It Was SO Worth It

We're still not any of us caught up on rest, I'm sure - at least not at our house - and there are a few tight muscles from all the work on and off the stage... but even before we calculate net receipts (heck, I'm not sure if we know gross receipts yet!), Lawyerpalooza 3 was definitely a success and all the hard work was most certainly worthwhile.

People had fun. I made a fool of myself dancing (I take my job as professional groupie rather seriously). The music was great. Spike O'Neill, Anne Bremner, Gene Stout, and Alan White were all tremendously helpful, gracious and engaging as MC and judges. The Premier Club worked out really well as a venue. I'm certain that we raised some decent money again (even though we don't yet know how much that is) for music education in Seattle schools. And people seemed to be having fun. Oh - I said that already.

Even better, the concept of what we're doing seems to be gathering momentum. People are building off of each other's energies and ideas. As much as the buzzword 'synergy' has become such a cliche, this is the sort of thing it was meant to express - when the whole really does become bigger than the sum of the parts. When great things begin happening because of a clarity of vision and the involvement of people committed to holding that clarity and seeing it to fruition. More than one person came up afterword to share ideas or to let us know that they were interested in being further involved. It was great to see and it's something we want to harness and keep building upon.

Never mind that I wanted to be a rock star myself when I was a teenager. Well, maybe not a 'star' - but I did really want to have my own band. Moving to rural southwestern Washington sort of made that part more difficult. Not that it stopped Kurt Cobain at the time but then he probably wanted it even more than I did and didn't have the added challenge of being a chick. It was tough enough to convince anyone that I was capable of driving a tractor. Fortunately for me, my parents were the only ones who really had to be convinced and they never had a doubt.

Never mind too that as a spouse, rather than a formal volunteer, there is a lot I have no involvement in whatsoever. I try to be careful to be helpful but not push my way in - it's not my gig and I really do want to leave it to those whose it is. I am able to provide some level of technical assistance with regard to the aspects that require computers and that seems to be good enough. There are other people who do way more than I do and as a result, there's nothing I do that warrants any particular recognition for it. Just as when I was a manager though and doing my best to ensure the team members who did all the real work got the recognition, I find myself not at all concerned about what I get out of it myself. That actually surprises me in some ways and yet it's true all the same. I just loved that I have even a small part in making something that's bigger than me a success.

How many of us are missing that kind of feeling throughout most of our lives and our work? What's it take to find it and what are we willing to do or give up for it? Me, I was happy to give up most of a night's rest. It didn't feel at all strange to take a bit of a nap in my car just to try to catch up. And I mind not one small bit that my calves would really rather not be trying to walk today from all the pogo-sticking I did Thursday. Laugh at my antics all you want - I had fun & I felt (however misguided I may have been!) that I was helping out in some small way anyway. Fun was had. Money was raised. That's all that really matters to me. Not any of the other stuff I might be giving up.

And what about you - what's truly worthwhile to you? If someone handed you a whole bunch of money and said, "Here, go accomplish something worthwhile" - what would you choose? It might be cool to share your ideas with me here at techsurvivor@soaringmountain.com and see what sort of networking we could build around it. Face it, there are plenty of things we don't even attempt because we assume that it would take far more of whatever it is we feel we don't have to make it happen. That can be changed if we feel like it's something really "worth it".

What action could you take that would get you at least one step closer to feeling fully engaged in something?