Tweblog - Toby Getsch

I’ve been on vacation this past week.  I left work on Monday afternoon and will not be connected there until Monday morning.  That is the vacation part.

The fun part was that on Wednesday afternoon my sister got married.  I got to see lots of family and friends back in Minnesota.  (If you didn’t know, that’s where I grew up.)

The feelings part comes in knowing that I am learning to set healthy boundaries regarding work and also in many other areas of my life.  Sometimes it’s hard to know where those boundaries should be.  Here are two examples.

I have several really good friends.  About five years ago, I moved from Minneapolis to Seattle.  I’ve had a bit of a roller coaster with relationships and life events since then.  I went through a divorce and have also had a steady progression of better jobs with learning new skills and definitely increasing my experience.  Lately I’ve come to clearly realize that Seattle is “home” and it’s where I feel most comfortable right now.  That may change, but that’s where it is for right now.  That changes some relationships from back in Minnesota.  It’s not possible to stay connected and maintain so many deep, long distance relationships.  Some of those are likely to fade.  That’s ok.  It’s a boundary thing that I must accept in order to stay healthy and not try to expend precious energy and time on things that are out of my control.  Even though I know this is healthy, right now I feel dry and calloused.  Those are more reactionary feelings and I’m sure I’ll get more root feelings in the future.  Right now I don’t feel very connected to MN or to my friends there.  It was very good to see them and to spend time there.  I just feel a big disconnect, because I live in a different culture and it’s harder to relate.

Another example is with work.  This vacation is the first one I’ve had in a while that I left my work laptop at home and did not monitor email or voicemail for the entire time that I’m away from the office.  We need to do that more often.  I need to to that more often.  I think my job is a really good fit for both me and my employer.  And, after vacation, I think that even more.  I feel comfortable and refreshed.  Those are two things that make employees be better people and two things that help job satisfaction and will definitely impact my own job satisfaction.  I am not my job.  It’s just what I do.  That’s something that I think a lot of other people could also benefit from learning.  Sometimes I wish I learned that many years ago.  Regardless, I’m glad that I know it now.

As I near the end of vacation, I’m going to continue to relax and to charge my batteries.  I started a new book.  I read four different magazines from cover to cover.  There’s a John Grisham book, a couple 4×4/Jeep magazines and a couple financial news magazines.  (I don’t have many investments and it was just something to check out on one of the flights.) None of those are related to work or to my professional development.  They are simply ways to keep my mind exercised and for my own enjoyment.

So, if you see me with a big smile on my face, all while life and work are happening all around me, I’m planning on keeping that pleasant demeanor.  I like to look on the bright side of things.  The smile is for real.  And, it’s ok if you smile back!