It is a family joke around my house that I was so ready to get off the teacup ride at Disney World that the adolescent attendant had to tell me to “stay in the cup, ma’am.” Mind you, this is a ride whose only age restriction is that if you are under 7, you must ride with an adult. I don’t like rides, and as soon as I get on one, I want to get off.
Two things happened in June that got me thinking about the teacups. One was a professional development opportunity that involved self-reflection, and the other was a cross country U-Haul move of my younger daughter – assisted by her high school friends – during which we visited Dollywood.
Dollywood was an unexpectedly joyful experience. “Big Media” would have you believe that Americans are “either/or” – that ideologies prevail in our daily lives and we have migrated into two camps. I’m here to tell you that the expansive array of humans mingling, and enjoying sunshine and cinnamon bread together at the wholly uncommercial Dollywood will bring you hope for democracy.
One of the things I like even less than amusement park rides is self-reflection. (Where are you, Enneagram 3’s?) Like like many of you, I have been ruminating lately about the pace of our work. When people talk about the summer slowdown I have to laugh. I find more and more that I am longing to get off this “Pace of Work Attraction.” The professional development seminar I attended focused on emotional intelligence – improving self-awareness, self-management, empathy, and relationships. All I could think of that day was that I’m too busy for self-reflection, I’m too tired to be empathetic, and I want the world to slow down. I want to get out of the teacup, please.
There were obviously many rides at Dollywood. The only one I managed to get on was a plodding bear that probably went 2 miles per hour. But looking at the roller coasters and this scary contraption got me thinking. I can’t control the pace of work, but with a bit more self-awareness, I know I can slow the ride down and learn to focus on what matters most. I can force the teacup to be more like the bear.
So what matters most right now?
- Mentoring, coaching, and inspiring staff and ensuring that they feel heard.
- Being present in all conversations.
- Moving large, high pay-off projects forward rather than checking off to-dos.
- Learning something new.
- Making sure elected and appointed officials feel proud and satisfied with their service.
- Giving back to the profession.
- Helping women in local government achieve.
This summer, I committed to the weekly practice of reflecting on what I accomplished, and how I managed to align those tasks with what I have decided matters most. So far, the results are mixed – the lure of the to-do list is so strongly ingrained. But August and September count as summer so I will keep trying.
So how about you? Do you practice self-reflection but call it something else? What do you want to accomplish every day/week/month? Are you doing it? How do you know? Have you ridden the teacups at Disney? Have you been to Dollywood?
Let’s practice, staying in the cup, but forcing it to turn at our speed.
Very Kate 
While I see your conclusion, my heart was with you on “I want out of the cup!”
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No, ladies!! But I do understand the sentiment.
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Haven’t been to Dollywood – my travels over the years leaves more of the United States unexplored rather than explored. I’ve been to Disneyland (back in 1987) but not to Disneyworld. No cups for me – the most memorable ride was Space Mountain which I spent most of my time yelling at the top of my lungs.
I usually have two hours a day (the hour commute each way) to self-reflect (along with ruminating on work stuff and home stuff) but no specific direction or regular routine.
There was a recent reminder about not avoiding getting the large project stuff done at home (the larger projects at work will either be done without me or it will be realized that they are not important). Looked at the longevity tables for me (63, white, male, non-smoking) and found out that if you sat eight of us at a table, one of us won’t be there in ten years. Understanding that the individual outcomes for each of us are not interdependent, if you knew that there was one in eight chance of something big happening in the next ten years, you’d spend a little time getting prepared. So along with the normal household chores, not leaving with your family with the burden of getting your affairs in order has become more important. #1 is getting my “stuff” transferred to facilities which are welcome for the donations (nothing that the rest of my family is interested in). As to how I know I’m accomplishing anything with that – the space in the storage facility gets smaller.
There are plenty of smaller long-term projects and I’ll try to shoehorn them in as the weeks ago by. But that’s a familiar refrain – even so, I’ll keep at it and keep reminding myself.
And there’s always laundry to do, if nothing else.
Work – try to maintain a set of principles/philosophy in doing the work. Spend the necessary amount of time on constituent service (if they were willing to call/write/walk-in instead of complaining on Facebook, it’s worth the energy to respond). Get the finances straightened out since that tends to run everything else in the long run.
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