Life Lately: Friendships & Gratitude

Stable Cafe, SF (taken a couple weekends ago)

Yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day in the city (& I was in the Richmond, Cole Valley/Haight and Potrero Hill... aka neighborhoods with quite different microclimates.). Today I'll be hanging in the park for a coworker's birthday, and it looks to be as equally beautiful outside. Summer is in full swing and I've been getting to see lots of different friends. Friends from high school and undergrad have passed through the area recently for work and we were able to meet and catch up. I am so thankful our paths keep crossing even as we've each moved around, and know that it helps I live in a major metro area.

Overall I have so much gratitude for the friendships I've developed in the last few years, whether deepening relationships with old friends or forming new friend circles. Making (& keeping) adult friends can be tricky what with scheduling, multiple social circles and other commitments. It's no longer the cliques of middle school but an ever-evolving/expanding crew where everyone is welcome. It helps that many of us are recent transplants to the city and are exploring together. I have always tried to be open to new people but that doesn't mean I wasn't a little concerned about making friends when moving out here (or rather, moving further from a well-established network). Since I'm not sure yet if I'll be settling down out here for good or making another move (though not anytime soon), it's in the back of my mind that I may have to redevelop friendships again down the line.

Other things I'm grateful for: current good health among loved ones, since this hasn't always been the case; upcoming travel plans to see family and friends, including a wedding; the ability to pick up the phone and call a childhood friend to catch up on life; a busy but productive week at work. 

Weekend Off the Grid

home sweet, no-electricity-or-plumbing home.

I'll admit, camping per se has not been on my bucket list. Mainly it's because I wouldn't be good at it. If the apocalypse came and we'd have to use basic survival skills, I probably wouldn't be around for much longer. I still appreciate majestic views and the chance to unplug as much as the next person, though. Back in January when a group of our friends decided to reserve a cabin in a national park in northern California we said "sure!" (and then I had to order a sleeping bag). Well it was finally time to go. I took Friday afternoon off from work, told my team I wouldn't have internet access until Sunday evening, and peace'd out.


We drove to Lassen Volcanic National Park which, I have no shame in admitting, I never heard of before moving to California. I'd first heard of it a couple years ago when a coworker went camping up there, then when I read Wild last year. It's far enough from the nearest city ("city") that camping is basically your only option to make the trek worth it, and it's not as crowded as other big name parks. I think our group definitely looked like a bunch of 'city folk' but we're fairly outdoorsy and we were pretty gung ho about camping, or rather, glamping. We cooked all our meals over the campfire and used only one gas stove, mostly to boil water... and everything was delicious. My husband chopped firewood, taught our friends all about campfire-making. We had a hammock, the ultimate slow-your-roll piece of "furniture". Our phones were on airplane mode... we weren't getting service anyway... but we still used them as cameras, of course! I brought my kindle and did a little bit of reading among the redwoods, but mostly just hung out admiring nature and chatting with the friends (You know you're in good company when you don't need outside entertainment).

Creativity

from The Muse

When called for, I am all about just being heads down and working through busy periods. I find that having a routine is a big part of keeping stress away, as it requires less taxing decision-making. But I can't live in a bubble and let the routines make life monotonous and so I also enjoy seeking out new things and exploring more of the world around me. This helps me feel rejuvenated and often informs other parts of my life, even if not immediately. Some things I've come across lately:

Check out Type Drummer, which creates a beat based on your name (or whatever else you want to type in). I appreciate someone creating code for this simple little musical entertainment.

I went to the BottleRock Napa Valley Festival and while they've had local food and wine purveyors for the first two years of the festival, this year they added a culinary stage featuring the musicians cooking alongside chefs. This elevates it from traditional cooking show to musical and foodie entertainment. The show we got to see at this stage featured Michael Franti, Zella Day, Wavy Gravy and the folks from Ca Momi in Napa. They discussed their philanthropic endeavors and even sang a couple songs, and of course passed out some wine and fresh made pizza. It was corporate-sponsored so I assume it brought in money to the concert organizers, but also it provided another dimension to this festival that I haven't seen at others.

BottleRock Culinary Stage

Moving on from performers and chefs, Fast Company featured its list of Most Creative People and I especially enjoyed the Q&A with Megan Smith, CTO of the country:

What are some things you do to refresh your mind when you're in a rut?
Sometimes I go different places. One of the things is, for me, my job is so broad that I'm constantly moving topics. Traveling around. Context switch. Whether it's doing different things within the city I'm living in or being with different communities. I like to see what this group of people are doing or what that group. Shift context and location. There's a really cool place—Chautauqua. My mom used to run the children's school there. There are lots of different topics people are talking about. So it's a good refresh place. It's like a TED conference founded in the 1870s. My mom lives there now. All my cousins go. We all go. They'll do biotech and then the Civil War. Edison was there. Mostly for me, I think it's just good to context-switch a lot, and I do that a lot in my job—work on different topics.

Finally, these tips on boosting creativity from The Daily Muse... they are simple actions, and I like that. Being creative doesn't necessarily mean only having a burst of genius influence. Having a blog is one way for me to keep up some creativity, at least in getting my thoughts out of my brain and into a share-able narrative. It may not be a creative endeavor in that it doesn't produce a tasty recipe or catchy song, but it's somewhere I can document my experiences, and the way we process our experiences can contribute to creative problem solving skills down the line.