Meditation: See the Big Picture, 19 minutes

I’m part of a team. I’m part of many teams, but this past week, I spent time in San Francisco with my formal org-charted group. It was the first time I’ve spent focused time with everyone all at once since a re-organization early in 2017.

Things clicked. Day after day, my notebook filled with “A-ha!” thoughts and ideas. In today’s meditation, the guide prodded me to see the whole canvas. That is how I felt when I returned to LA and the normal rhythms of work on Friday. My nose had been too close to things. I could see the craftsmanship and the flaws, while having little sense of how it was all working (or not working) in concert.

That picture is clarifying. In the course of day-to-day routines and expectations and habits, the sense of what’s the most valuable thing you do or could often be doing gets lost. Those seven days were a map.

I’m grateful for these incredibly talented people to which I get to collaborate. They are smart and passionate and curious and competitive and quirky and clever. They challenge me. They push me to be better at what I do. And we’ve got a great leader—thoughtful, candid, and compassionate—who believes in us, celebrates and advocates for our work, and sees us as the people we are.

I’m grateful for her, for them, and the experience.

I’m also grateful for my team of friends. One of them came to the Golden State this week and brought us together across two cities. We met up, she and I, once in SF where we spent some time reconnecting, revealing our hearts and humor in equal measure. Then in Los Angeles with a larger group. The drinks flowed, the conversations got loud, the smiles grew full, and the hugs were long.

I’m grateful for her, for them, and the experience.

SEMICIRCLE by The Go! Team