Things that are important to me

I thought about the things that are important to me after reading “15-minute writing exercise closes the gender gap in university-level physics.†The article shares “Perhaps you care about creativity, family relationships, your career, or having a sense of humour. Pick two or three of these values and write a few sentences about why they are important to you. You have fifteen minutes. It could change your life.†So here goes…

Family

My family means the world to me. My children and granddaughter were here over Thanksgiving and the house was warmer (not only because the heat was up higher than I usually put it) but the feeling in the house was warm and special. My sisters and their families were here also. The love we have for each other is something you cannot really hold or touch. It just is there. Always. Being with people that know you and have history with you means so much. You can bring up something that happened years ago and see their smiles because they experienced it also. I do have some challenges now but it doesn’t matter when you have love and people that love you no matter what. Some love is always there even though you have to let it go. My granddaughter, Cali, has a sparkle in her eye when she sees me, her Baba. She giggles and shows me pure love. Wow! How lucky am I!

Friends

There are some people who are there for you in good times. But it’s the people that are with you during the tough times that you know are really your friends. Like I said earlier I have a few challenges right now that I am processing and working through. Everyone has something to deal with especially during these tough economic times. I hope my friends don’t think I take them for granted. I want them to know how much I appreciate them. I don’t want to list them here but you know who you are. Even though I may have loads of Twitter and Facebook friends, there are some real special people in my life who believe in me and want to see me successful.  I would do anything for them too. To have a business now in difficult times means that you have to be tough — tougher than I’m used to. I like to do things for others or I wouldn’t have created My eCoach. I tend to bend over backwards for people instead of doing what I need to do for myself. Watch out world! I’m growing and changing to be something different and stronger. But don’t worry — I’ll still be there for my good friends.

Learning

I once told my children “I love learning†and they laughed at it. My granddaughter said that to me this weekend and I just smiled. Every day is a new day. Each day I hope to learn something new. I am so curious about the world and what I can find out about it. Cali is almost three so the world is her playground. Watching how she is curious and creative brings out the child in me. I love technology but I want to learn so much more about the world as a scientist, researcher, and artist.

I am joining different groups now to stretch my mind, my world. I’m spending each day reading and researching ideas and topics that I’ve always wanted to learn about. I’m teaching a course on “Learning in Real Time†for UCSC this Spring and putting on webinars that stretch my mind. Just did a webinar with Roxanne Clement on Joy in Learning Matters for the Global Education Conference (see all the archived recordings here). I tried to go to as many webinars as I could during that conference and going back to check the archives there and other virtual conferences. So cool! I’m running a book study for Sig ILT on Web 2.0: How to for educators just because I want to.

I am a Micro Awardee from the Make Me a Million $ Competition for Count Me In for women business owners. I am learning about being more successful at what I do and how to do that. I plan to share what I learn with you. It’s all about attitude. I get it. When you get that feeling that you can do anything you want to do, it’s so rewarding.

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So back to the article about gender gap… I didn’t believe enough in me especially being a woman who grew up in the 60s and 70s. The last few months have opened my eyes that if I don’t believe in me, then why would anyone else? I do now. I do get it.  I’m learning.