Friday, July 9, 2021 (Day 190)
Relaxing Music for the week: East of Full Moon: Deuter (8:33) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBdkb0suFFI
Question: What is the number one thing you struggle to accept about yourself but would like to do so?
Answer: Now that’s a damn good question! Although I’m much better about this than when I was younger, I still fight the stigma that I have to do twice as much and be twice as good as someone doing the same work but were white. I’ve had people say to me at EVERY institution I’ve worked at that I got my position because of my color, not because of my abilities. Even here at UNCG, I had someone tell me that my Life Design Catalyst Program would already be in place here at UNCG if I was white. Ouch! But what that does is force me into a victim mentality – and all I can do is keep plugging away, doing great work, knowing that someone out there will appreciate everything that I have done for the students and the School of HHS. I think it’s funny because in my performance evaluations, one of the comments I hear consistently is, “What have you done for HHS?” Like EVERYTHING I do is for the School of HHS. I review the vision, mission, and value statements for HHS – and it basically states that we not only serve our students, faculty, and staff well, but we serve our community, our nation, and our world. And Life Design Catalyst work is not only serving our 1st year students well, it’s also serving students at other institutions well. If that’s not serving our students and our world well, I don’t know what else I need to do. And that’s what I deal with on a constant basis…but I continue to move forward. All I can do is use my gifts to perform my role well, then let the chips fall where they may. The good thing is that I keep creating some pretty cool stuff, so more and more people are getting on board with what I’m doing – not at UNCG, but at other places. As I think back to the question, it’s going back to the thought, “Am I worthy?” – which is something that most of us struggle with. The answer is “YES,” and I just need to realize that what I do is worthy; it just may not be a fit here at UNCG.
Other Stuff
I was looking back through some old videos and found this interesting interview between Jonathan Fields and Debbie Millman about living a good life. It’s a shade under 50 minutes, but there’s some really great shares by both people. Here’s the link:
- Is It Really Possible To Design Your Life? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwGLx7l1Ybc
Jonathan ends the interview asking the question, “What does a good life mean to you?” What does a good life mean to me? Making the sustained commitment to do something that makes me a better me every day in service to things bigger than me.
Now it’s your turn. I’m going to challenge you with the same question: “What does a good life mean to you?” Take a few minutes to either write down your answer, sit in a quiet spot and ponder your answer, or take a walk in nature and think how you might answer the question.
The Dream Dean 