I was asked to be part of a woman's power circle. 10 women who will meet 10 times in 2012 to help encourage each other in our careers and lives. We are calling ourselves Playing Big.
I am honored to be a amongst these super high-achieving, powerful women. We meet in a beautiful conference room overlooking downtown SF in Embarcadero One at PixInk, my friend Ayesha's design firm that focuses on developing and marketing brands for women.
We start out sharing something that we can brag about that has happened in the last month. Then we each get a segment of time to ask for something from the group. Then we have a guest come in and talk with us about something we all want to know more about.
This month I asked for help generating comedic scenes/stories about women in the workplace, a project I'm working on with H. and J. It can be about the glass ceiling or working in the man's world or anything as long as it's funny and personal. Right away got some great scenes. If you have any ideas, please email them to me. I love this brainstorming phase.
Being with these women, even though I hardly know them, gives me strength.
One of the women has a project called Madly In Love with Me. She said something that really hit me. It's about doing less and being more. And the inner voice women have, inspired by the early feminist movement, that we can "have it all." I have talked about it here.
What is wrong with wanting it all? Nothing. I want it all.
It's the message embedded in it, though, that we must therefore DO IT ALL. We must be superhuman. Yet I'm sure, like me, you are finding it impossible to do it all and be happy.
DOING IT ALL is too much. It means doing not only what we want, but doing everything for everyone else. Where is the real person in that? How can we actually DO what we really WANT?
One day you wake up and you are 51 and you realize DOING IT ALL is making you crazy and miserable. Maybe 50% or more of what you do is making you happy. But maybe there are a bunch of things you really need to stop DOING. That's how I'm feeling. I need to cut some things out so I can BE more.
I don't have all the time in the world. My time left on this planet is limited. I gotta be judicious. I gotta figure this out.
I am honored to be a amongst these super high-achieving, powerful women. We meet in a beautiful conference room overlooking downtown SF in Embarcadero One at PixInk, my friend Ayesha's design firm that focuses on developing and marketing brands for women.
We start out sharing something that we can brag about that has happened in the last month. Then we each get a segment of time to ask for something from the group. Then we have a guest come in and talk with us about something we all want to know more about.
This month I asked for help generating comedic scenes/stories about women in the workplace, a project I'm working on with H. and J. It can be about the glass ceiling or working in the man's world or anything as long as it's funny and personal. Right away got some great scenes. If you have any ideas, please email them to me. I love this brainstorming phase.
Being with these women, even though I hardly know them, gives me strength.
One of the women has a project called Madly In Love with Me. She said something that really hit me. It's about doing less and being more. And the inner voice women have, inspired by the early feminist movement, that we can "have it all." I have talked about it here.
What is wrong with wanting it all? Nothing. I want it all.
It's the message embedded in it, though, that we must therefore DO IT ALL. We must be superhuman. Yet I'm sure, like me, you are finding it impossible to do it all and be happy.
DOING IT ALL is too much. It means doing not only what we want, but doing everything for everyone else. Where is the real person in that? How can we actually DO what we really WANT?
One day you wake up and you are 51 and you realize DOING IT ALL is making you crazy and miserable. Maybe 50% or more of what you do is making you happy. But maybe there are a bunch of things you really need to stop DOING. That's how I'm feeling. I need to cut some things out so I can BE more.
I don't have all the time in the world. My time left on this planet is limited. I gotta be judicious. I gotta figure this out.
Indeed...AMEN.
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