the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt), for instance: each July, we work as a team of 15 to complete more than 200 weird tasks in a week. This past year, we got so many tasks accomplished that we were runners-up! You can see by a quick glance at our tumblr that we had a lot of fun during that week, but what you can’t see is the energy and focus that we brought back to our work in the period immediately following. Let’s just say that no work roadblocks look particularly challenging when you’ve managed to get four fire trucks together to play a 15 second “song” with their sirens. (Thank you again to our colleagues at the JIBC – @JIBCFireSafety and @KentHighnam!)
Of course, you don’t have to dedicate a week to a scavenger hunt to give yourself a jolt of new energy. Rowan has been tackling this goal one small act of kindness at a time since she began working with the non-profit organization Random Acts. Random Acts encourages folx to engage in frequent small acts of kindness through its #KindnessHero program, and Rowan is working her way through the levels. While she would certainly be kind without the promise of virtual badges, there’s a certain motivation to be found setting specific goals.
And, of course, the acts don’t need to be small. When a celebrity team chose to run a #BadIdeaTour marathon as part of a Random Acts fundraiser, Rowan (and Sharon) jumped at the opportunity to create an even worse idea! They hiked the 95-mile Isle of Man coastline – in the middle of winter, with heavy winds and minimal daylight hours. They raised funds for Random Acts, of course, but also re-charged creativity! And, they experienced an enormous amount of kindness themselves on the trip – an entire community seems to have been involved in resolving their flat tire, and almost as many in tracking down a missing laptop. Kindness really does inspire more kindness, so it’s no surprise that both Rowan and Sharon are entering 2019 with goals around helping others.
Here are some of the new adventures we are saying yes to in 2019:
- Rowan is aiming to complete 5 more #KindessHero levels.
- Emily said yes to joining the volunteer social media team at Ignite Seattle and is learning new tools and working with a great new group of folx outside the conflict resolution and legal fields.
- Amanda has plans to learn to cook with insects! (We think she means cooking insects rather than finding insect chefs to hang out with…)
- Cailean said yes to starting a new job – Marine Science Educator at Bamfield Marine Science Centre!
- Sharon plans to host a Game Jam focused on creating edible games – games that are made from edible pieces that are consumed through the game or games that result in the creation of edibles or… anything the participants can imagine!
- Mark is taking a course in Transformative Mediation – which is likely to offer some new perspectives to take back to his tax law practice.
- Darsey said yes to joining a book club to get back into reading post-concussion (and worse, post-film school!)
What new adventures will you say yes to in 2019?
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