Still figuring it all out...

Andrew's been looking over my shoulder.

He won't say he's interested, he just wants to "help." We bought him a bunch of web design software last Christmas, and he made some awfully creative pages with it, but he doesn't have a website or a blog -- yet. He's a little too busy for his own good, poor kid, and he's in need of a vacation (aren't we all?).

But, this is my sandbox, Mr. Berry, go find your own.

Eventually, I'll get the hang of the gadgets and widgets, the options and the code. For now, I'm just messing around and enjoying myself.
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It just occurred to me...

The description at the top of this blog says I am a would-be sector switcher.

But, it's not really a switch, it's more like a merge, or better yet a convergence.

The thesaurus says converge = meet, join, touch, unite, come together. I like it.

It's true, I'm trying to break into the nonprofit sector. I'm knocking at the door of the do-gooders and asking, "Won't you have me?" But it's hard. It's not a lateral move, because you have to learn the language, prove your passion, earn your spot -- you have to bleed some.

But it also shouldn't be a do-over, a totally new beginning. I have amassed some knowledge (skillage, as Sam says), I have something to share. I'm attempting to take the experience I've gained over the past 20 years and join with an organization that works toward positive social change in the community around me.

In the readings for my MPA courses at Seattle University, I'm learning about new methods behind efforts to improve our world. Social innovation, say researchers at Stanford University, is the new vehicle for change. And these "innovative social solutions cut across the traditional boundaries separating nonprofits, government, and for-profit businesses."

Aha!

Furthermore, "...innovation blossoms where the sectors converge." I love it.

As I narrow in on what it is "I really want to do when I grow up," I've decided I'm not a switcher. I'm a joiner, a toucher, a uniter.

Social innovation is the new thing. Sector converger is the new me.

Read the whole Stanford article here...
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A little family history...

I let my youngest, Maddy, read my first blog post. She said, "How come I'm not on there?" I told her it wasn't about her, it was about me. But then I realized that she is a huge part of me and who I am, what I'm doing, and where I'm going. Kids have a way of pointing out the obvious.

So, who am I? And who are these people who make up my life?

I met Steve when I was 12 years old in 7th grade at King's High School. He was a magnetizing combination of handsome assuredness and shy dimples. He had me, "sink, line, and hooker," as I like to say. We dated on and off through high school and beyond. He let me fly off to find myself for a year, with no guarantee he'd be there when I returned. But he was, and I did, and now we are. For the most part, happily so. We married in December of 1989, just so we could say "the 80's" to our grandchildren.

We bought a little fixer in south West Seattle the summer before our wedding and we christened it with the bite marks of our new golden retriever puppy, Fezzik. She became Steve's constant companion as he transformed that little shack into a cozy home. I made the daily commute to Microsoft, where I learned about Word, email, team management, and friendship.

Andrew came along in May of 1991 to a roomful of adoring family (there were 17 people present at his birth, including the doctor! I guess that story will have to be a blog post all its own). He's now 17 years old, 6'1" tall, and embodies all things academic, musical, and non sequiturial. We can't keep up or contain him, so we just smile, listen, and wonder.

Sam followed in April of 1994 at 2:00 AM, all quiet and content. Since then, he's calmly observed the world and the people around him and decided he's not afraid to try anything, and relishes doing just about everything. At 14, he keeps the family laughing as we happily follow along, picking up the constant trail of his belongings, unwittingly coddling our golden boy.

Things were balanced and stable, one parent to each child, so of course we had another baby. Maddy arrived in September of 1998 and immediately became my best friend. Anything they can do, she can do better is her motto, and she keeps The Brothers K on their toes. She's 10, alternately going on 5 or 20, depending on her mood.

After Fezzik died, we added a neurotic chocolate lab, with a severe case of allergies and separation anxiety, to our family and called it good.

These are my people. They help make me who I am and they represent the best of my life's work, so far.

And it is work, living with people, isn't it?

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First time is a charm...

It's time I did it.
After all, I've done any number of other seemingly scary things: walked into the ocean before I could swim, ran away from home, went in a haunted house, kissed someone, loved someone, explored faraway places, got married, had a baby, got a job, watched someone die, quit my job, went back to school...

Today is the birthday of my blog.
Visit early, visit often.
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