Constructing a post-transition lifestyle

Today I was a panelist for Leadership Austin's "Valentine's Gift to the Community" luncheon.....sharing the podium with Roy Sosa and Joe Parker. Each of us was to present one idea to transform the community. Roy talked about entrepreneurship, Joe talked about giving voice to "the other" and I ranted about health insurance with a proposal that Austin/Travis County provide universal healthcare to all who live and work in our municipality. What fun to present a bold idea and not have to turn around and iMplement it!

In the past being a panelist would have been a context for my networking for the organization I represented. There's always a potential volunteer, board member, donor, or collaborator in an audience from Leadership Austin or any civic group.

This time, there was no agenda for me, I thought. My current work is not Austin-centric and I was not expecting that an audience member would be able to assist me with my Psychology without Borders projects. So I did my talk, visited with colleagues about sports and their pursuits, and logged the event as time-off from my day job.

And yet, surprise was in store. Hearing that I was off to Java for PWOB, a person came up to me to give me the name of a colleague doing humanitarian relief in another part of Indonesia. Very helpful as I seek out lifelines to orient and ground me in my new adventures.

In case you were wondering...the building blocks of my life after ED are colorful, lightweight (so far) and fun to hold on to and play with - like the photo in this blog.

....I love my Monday night LBJ School class - teaching is a blast, the students are terrific, and I am having lots of fun moving out of practical stories and into case studies and conceptual frameworks. Last night's class - reading tax returns and audits - while sounding quite the snooze, was actually a dynamic learning evening.

....Psychology without Borders is accelerating...I finally have time to dig in more deeply, and there are all sorts of puzzles and knots to explore. The international colleagues that are guiding me are help[ing me begin to see patterns and the context in which I am living....still blurry but taking shape.

.... Eastern Europe adventures are not as easy to fit into this schedule, and my Fulbright colleague Peg is way ahead of me in terms of getting gigs and scheduling multiple projects....but I have two worktrips planned for this year, so I am (relatively) happy.

Still moving too fast to really allow transition to sink in. But it's feeling good.

Think I have totally forgotten Greenlights? Au contraire! But I am happy with how Matt's jumped in, 100% behind him, and looking forward to stories and invitations as my own dust settles.