cunundrum

Thank you very much for another series of great events this weekend!

Everyone ... greatly enjoyed the events and ... had such a nice, positive tone. It's obviously been a very hard year, and I truly appreciate everyone's commitment to focusing on [participants] and sending them off well; as well as, of course, everyone's ongoing dedication to our work throughout this difficult time.

Thanks again to particular people for all the critical "behind the scenes" organizational efforts.

Hope you all enjoyed the rest of the holiday weekend.

[sent on sunday morning]

here's the problem. undoubtedly the event was about the people being celebrated, about their next steps. It wasn't the moment to focus on *issues*. and yet. introducing soon-to-be-gone people, not even acknowledging, in passing, something vague about challenges, offering tepid thanks to a staff that has been damaged, some very badly, is, somehow wrong.
an alternative? another suggestion? not entirely sure.
possibly: we're grateful you're here to celebrate; we celebrate you; we acknowledge a difficult year behind us and challenges of various stripes for all of us moving forward. whatever [forward][that] is.

oh

The last eighteen months have been difficult for our community, but we have met this challenge thoughtfully and constructively, and positioned the [entity] to continue to support our core priorities. We anticipate that the [entity] will end this year very close to break even, and we have effectively eliminated the base budget shortfall in future years. The [Powers that Be] discussed, nevertheless, the fact that our resources will remain constrained for some time. They therefore encouraged us to develop future plans that target growth in areas that will generate incremental revenue to fund important priorities.

an excess of exuberance

notes to self:

- do things because you know they're the right things to do
- do things because you truly want to, not because anyone will ever say thank you. (they might. they might not).

try to be kind and then try to be kinder.

listen.

work will brings rewards and work will suck.
ratio/ration/proportions will shift. work isn't a lava lamp nor is it an aquarium (for most of us), but it will be fluid in the ratio of reward to punishment, yin to yang, good to suck that it offers. that one makes of it.

find [the] balance.

remember these things.

blather, rinse, repeat.

tiny time away

in new york. a dear and gifted and fabulous friend is one of 4, 583 (or so? - I can't find the article, but she knows the number like a mantra) applicants for 100 something jobs.

away from my work a tiny bit, leaving shortly. back by 5.

time to think, or to think about thinking and understand why actual time away is something to consider. carefully.

day by

day.

really?

While we remain confident that the budget decisions that were made were the right ones ... and will enable us to support our most critical priorities, we also know that as a small and closely knit community, [all are] affected by the changes we are experiencing. It is especially difficult for those most directly affected by position eliminations. Please know that we will continue to offer to help those affected by these changes.

and then, right

there's the stuff you do and the people you do it with; the people you do it for. the reasons why.

really?

abridged from a related discussion. names removed because:

"When funds aren't there, everyone needs to cut spending to fit available resources. Households have to do it. Companies have to do it. Cities and states have to do it...

For those of you who are concerned, thank you for your suggestions and letters. However, the most valuable letters you can write are the ones that you address to [an entity] and enclose large checks. If you valued the experience and gained through it, YOU dig deep."

me again

How interesting. This response to the people who raised their voices fails utterly to acknowledge that the very work they want to preserve and the very work that they themselves have taken on, does not enable them to dig deep. They earn no real money to speak of. They're speaking out exactly because the work needs doing; giving them the wherewithal to learn how to do it is the point of the entire exercise. Telling them to give money, condescending to them as if they don't understand how the world works is exactly not what's called for.

Mean spirited is the tip of that particular iceberg.

cat,
staggering
stumbling out of the dryer

BRB

never doubt

and

Never underestimate that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99191541/m/298107931

who knew?

oh my

a whole new day

grateful is the tip of the iceberg

rock still big, hill still steep

onward

but remember

also.

gratitude.