Purpose and Meaning

totally unrelated photo from my former work-life when hardware was more glamorous...

Last week, I had an aha moment at work. No, let me rephrase this. Even though I already believed in the theory that I had been teaching in workshops at my old job, i.e. that one important "ingredient" for successful teams was that everyone derives purpose and meaning from the work they are doing, I experienced it myself again and it felt really good.
It was an aha moment, because for the longest time, I really was lacking that. Yes, I liked what I was doing, but I was not deluding myself that it created much of an impact. Recently, however, I became involved in a rather high profile project and all of a sudden not only do people know my name, but I can see that I am making an impact if only in baby steps. One side-effect is that I am much busier with back to back meetings on some days, but I actually much prefer that (as long as this is not the case every single day of the week) to having this "Whatevs" cloud looming over everything I do Monday to Friday.
Well, that only took a year...

A Lifetime Ago

This past weekend I was in, or rather near, Schladming for a wedding. I had a great time with lovely people. It was also the first time ever I had been to the area in summer, with the second of my two ski weekends there only having been this January. To be honest, this cast a tiny melancholic shadow over my visit as it truly felt like a lifetime ago. During that mini ski-trip I was extremely happy and at the time fully assumed it would be the first of many away-weekends with the person I was with. Not only that, but going on a ski trip with a love interest had been a secret dream of mine for a very long time. Less than a month after said ski trip, the situation began to turn sour rather unexpectedly and it turned out that the happy ending was not meant to be. Surprisingly, I for once handled a disappointment that would have previously caused me to turn into drama queen mode big time like a GROWN UP and followed my own advice, much to the disbelief of some friends of mine. I'm still very much in grown-up mode for the most part and overall very happy and content with my life. Sometimes, though, I am reminded by little things like smells or other non tangible triggers that certain happy times just have to be cherished for what they are (were!) and should not be over-analysed for potential they simply don't have. Perhaps this lovely wedding weekend managed to override my bittersweet memories of the area and I'll be back with "neutral" feelings next time.

Off the beaten track

This Wednesday, I had a doctor's appointment in Vienna's 18th district early in the morning. When I was done, I walked down Währinger Straße towards the centre as the trams there are currently diverted due to roadworks. Not only did I discover a nice coffee shop where I grabbed a coffee to go, but I really loved walking in areas of the city that I otherwise rarely visit. Even more so, the rest of the journey to my office with tram line 5, mainly through way less chic and gentrified parts of town was a route that was more or less unknown to me. The sight of inflated air mattresses and miscellaneous pool animals I spotted from my tram window somewhere in the 20th district made me incredibly happy and made me look forward to Nice, where I'll be in August:

Since getting up earlier than usual is not a problem for me in the summer months, I am contemplating walking all the way to the office (30 mins away by public transport) one of these days...

Projects

Whenever I visit my parents, I bring some DIY "project" or other that I typically manage to finish while there. I either do it in the garden or on the living room sofa while my parents watch TV in the evening. I am usually not that keen on the programme they watch (nor TV in general) so I either read or do something crafty. The latter is immensely satisfying and I seriously love doing creative things with my hands, but yet I rarely do it at home in Vienna, and this seriously bugs me. I am very spoilt by my parents and am treated as a guest in the sense that I don't have to do many chores, unlike in Vienna, where I have "things" to do. If I am really honest, though, this only accounts for about 20% of my creative inactivity whereas the greater part is due to me falling into a YouTube hole once I park myself on my comfortable living room furniture. I start watching one video, then end up watching more. Then it's 11 p.m. all of a sudden. Ooops. At best, I watch YouTube while doing something more productive, but more often than I would like to admit I don't get round to all those projects I have ideas for and I can't blame anybody but myself. Whether the solution is escaping from my flat that obviously triggers my idleness or unsubscribing from all my dangerous time-stealing YouTube channels, I don't know. Until I find a way of getting my act together, I enjoy the products of the little DIY I actually DO and for the record, I don't get to enjoy my living furniture not that often anyway. Which is another story altogether.