Dreaming big for the journey

December 6 Was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial?

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I like to learn. After I’d worked at my old job for a year, I was eligible for tuition reimbursement. This was a big perk to staying at the job — that’s how much I wanted to take design classes (for free!). In the year leading up to this, I requested course catalogs from design and publishing schools in the city and would carefully highlight every class I wanted to take. Sometimes I would highlight and then flag. Then plan in my head when I could take what. New catalogs came three times a year and I did the same thing every. single. time. Even though the all same classes were offered. That’s how exciting this was for me.

My first semester, I enrolled in a typography class. The next semester I took a letterpress class (which was fun because I made T-shirts!). But leading up to my lay off in August, work was so stressful this year that I was only able to fit in a two-weekend class, which just wasn’t enough learning for me.

So I enrolled in some e-courses, for fun. The first was Marisa of Creative Thursday’s class, In the Fishbowl: Life as an Artist. At this point, I was just dipping my toes into the online world…not posting on the blog very much (not even telling many people about it), not sure what direction I wanted to take in my creative world or how to get there. The online community was incredibly supportive and encouraging. Right as the course wrapped up, I was laid off. Which felt like some sort of connection I couldn’t forsee but found comfort in. Marisa was also the one who introduced me to video blogs, which became a large part of my five week travels after I lost my job.

A few weeks before I was laid off (and still had a regular paycheck!), I enrolled in another e-course, Mondo Beyondo: An online class about dreaming big, with Jen Lemen and Andrea Scher. Unintentionally the most amazing thing I could do. Two weeks after I lost my job, this class started and along with it lots of thinking about what I really wanted to do in life. The lessons, love notes and podcasts were exactly what I needed as I entered this new phase of life — this very big unknown, filled with as much possibility as I’d allow. I didn’t take as much advantage of the course and community as I would’ve liked since I was traveling, so I signed up again for the January session (thank you alumni rate).

As for an official workshop though…I have that to look forward to in February. I’m taking Jen Lee’s Companions for the Journey: A Voice and Story Retreat in Brooklyn. I think it’s going to be magical and I’m really looking forward to having the benefit of in-person instruction and community. There is solid chance I will cry at some point during the retreat (good tears though) because I know it’s going to be that amazing and transformative. And we have tickets to see “Wicked” on Broadway. I get giddy just thinking about it.