50 degrees in Minnesota in March is basically summer. Or at the very least it is patio season, so I am sitting outside on the patio of a local indie bookstore, Cream and Amber. It is a little after 3:00 on a Friday, and you may notice I am not at work. It’s been about a month since I left my job, the community I was a part of for the past seven plus years. Seems like a time that calls for some reflection. Why am I here, listening to a talk on ethics and power in UX research? What have I figured out?
I have figured out some things about myself. Like how easy it is to live in “human giver syndrome” (thanks, Emily and Amelia Nagoski. but really, it changed things for me). In a small nonprofit, especially after a number of years, I slid into doing and doing to support, to accomplish, without realizing that I wasn’t establishing or maintaining boundaries I needed when there was simply too much happening. I’ve identified a strong desire for growth and for using my skills and experience for something new.
I have figured out some things about what I find curiosity, growth, joy, and meaning in doing, workwise. Those things are facilitation and training, qualitative research and evaluation, relationships and communicating, and ideation and problem-solving.
What have I been doing? Planning a conference. Plants and plants and plants. Doing a pro-bono project with tech people (hence the UX video I’m listening to). Reading a handful of pages of Atlas of the Heart and having to take a pause to process. Applying to jobs (obvi).