A terrible title, I know. It emerges from the fact that any Apple product will auto-correct my name to Jedi, which I actually find quite flattering. Cheers and RIP, Steve Jobs.
I had an incredible month-long visit to the States, where I got to see Aaron, my dear friends (in NYC, OKC, and DC), my four month old niece, my family and my pets.So, at long last, we returned to our home in Isibania around 48 hours ago.
I was welcomed home by a number of very large spiders that had built impressive havens over the past month, an awesome vampire bat outside the kitchen window that follow your every move with his huge eyes, a lizard’s tail left inside one window and an actual lizard who had gotten stuck in the tape I used to seal the gap in my window (it doesn’t shut all the way) who very likely died a long, slow and painful death, all because I didn’t want a bunch of creepy-crawlies throwing parties and building nests in my room during my absence. Pole (sorry), lizard.I have returned with a new approach at the project and life in general. Gone are the days (and nights) of only 2-3 hours of sleep a night, of trying to do absolutely everything humanly possible to launch my team and our program ahead, and living, eating, breathing, etc. highly un-intentionally. What I mean by that is that I intend to sleep this round. I intend to purchase foods ahead of time that are healthy and eat them instead of food being an afterthought and eating whatever greasy bread product is readily available. I intend to not just speak and think about exercising, but actually to get up at 6am to do it. I will read the books I brought, watch the movies and TV shows I ripped onto my external hard drive, drink the wine I picked up in Nairobi, start my days with my long lost love: NPR, and be better about keeping in touch with the people who mean so much to me spread out across the vast continents of this world.
I do not intend to let my work slide. I love this place. I love my team (both the Foundation Team I live with and the Kenyan Education Team I work with). And I love our program. However, I intend to do what I ask my team to do, which is to take care of themselves so that they are the best they can be at their work and to always maintain a healthy work/life balance. Time to start practicing what I preach.When New Year’s Eve was rolling around I heard a few different takes on making resolutions that I really appreciated. One was from a man on TV who said he never makes resolutions because if something is wrong, he tries to correct it immediately, and that rarely coincides with Jan 1, so he just makes up stuff he wants to do. And my friend Jenelle mentioned how instead of resolutions, she makes a yearly to do list. Since my life revolves around to-do lists more and more (the older I get and the less I remember, putting pen to paper is the only way an idea can become a reality for me), I decided to make one, quite unlike the ones I’ve made before. It still involves the traditional getting in shape, but is meant to encourage 2012 to be the year of 1) the work/life balance, 2) accomplishing some ridiculous goals, and 3) living intentionally.
12 Things To-Do in 2012
1. -Learn to knit
2. - Memorize and be able to do the choreography to Beyonce’s Single Ladies
3. - Read 32 books off my to-read list (I’m turning 32 in Mar)
4. - Floss everyday (I’m a 2-3 times a week girl; gross I know, that’s why it’s on the list)
5. - Always be present; listen well
6. - Be less of a peace-maker (not referring to the weapon) and more of a change-maker
7. - Continue to take a photo a day
8. - Be intentional and proactive about my physical, mental, and emotional health (includes exercise, healthy eating, yoga, meditation, etc)
9. - Wake up with NPR and keep up with the Economist
10 - Plan a trip to Antarctica (the final continent I have not yet explored)
11. - No working after 8pm
12. - Remember to tell people what you love about them
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