Ah, Don't Hit Me! Parking Cars at Highlander
A short story about energy. When I was at Highlander this weekend, I went with very LOW expectations. I was wiped out from a challenging week, emotionally and physically, and my goals were:
* show up
* go to the LGBT activity in the big tent
* enjoy myself a little, at least once
Concentrating those simple, self-sustaining goals actually got me in a great place. Since I know that when I'm not feeling well I prefer mostly solitary time, I decided to volunteer from the get-go. I committed to helping park cars in an orderly fashion, and did so from 9-1:30 or so. There was something particular about having allowed myself to "just do" that activity and already be succeeding that allowed me to loosen up and really enjoy waving cars in. I was ... well, really cute (at least for the first few hours; then I was just fairly cute).
Cars would turn the corner to see me, and I would open my arms wide like I was giving a hug to my best friend. I'd use some goofy body language to wave them on, then pretend to run from their car, in mock fright. Then, eventually, swing up beside their car and direct them to park. Folks, almost without exception, greeted me with warm laughter when I finally finished my antic, just for them.
It was pretty tiring physically in the hot sun, but also energizing. Having hundreds of folks greet me as if they were glad to see me, though I was a stranger, was encouraging. But so was just succeeding at my simple task. With that attitude, I went to the big tent, felt more social and centered, met some great folks (as previously mentioned), and went on to have a great trip, both from a personal sense and from an "organizing" sense in that I made lots of new connections and supported folks in the process.
By taking good care of myself and making achievable goals that matched my energy, I ended up surpassing my low-expectations. But I think, chances are, that if I set out to push myself to meet folks I might not have had the same experience, and might have, instead, come home tired and worn out. At least, this is often how I work. Do a few things very well, and often lots of things fall into place along side them.
* show up
* go to the LGBT activity in the big tent
* enjoy myself a little, at least once
Concentrating those simple, self-sustaining goals actually got me in a great place. Since I know that when I'm not feeling well I prefer mostly solitary time, I decided to volunteer from the get-go. I committed to helping park cars in an orderly fashion, and did so from 9-1:30 or so. There was something particular about having allowed myself to "just do" that activity and already be succeeding that allowed me to loosen up and really enjoy waving cars in. I was ... well, really cute (at least for the first few hours; then I was just fairly cute).
Cars would turn the corner to see me, and I would open my arms wide like I was giving a hug to my best friend. I'd use some goofy body language to wave them on, then pretend to run from their car, in mock fright. Then, eventually, swing up beside their car and direct them to park. Folks, almost without exception, greeted me with warm laughter when I finally finished my antic, just for them.
It was pretty tiring physically in the hot sun, but also energizing. Having hundreds of folks greet me as if they were glad to see me, though I was a stranger, was encouraging. But so was just succeeding at my simple task. With that attitude, I went to the big tent, felt more social and centered, met some great folks (as previously mentioned), and went on to have a great trip, both from a personal sense and from an "organizing" sense in that I made lots of new connections and supported folks in the process.
By taking good care of myself and making achievable goals that matched my energy, I ended up surpassing my low-expectations. But I think, chances are, that if I set out to push myself to meet folks I might not have had the same experience, and might have, instead, come home tired and worn out. At least, this is often how I work. Do a few things very well, and often lots of things fall into place along side them.
posted by Mike Dolan Fliss at
9/03/2007 10:29:00 PM
1 Comments:
Mike-
It's Aaron with SAS. I'm getting ready for sleepy time; I have been reading your web page and blogs here-nice.
It seems to me that your mind is as I thought it was last year- full of fresh perspective and dreams that are attainable with work and delegation. I hope that you will continue to find significance in your aspirations. I would encourage you to find that same peace within yourself and the person that you are without all of it to fall back on. I would love to talk further with ya, Mike. Glad you're at SAS. Welcome.
Aaron
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