Boss Ladies of the world -- you are spirit driven. You know who you are. Making the world a better place whether you are working on the proverbial low hanging fruits, or speaking truth to power. You hustle hard; in and out of your home making sure that the board you serve on is sustainable, your start-up provides economic opportunities that feed your city with jobs, or you innovate to solve small and big problems in your community. You are never on vacation, even off the grid -- your mind is always working. From one boss lady to another -- take time to pause.
Taking a pause can be tricky. But hear me out. Earlier in 2014 I took a pause, and met up with my friend Cori Ready a curator of cultural programming. Though we have shared mutual friends since our 20's, it wasn't until our 30's we realized that one of our life's purposes was to serve as each others' cheer squad. We hype each other up and use each other to reflect on what we want to do with our lives.
One winter evening we met in Seattle's up and coming Scandinavian neighborhood of Ballard. Gentrification has pushed out many blue collar white families, and replaced with trendy stores and restaurants. As we walked and talked about what's ahead of us in the new year -- a LED lighted tree at Moshi Moshi Sushi lured us in.
Cori and I spilled into a booth, lamenting on how we were in the rut of doing "stuff," versus taking the plunge into entrepreneurship. When is the best time to take the risk? Can I leave my secure job? Do I do what I am good at, or what I want to be good at? As we asked these questions, we looked at the menu of drinks and we weren't satisfied. We took a short pause -- and came to the conclusion that we can call our own shots, our own directions, and we need to proclaim our spirit -- both in drink and future.
Being unconventional Pacific Northwesteners, we asked each other can we order a drink based on how we feel, or how we want to navigate our futures? We said yes! So what do we name our drinks? Our answer was to piece together two adjectives. Mine was Bitterly Optimistic, and Cori's was Jealously Pining. The bartender asked us what spirits we preferred, and voila brought back two drinks that helped us to taste how great our futures are.
So I challenge you to take a pause for a simple reflection exercise, without a visit to a life coach. Here's an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The next time you are out networking or meeting up with friends for happy hour -- order a drink and put a label on who you are, or who you want to be. You are spirit driven, so why not have a drink custom to you?