My social energy just is not what it used to be. Even in the Before Times (aka pre-pandemic aka BCE… Before Covid Era), I’d been steadily leaning more and more into my introverted side. But now, after over two years of majorly curtailed social behavior, I felt like I needed (at least) an entire day of rest to recover.

An incomplete list of things that made me very happy today.

&

An incomplete list of things that made me anxious today

I want my personal adventures and the adventures I design for others to have that electrifying sense of resonance and surprise that can only come when you’re deeply connected. I want to be part of making experiences that push me and my fellow adventurers productively outside our comfort zones, right up to our learning edges. I want experiences that will make us feel tingly or warm or refreshed or zapped or soothed or light, or some other somatic, embodied feeling that roots us right there in that moment, individually and together.

I’m offering a new series of virtual monthly workshops in 2022. The series is called Interchange, with each month’s offering focusing on a different theme. Since it’s the launch of a new endeavor, here’s a bit of backstory and information about it. You can consider this an FAQ, but since these aren’t technically questions that have been frequently asked, think of it as Framing, Articulating Questions.

To me, this word says change while leaving room for multiple possibilities. It says tear-down-the-Bastille radicalism and steadfast growth over time. It says spinning something on its head to see it from a new perspective, and it says changing form until things look entirely new. It includes room for power, the energetic force that keeps things moving and power, the quiet dedication that wears away stubborn resistance bit by bit.

It’s change as a lightning bolt and as a slow drip of water on rock.

I am trying to live my values of TRANSPARENCY, VULNERABILITY, and COLLECTIVITY, and in that spirit, I sent out a survey this past summer to professional contacts, asking them how they perceive me and my work.

I’m giving myself a sabbatical of sorts from a professional field that is both still dear to me and seems hopelessly mired in harmful behaviors.

An interdepartmental team of curators and educators came together to brainstorm ideas for how to take action in response, and after some discussion, we decided to focus in on this section: “Always be just as ready to listen as you are emboldened to speak out for or against others.”

How do I want to make the shift from coordinator to manager? What kind of path do I want to forge for myself on this journey? How can I “pay it forward” to empower those around me to find their own paths?

This program was an exciting step towards a goal near and dear to my heart: using digital technology to explore museum collections without the technology overwhelming or distracting from the artwork.  And it was a chance to explore the world of game design in museums, which has been on my museum education radar for a while.