An Ounce of Self-Reflection

is worth about a pound of bullshit.

Okay, okay, I have leapt into the world of bloggers. (Why does that sound like I need hip-waders, or at least galoshes?)

I am sitting at my desk at work.

These things are supposed to be terribly introspective, aren't they? Sniffly and full of self-doubt? Like online therapy? (And I'll probably get there at some point, no matter how I fight it.) However, at the start of this little e-journey, mostly I want to make fun of myself and everyone I know and love for my own shallow amusement. So in that sense, this little journal is a very direct extension of my life.

If I were a superhero, my name would be "Sardonic."

(No "sardonic" is not a cocktail made with sardines and tonic water; go grab a Webster's and look it up...)

Actually, I am starting a new year, so I thought this would be a fun way to capture my recovery from 2004 (a.k.a. "the worst year of my adult life.") Yes, 2004 was baaaad. As I have often said when my learned criticism and use of big words gets too much for even me, it "sucked in the sucky way sucky things sucked!" Without getting too weepy right out the front gate, three deaths and three hurricanes did not make for a good year. Fist-fighting relatives did not make for a good year. And there's so much more...

BUT! 2004 is behind us and we (as in "The Royal We") are looking forward! Progress! Charge!

So, I am sitting here at work, at my desk, at a job I really enjoy, listening to business noises: an overloud phone, a "non-business" conversation in the office next door, my whirring fan, the faint mumble of the Benjamin Franklin audio book through my discarded headphones.

I am a consultant liaison. I have very little idea how I - a theatre/communications major with an obsession with national history sites - a part-time playwright - fell into a superbly lovely job in consulting. I teach people how to be good team members and supervisors, I teach project management, and I teach how to build effective mentoring relationships at work. I run assessment for people, and I give feedback. I design classes for Fortune 500 companies. I actually feel fulfilled and have fun.

In short, I help people find out how to give the company what it wants while getting what they want. It's surprisingly effective. I find that so many people do not take chances or seize opportunities. I find that people suffering under an inept supervisor will automatically incorrectly assume the whole corporation is evil. I help transform people from depressed zombies waiting for retirement to people who smile at each other in the hallways. I believe in my job - working as a very small cog in meglo-systems and affecting small changes that will positively impact a few people's lives for the better. It is pretty heady stuff.

And that ain't bullshit.

It seems like a good place to start.