This will be my last newsletter for now.
I started writing this newsletter in November 2020 and it’s been a blast for me.
It’s the first time I’ve gotten to write in my own voice, rather than for someone else or for an organization.
I’ve loved spouting off about my pet communications peeves, things that have caught my attention or things that have puzzled, irritated or delighted me.
But, for now, I’ve said all I have to say. (At least on communications. I’ve got lots to say about various other topics. Just ask lol.)
Work for me has almost always meant sitting at a computer and/or in meetings, far from the causes and issues I was working on.
Then I started volunteering with Travelers Aid at Reagan National Airport.
At the airport, I never know whom I’ll meet or what kind of problem I’ll be asked to solve.
Most of my interactions are short, but can be surprisingly meaningful.
With one small piece of information, I can improve someone’s day, calm them, save them time and energy or make the airport feel a little less anonymous and impersonal.
And I feel fully alive.
I’ve always loved connecting people, information and resources.
Now I get to do it in real life.
I might return to writing this newsletter at some point. But, for now, it’s time for me to let go of the trapeze and fly free.
I’d love to do something that combines my communications skills with being able to help people more directly.
Any ideas? Wild, crazy, improbable or off-the-wall suggestions are welcome.
I’m still available for communications projects (my cats and I have to eat, after all).
But my focus has shifted.
As Mrs. Chippy, the protagonist of Mrs. Chippy’s Last Expedition: The Remarkable Journal of Shackleton's Polar-Bound Cat, writes, “Keeping watch properly means being prepared to give one’s complete attention to what may not yet be there.”
My eyes are trained on the horizon.
As always, thank you, thank you for reading.
It’s meant the world to me.
