Midyear in the Ripples
I've come to the center of my Rippling Year. An interesting place to be for a year in which I'm reminding myself to be guided by the question What is my center and what am I spreading?
If I conceive of this midpoint of the year as the middle of the ripples, like so,
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then I'm going to think "aloud" here about those ripples on the left as what I've spread so far this year.
In the first quarter of the year, the guidance I gave myself was to center reflection and spread ease with the phrase measured open attention.
I wrapped up the second cohort of CARE (the Consortium of Arts Related Entrepreneurs), my 4-month membership group for other independent culture workers looking for community connection and co-learning. It was a lovely gathering of people that a few participants reflected on with these words:
“CARE put me in a mindset of self-discovery and appreciation for my work.”
“CARE has expanded my network, helped me name my strengths and accomplishments, and also reassured me that lots of other independents share similar challenges to mine.”
I audited a course on Asian/American Women in Film at Wellesley College, my undergrad alma mater.
I went to London and NYC for some re-connection time with people and places that are still important to me, even if I'm not living in either city anymore.
I did a whole range of meaningful work for museums across the country, some as single offerings (like staff training with Oklahoma Contemporary or creating art love letters for the Guggenheim), and some as part of ongoing projects that I'm proud to be part of.
One of said projects has been working with the MFABoston to refresh and revitalize their in-gallery teaching since in-person tours returned after the COVID pause. That's included a wonderful mix of fractional work, coaching, virtual and in-person teaching, research and writing, and collaboratively working to make change. It's been rewarding to feel like I'm contributing to the museum where my undergraduate art history fascination took root.
On the other end of the spectrum of museum familiarity, I've also loved working with the Chrysler Museum of Art, which is a space I've never physically visited. But that hasn't stopped me from helping to build a new curriculum for training the incoming class of docents, including room for an in-person and an independent study cohort, in order to open the opportunity to folks who can't always get to the museum for day-long training sessions. It's sent me down the museum education research pathway for some satisfying reads, watches, and listens. It's made me think about how to teach the art of museum teaching from scratch. It's even made me dust off my VTS facilitation muscles (if you know, you know 😉).
Both of those ongoing museum projects continued on for me into Q2, which was my season for curious playful unfolding, where I aimed to center play and spread adventure.
The second quarter of the year saw the successful launch of SEED:Baltimore, an example of the kind of collaboration I love having with other people who are working independently. We're continuing to meet monthly with the cohort of over 20 museum managers who joined us in person for a kick-off day of exploring and bonding together.
Q2 was the incredible solar eclipse and the Northern Lights viewed from my driveway.
It was a new hair dye job and celebrating a friend's 40th birthday in Cancún, and enjoying small town highlights like the library book sale and the local porchfest.
It was more work on the ongoing museum projects I mentioned above, and it was also crafting some fun professional development for the Denver Art Museum.
In Q2 I started a course on Nonviolent Communication, and made a key suggestion to one of the network groups I'm part of to shape what I hope will turn into an exciting skill-building course of our own (more on that to come soon).
I revamped and refreshed my website.
I took on a couple of one:one coaching clients seeking individual help.
I spent an inspiring couple of days in San Diego facilitating a gathering for the Teen Science Cafe Network, which helps adult leaders around the country gather teens to create fun events (designed by and intended for the teens) where they learn about STEM careers (or STEAM careers if you add art to your science, technology, engineering, and math; or STREAM, as I learned from one participant whose district is working to include reading, as well).
And here I am at the mid-point of the year. The pebble at the center of the ripples, if I look back at my very scientific diacritical diagram.
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How's my center feeling?
Good. I'm feeling stable and balanced and poised to adapt to what comes next.
I'm keeping up the consistency of business rhythms like regular accounting and regular writing/publishing that I told myself I wanted 2024 to bring. The systems I put in place to build that foundation in 2023 are paying off.
2024 has felt like the first year where I’m seeing work come to me without my first having to go out and seek it. Someday maybe I’ll dig further into how my Human Design profile as a Splenic Projector (it sounds unfortunately like I’m having internal organ problems) resonates. The short version is that these folks are guided by insight and intuition, and they’re able to see connections between things that pass most people by. While I’m not always the wait-for-invitations type that Projectors are, I will say that this year, I’ve been feeling more comfortable in that role, and it’s led to some of the varied and interesting work I’ve detailed up above.
Leaning into this trust that opportunities will come to me has led to making more money in the first half of this year than I made all of last year. I'm not yet at the financial goal I set myself for 2024, but it's looking reachable.
Several of my ongoing projects are winding down, which is giving me a bit of a natural breather in the middle of the year. A new center to ripple from.
I said yes to a week of backpacking along the Colorado Trail with another now-independent alum of the museum world. I've never done this kind of camping, where I'm carrying all my gear with me (let alone hiking in the Rockies all day every day for a week), and I'm eager for—and, let's be honest, intimidated by—the coming challenge. I've gotten sucked into the world of online recommendations for lightweight gear, and holy hell, there are a lot of folks out there very determined to minimize every last ounce and gram! (While I do get the weight saving imperative, I am not going as far as cooking my meals with the heat of my crotch?!)
I'll be taking August off to recover from that hike and for my annual reading retreat away from the internet in Northern Maine. Please send me any reading recommendations you've got!
This is just the kind of kick off to summer and quarter 3 that suits my adventurer spirit quite well: making room for something new and intimidating and a little risky and then balancing it with rest and calm and time to recharge my batteries.
The Q3 guidance I've given myself is to center rest and spread alternative points of view, along with the phrase strategic pirate cycles.
As I look toward the second half of my Rippling Year, I'm excited to turn those energies of influence toward my independent offerings.
In September, I'm hosting a salon for members of the Lifestyle Business League about lessons from historical pirates for modern business owners.
I'll also be in New Mexico for part of September, and I'd love to do some work while I'm there, so if you're interested in collaborative projects in that part of the country, drop me a line.
In October, I'll be opening the doors for the third cohort of CARE.
Along with my fellow SEED team members, Rebecca Shulman and David Bowles, I'll be opening registration for a management training course we've created (more to come on that one soon, but as a teaser FYI, this initial version of the course will start with an in-person, day-long workshop in New York City in January 2025).
I've got travel on the horizon, too: to The Lightning Field in September, to New Orleans with college besties in October, and possibly to London again in November.
I have some other idea tendrils starting to grow that are more tentative, and I'll keep them germinating in the fruitful dark for now.
But overall, this taking stock at the center of the year is making me excited for the ripples that are going to emanate into Q3 and Q4 of 2024.
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Some of those ripples are ones I've already set in motion, but I'm also curious to see what new ones will arise.
What work of facilitation or planning or change-making or thought-partnering could I help you with?
What projects do you have (with an organization or independently) that feel like they could use an outside perspective or another person's brain/heart/body to make them sing?
So, as I reflect here in this moment of pause at the center of my Rippling Year, before I strap my backpack on and head out for some time in Big Nature, I'd love to hear from you! What ripples are you creating in your own world? What are you centering, and what's spreading from there?
Whether you're a museum worker past or present, a hiking aficionado with tips, or someone with a project that could benefit from "strategic pirate cycles," drop me a line and let's see if we can generate some ripples together.
Creative Prompt Coda: Make up a TikTok worthy dance by stringing together 3-5 movements you make in an average day. (posting on TikTok not required)
