7/12: We've Been Here Before

July was a whirlwind, and now I’m looking back at a month that felt like a year’s worth of activity.

Later in the day after I published June’s blog post, I found out my grandmother passed away. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, though the timing was a surprise, at least to me. She was 93 and lived a long, full life before dementia started taking over a few years ago.

Our family has been through a lot of loss in a short amount of time, and there aren’t many of us left, either. My family is pretty small and many of us—myself included—aren’t having kids, so there won’t be much of a lineage to continue.

For me, it reinforces the importance of maintaining the ties you do have and valuing the connections with your chosen family: friends, colleagues, and the people who are maybe in our lives for only a short time, but who make a big impact.

We cut our Boise trip short to come back to Texas for my grandmother’s service, and now we’re back home for the rest of the summer. Work is chugging along with always more to do and not enough hours in the day, but being a part of a group of good people who are building something together is a fulfilling way to spend the week.

I still believe strongly that work can (and should!) be fun, and when work doesn’t feel like work, people are at their best and great things can happen.

I did some consulting earlier this month, and it feels good to flex that muscle and help people in that way. I’m still closed for my normal suite of services, but if you’re in need of some personal branding consulting or guidance on crafting your professional story, let me know.

2021 is now 7/12 over, and it’s that “summer dog days” feeling where families are trying to eke out the last bit of the season before school starts. I’m staying motivated by a few trips coming up later in the year, plus a work retreat to L.A. in September that’s shaping up to be a good time.

It’s all about the pursuit of fun, folks. Chase it, find it wherever you can, and relish the moment when it happens.

Hope your summer has been a fun one.