Everything seemed to happen in the middle of February! Is that true for you as well? I saw Kinky Boots with my Twisted Sister Dianne, had a great trip to Calgary with Lori for meetings, participated in a spirituality circle, threw a 60th birthday party for Brian, had many lunches and coffees with friends, and was around cool people all month. You can't ask for much better than that! (But of course, I will ask).
     I heard an inspirational talk by Erin O'Neill RPP from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo about all the things that were done (and are being done) to get Fort McMurray and its citizens back on their feet. It was interesting how they learned from other disasters like the Slave Lake Fire. I was particularly impressed with the sifting services provided for those people who needed to go through the ashes themselves in order to bring closure (versus bulldozers doing it while they were away). This was a huge undertaking, and yet it managed to touch people on such a personal level. Kudos to all involved in this massive resettlement/rebuild. Now if someone could come up with a way to re-use what's left of the 11,000 refrigerators that have ended up in their land fill!
    And speaking of junk, here's an update on my cull: all my vintage collection (save a few favourite pieces) is gone. That was huge...over three years to complete...and I am going to live! I couldn't have done it without Geri Dittrich. I also completed the cull of my CDs, which was a bigger job than I expected but far less emotional. Next up: cassette tapes and books!
     I attended the funeral of a long time family friend in February. It really got me thinking again about living a life so that good (but true!) things will be said when you die. Mr. Mason's words and actions were in alignment and he truly lived a good (but not easy) life. My whole family is grateful for his many kindnesses over the years.
     I've been enjoying my work with Liz on Inspired Working and Living. It hasn't been easy for me to land on a focus for the year because everything I encounter looks like fun and I want to be part of it (Mongolia? Sure!; Inuvik? Why not!). So I'm going to focus on the fun; the joy to be found in whatever I'm doing (and less on what it actually is that I want to do). That feels right, and also difficult. Stay tuned.
     I served on a panel of playwrights at the University of Alberta's New Works festival. I was in great company and the students had some good questions for our theme "So You've Written a Play: Now What?" I was glad to be included, because it was an up-and-down month for me with respect to my plays. On the upside, my play for young people Beans and Rice is going to be performed in Saskatchewan twice in March (Yeah, Prairie Valley School Division!). On the downside, I had to give up my spot in the Edmonton Fringe because my new play isn't sufficiently far along. And right in the middle, I am noodling away at my course in 10-Minute Plays, ratcheting between brilliance and whatever is its opposite. My strategy is to just keep writing.
     Thanks to all the readers who took up the challenge to avoid plastic drinking straws for a month in order to reduce the number in our landfills and water ways. I managed to avoid them all but 3 times, where I didn't get to the server before they'd already placed one in my cup. I think I'm going to continue this challenge. And thanks to reader Kim who has introduced me to the joys of glass drinking straws.
     After watching clients enjoy escape rooms for team building and social events I finally got to try one. Four of us hit InTrap escape rooms on Whyte Avenue and discovered we were neither as clever nor as cooperative as we'd thought. Had it been real, we'd have died a miserable death. But because it wasn't real, we went out for a beer afterwards instead. If you haven't tried one yet, it's fun (and not claustrophobic).
     What new thing might you try this month?
      

/lmwe 

    This is less about boards in particular, and more about people who work for and on boards in general. In fact, it's a message for all people in this day and age.
     I want to share with you a blog about time sucks for Associations, written by Callie Walker (Feb 09/17). Some of you, like me, make up to-do lists that seem manageable but at the end of the day we find we've only checked off a couple, despite our good intentions.
     Walker suggests this could be attributable to four big time sucks.

1. Email. It is convenient, but if you keep it open you get a visual notification (or worse, a noise) every time a new email comes in. It's tempting to want to take a few minutes to deal with each one, but the cumulative effect of stopping what you're doing to deal immediately with a new email can really add up. Solution? Close your email. Most things aren't really emergencies and when they are, most people have another way to reach you. 

2. Meetings. I've talked at length about useful meetings over the years, so won't delve into what a drag bad meetings can be. Solution? 1. Always make sure there is a reason to meet; 2. Have an agenda and stick to it; 3. When possible, have the meeting standing up.

3. Social Media. Does this need an explanation? Time flies when you're taking on-line quizzes and stalking those who wronged you in the past. Solution? Schedule time for social media rather than interrupt your work/family time. Use it as a reward system.

4. People Pleasing. It's good to help others with their work, but not at the expense of your own. When your stuff isn't done it's stressful. Solution? Be cautious how much extra you agree to -- it all adds up (This one is for ME!).

 

Let's see if we can add some time to our days by being a little more mindful of the time sucks.

Here is the blog Click Here (Note: They sell association management systems)  

 

/lmwe  

     This is from an article that was shared with me (sorry, original source unknown). It suggests that to make committees more effective, think of them as you would an employee. In particular, they need a job description. The job description should include (at a minimum):

• The purpose or role of the committee
• To whom the committee is accountable (i.e. a staff member, another committee, or the board)
• How and when committee members are appointed and by whom
• What staff support is available to them and who the staff contact person is
• What budget they have, and how they go about requesting resources
• What the committee is expected to deliver and by when

     If we did this (and we know we should), can you just imagine how much more effective (and happy) our volunteers would be?

 

     Lest you think I am anti-plastic because of my efforts to avoid drinking straws, I assure you it is not so!
     In fact, my friend and colleague Carol Hochu, President & CEO of the Canadian Plastics Institute recently wrote a terrific article "My Love Affair With Plastic." From our money to our health to our recreational pursuits to our communications, it's worth a read just to I remind ourselves how much easier and better our lives our with plastic in them.

Here's the article Click Here

     I read an interesting article on how what's on your desk links to how your mind works. I'll admit I was nervous about reading it! My desk always looks like a bomb went off, and I am notorious for "floor filing."
     According to Alia Hoyt (HowStuffWorks, Feb 10/17) all is not lost. We've heard many times that creative people often have messy desks. These people tend to be big picture types -- good at setting priorities and delegating; ignoring the small stuff (and yes, sometimes missing details).
     People with clean desks can get many things done, but often get mired in the details (thereby avoiding doing the important tasks because they are focused on controlling their environment).
     The following description really sounds like me! " People with messy desks rely on visual memory to excel at task management, so if papers are filed away they are 'out of sight, out of mind'...(and) subscribe to the practice of 'piling' to keep ideas top of mind." This description sounds much less like me: " Left-brained people experience things differently. Their more logic-centric brains look for linear and analytic solutions to life. For them, visual clutter can be daunting, distracting them from the task at hand."
     According to a recent Facebook quiz, I am 30% Left Brain (analytic, rational, objective, symbolic, math, digital, order) and 70% Right Brain (instinct, art, emotion, imagination, creative, memory, music). If you can't believe Facebook, who can you believe?

Here's the article   Click Here 

 

"We do this thing.  We open our hearts to the world around us.  And the more we do that, the more we allow ourselves to love, the more we are bound to find ourselves one day - like Dave, and Morley, and Sam and Stephanie - standing in the kitchen of our life, surrounded by the ones we love and feeling empty, and alone, and sad, and lost for words, because one of our loved ones, who should be there, is missing.

     Mother or father, brother or sister, wife or husband, or a dog or a cat.  It doesn't really matter.  After a while, each death feels like all the deaths, and you stand there like everyone else has stood there before you, while the big wind of sadness blows around and through you. 

    'He was a great dog', said Dave.

     'Yes', said Morley.  'He was a great dog.'"

 

Stuart McLean (Rest in Peace)