There's more to life than really good food...

Live Simply. Think Deeply. Smile Often.

Glasses: Are They Half-Full, Half-Empty or Eight Ounces, Filled with Four Fluid Ounces?

While the weather in Seattle reminded me that no other place quite like the Pacific Northwest existed, I enjoyed a lovely lunch in Capitol Hill, taking the opportunity to reconnect and open myself to a new way of interacting with people.

 

One of the characteristics I most appreciate about this friend is her forthrightness. We talked about shared experiences, discussed the appropriateness of various channels of communications for information sharing and spoke of everything and nothing, simultaneously.

 

One topic of discussion included teasing and bantering. A brief overview of the literature (Thank you, Google Scholar!) reveals that the interpretation of humor might be socially positive or socially negative, depending on the context of the group interaction.

 

So just as a given glass of water might be half-full or half-empty, depending on one’s perspective, humor in a given situation may be a positive experience or a negative experience.

Joining the Circus

I spent the last few days in Portland, OR with food, fun and family. Little did I know that a little bit of sibling rivalry, a dash of competitiveness and an impulsive declaration would result in three physically challenging hours full of lessons.

 

Partner Acrobatics

 

My sister and brother take classes at Do Jump, a Portland-based extremely physical theater. After watching my sister hang from the ceiling and flip upside down, I thought it would be a good idea to see what gets one on the road to having that ability.

 

Turns out, it’s not just about conditioning, stretching and strengthening. In those three short hours, I realized I also exercised the following:

 

Faith: believing in myself and my partner to execute various stunts

Trust: trusting my body to do things I’ve never asked it to do, after watching others perform various stunts. Not only did I have to trust myself, I also had to trust my partner not to drop me.

Knowledge: Did I know the capabilities of my body and my mind? Having a basic understanding of physics doesn’t hurt either.

Boundaries: What stunts will I perform? How far will I push myself?

Communication: Eventually, I figured out that discussing the stunt performance plan with my partner increased trust and odds of success. We talked about whether I’d step, jump or lean. We also talked about when I'd go up and come down.

 

All of these added up to safety. We could have fun, I’d get flung about or fling myself about. I’d get to push my limits with my partner’s support.

 

We laughed. We played. And then I fell. I fell hard. I fell hard on my FACE and you know what? It was ok. More than ok – falling was FUN. Why?

 

I learned to listen to my partner, to trust him, and to trust myself to be ok if something doesn’t work out the first time. Just try again.

 

So why am I going back to circus school? To get over my fear of failing and falling. Sometimes I have to go upside down to get rightside up.*

 

*note: prior to this class, I hadn’t gone upside down before. Not even in yoga class. I hope to be upside more often in the future!

Another Year, Another Change

Last May, I packed up and took one last look at the foothills as I left Boulder to join DocuSign full time.

After a year at DocuSign, I learned that the intersection of technology enabling a mobile lifestyle and positive social, environmental impact is even more stimulating that I imagined.

So with mixed feelings, excitement, sadness, and gratitude, I’ve left DocuSign to explore some new opportunities and experiences.

I’ve been blessed to work with such a talented, dedicated team at DocuSign and am grateful for the experiences we’ve shared and the encouragement they’ve given. As for DocuSign’s customers, I loved hearing their stories and feedback as well as working with them to help them get the most from DocuSign. Evangelizing a technology that provided a positive business AND environmental impact made work that much more fun.

Keep an eye out for more, and meanwhile, I’ll be writing, tweeting, Facebooking, LinkedIn-ing, foodblogging and more – let me know if our paths overlap and you’d like to catch up for coffee!

25 Things Challenge: 2 Continents, 3 Time Zones, 4 Weeks, 4 Cities, 23k Air Miles...

An_flying

I'm whirl-wind traveling for the next four weeks, heading to:

  • D.C. for NAR Mid-year 
  • San Francisco for the DocuSign Hackathon and DocuSign Summit (edit: come join us - both events are free! Win $25k here w/ your awesome app: http://docusign.com/hackathon and learn best practices here: http://docusignsummit.com /ed. note)
  • Seattle because that's where I'm based!
  • Manila to ride motorbikes, eat chicken adobo and sit on the beach :)

Inspired by a confluence (what a loverly word!) of factors, my goal is to make it through the next four weeks with only 25 things. Nordstrom published an article, The Anatomy of Business Trip Style that I used as a basis for packing. Though if I take something out my set of 25 things, I'll get to replace that thing with something else.

So the list...

  1. carry-on bag
  2. laptop bag / purse
  3. laptop + charger + mobile broadband
  4. phone + charger
  5. 3-1-1 bag / toiletries
  6. wallet
  7. flats
  8. skirt suit
  9. dress
  10. pants
  11. leggings
  12. boyfriend tee
  13. cardigan
  14. spare cardigan
  15. trench coat
  16. cashmere wrap
  17. flip flops
  18. running shoes
  19. sports bra
  20. running shorts
  21. delicates
  22. umbrella
  23. button-up shirt
  24. blouse
  25. (sun) glasses

I'm not including anything I need for work, such as the flip cameras, work notebooks and such since they are quite specific to work and the real value is the data. I'm looking forward to connecting those I chance to meet in these coming weeks!

xoxo,

An