Frames of reference

My work goes in waves and I apply a certain amount of discipline to even it out over time, whether it's writing a book, working for a client, or out speaking to good-sized audiences about the themes in my first book, "Advice From A Risk Detective."

But Mother Nature is a constant frame of reference for me, allowing me take comfort in familiar seasonal patterns.  Last week in honor of our anniversary, I potted in these primroses, just like I have done to celebrate for at least the last 30 years.

Spring primroses in pots on front steps.

  

Green Lake on a wet overcast morning.

In this photo I took while walking at Green Lake, it's possible only from the bare tree branches to get a good guess at time of the year.  The surrounds of the lake are so familiar to me that I could probably walk the 2.8 miles blindfolded.  Yet I am constantly amazed at how new it looks whenever I walk.

My home.

Finally, my home, where the rain and wind washed everything shiny bright in the last 24 hours.  It's my ultimate point of reference.  How I feel at home is reflected in the opening words of the first chapter of the risk detective book.


You have a right to think of it as your castle.  Our homes are the places we start from and return to each day -- the embodiment of our styles, the places into which we can both invite friends and retreat from the work. 

Matters of the heart.

Antique Valentine, 1909

We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day so much as use it to remind ourselves that February 15th is our wedding anniversary.


We had a reasonably unconventional wedding.  Leroy and I were married by a judge at the county courthouse in Hannibal, Missouri, birthplace of Mark Twain.  His beard was commented upon positively by the judge and his staff -- turns out the city was celebrating its sesquicentennial by having all the men grow beards. Afterward, we drove to St. Louis to see its famous arches.  By the time we reached St. Louis, we were in near blizzard conditions, so we had hot dogs in a place not unlike Seattle's Frankfurter, then got back in the car and drove back north.


Our marriage certificate burned up in a house fire in Rochester, New York five years later. That certificate didn't have much to do with how connected we felt then or now, nor do the outward trappings of Valentine's Day.  Each year, though, we raise our glasses over a festive dinner on the 15th with dear friends, the Adams, to celebrate our anniversary, Hazard's birthday, and over 30 years of friendship.


I should also point out that, though it was not a consideration in selecting our wedding date, it's easier to book a table on the night after Valentine's Day.

Breaking up is hard to do.

2008 Opening Ceremonies: Carrying the "Victories" Flag

Some of you may know that I started this blog in 2006, as I started to train for my first 3Day Walk for the Cure, sponsored by the Komen Foundation.  I'm not myself a survivor, but I was drawn to the cause by my friend Jenny. I made many friends from the six months of training as part of the Kindred Spirits team in 2007 and 2008, and from the two 3Day events as well.  There is simply no other event that makes you feel a part of a cause larger than yourself, where participation requires a lot of training, and where it's clear that you are doing good.


I've continued to go out and cheer my Kindred Spirits team at each subsequent event, and make personal and business donations to Komen and the team. My estimate is that I've raised over $50,000 since I started to focus on the issue of early detection and screenings for breast cancer.  When I asked for donations, I always mentioned that it was for research that benefited not only breast cancer, but other forms of cancer as well; and that it supported screenings for women who could not otherwise afford them. The millions of dollars raised here in Seattle alone have meant that the incidence of death from breast cancer has gone down significantly because of early detection and regular screenings.


Komen's decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood clinics who offer these screenings is difficult for me on several fronts.  I find that I can't overlook the bitter politics involved in Komen's revised policy on grants.  The bottom line is that it means that I will direct my personal and business support for breast cancer to Planned Parenthood, specifically so that these screenings can still be made available to low income women.


The decision is personally painful to me because not supporting Komen means I won't be making donations to the Kindred Spirits team.  There's a minimum amount that each walker is required to raise before they can participate in the 3 Day, and it's been difficult for many of them in the economic climate of the past several years for them to hit their minimum. I know that the event is compelling from a personal perspective. Strong friendships have been made over the years. My admiration and personal concern for each of you who will continue to walk is unchanged.

London, Paris, New York and DC

I read a review of a new exhibition at the Contemporary Turner gallery in London, and it made me want to find a British client so that I could spend a week revisiting museums, libraries and galleries in that city. Ideally, I'd then spend another week in Paris, doing the same thing.  Because of the underground transportation systems, both cities are eminently walkable. 

But I'm lucky enough to already have planned a trip to the East Coast in late February.  I'll be in New York City for meetings and a global risk conference, then take the train south to Washington DC for more meetings.  I'm going to build museum time into these visits, in particular for the renovated Islamic and American galleries at the Metropolitan, the Diego Rivera exhibition at MOMA, and for the Callahan photography exhibit at the National Gallery.
 

I am happy  that my life and work integrate such that I can plan such treats for the eye and for the spirit.

" The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

As this year's holiday rolls around, I worry that the moral arc is shaky.  I cannot remember a time when there has been such blatant racism in national discourse, and when the rhetoric has been so unpromising, especially from pious-sounding candidates who call our president "un-patriotic."  We've seen times like this before, where the racism was more overt than polite.  Until the last few years, we might have thought that things have improved in this country where racism is concerned.


So I went back to take a look at the original quotation. Dr. King often paraphrased the fuller quotation from Theodore Parker, who wrote it in the 1850s.


"I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice." 


It's been a long time since Dr. King was assassinated.  Let's hope that arc is truly bending toward justice.

Winter holiday

James & Jackie at Left Bank Books

So much to see!

This is one of James favorite haunts from days of old.  The mime was a bonus.

Most frequently photographed place in Seattle, I think.

At the Olympic Sculpture Park inside Richard Serra's amazing sculpture(s).

Dinner for Modern Language Association colleagues.

Leroy of course cooked salmon.

James spoke on a panel at the conference.  He's the one in his red union shirt.

James can cook also.  Here he is making us risotto with beets and butternut squash.

We also visited Volunteer Park to show Jackie the view through Nagouchi's "Black Sun."

New year, new circle

I was lucky enough to take part in the very first "Reboot Your Life" weekend retreat offered by The Sabbatical Sisters.  I was on the second leg of my train trip around the country, arriving in Santa Fe from Los Angeles.  Eight of us converged on Cathy Allen's beautiful home for a wide variety of discussions and exercises designed to make us rethink the use of our time.


One of the most interesting exercises is to set goals once a year that are achievable, and then take a look at the end of the year to see how you have done. You can read exactly how to undertake the "goals circle exercise" in the book written by the four Sabbatical Sisters -- Catherine Allen, Nancy Bearg, Rita Foley, and Jaye Smith -- titled Reboot Your Life: Energize Your Career & Life by Taking a Break available on Amazon. com.


This exercise is in the chapter titled "Living the Lifelong Sabbatical."


Since 2009, I've taken New Year's Day to look at last year's circle and then to make adjustments when I make a new one, often because I've learned something about myself from the review.  Here's how you would proceed:


Make a circle and divide it into six to eight pie slices, which you then label with aspects of your life.  I use six slices, and they are labeled health, creativity, books, financial, career, and personal.
The next step is to identify five goals for the new year in each category.  This can take longer than one sitting; and indeed you'll find that some of the pie slices change from year to year because of projects you might undertake.  Once you've completed this portion of the exercise, then pick out the goal in each category that is most important to you.  Make a new circle with only a single goal in each slice, and keep it with you to remind yourself and review progress during the year.


All of the slices are designed to have equal weight so that you have begun to balance your time more evenly across these aspects of life.


How did I do in 2011?  I can see now that I have actually blended a couple of slices:  somehow "publish the personal safety book" is part of the career slice as much as it is in its own books slice.  Creativity got exercised in its own slice through photography, this blog and gardening. The personal and health and financial slices each show movement toward the type of balance I'm working on. Career is the one still giving me the most challenge, as I experiment with multiple roles, adding still another this spring when I teach an operational risk course at the University of Washington. 


Those of you who have never made a circle and divided it evenly in a deliberate attempt to rebalance your life might want to give it a try.  There's a certain lightness of spirit that comes from this exercise year after year.  


Happy New Year and new circle!