Visionalizing

Like I said in my last entry, I attended a conference over the weekend. The upshot of the whole thing was applying cognitive psychology principles to our daily actions to realize how to be more effective, more goal-oriented and more visionary. It was inspirational in a way, but more than that it required a shift in thinking so that you recognized your long-term ability and potential to effect change in your life. It's been energizing to think about the many projects I am currently working on, as well as future projects and goals--how do I want to, how will I, make these things happen, make them happen well, and then set and realize my next set of goals? For now, my goals include working on my thesis and my upcoming teaching assistantship with full focus and appreciating the process of these projects. I don't want to only complete them, but I want to pay attention to the details, be thorough in my research, enjoy the experience rather than treat them as projects to finish and check off a list. Learning how to effectively research and analyze sociological data, write clear papers and convey those skills to undergraduates will serve me in my next projects, whatever those are. But these skills will serve me more effectively if I give the time and attention to learning them well.

Beyond that comes the visionalizing process (yes, I know this is not a word--if you'd like to make fun of me for it, you can join Micael...:). What comes next?! I don't know, but this can be energizing rather than frightening or frustrating. This conference taught us to set our goals without being concerned about how they will be realized. The 'how' will come if we are committed to making the end goal happen. I know Micael and I currently have the goal of moving to France for at least a year. This has been a frightening goal for both of us, not knowing where we'll find jobs or how to support ourselves or where we'll live (and with what furniture?!). But if we want it, which I think we really do, the 'how' will come. And the 'how' we will reintegrate to life in Seattle and eventually buy a house, find or create jobs and get a dog already (!) once we return from France will also come once we get to the point to set those as our next goals. But for now, the next steps are taking shape as are the ideas of how they will come...