I’ve got to admit it. I’ve never been good with rules.

I’ve never coped well with environments that have conditions of entry or specific guidelines that must be followed. I sucked at working for the government - I had a seemingly epic job (creating environmental awareness campaigns) but when it came down to it, I felt like I was being asked to jump through hoops for the sake of jumping through hoops. So much red tape. So many meetings. A dress code. Specific working hours that needed to be adhered to regardless as to whether or not you’d actually done the work or not.

And so here I am writing this after what I could only describe as a day of wrangling. When I say wrangling, what I mean is one of those days that makes you feel exhausted, where everything just feels a bit harder than it probably needs to, and when every task on your list suddenly feels heavier and more urgent than normal.

So it was perfect timing for an email to show up in my inbox from a designer whose words resonated with me so deeply :

You can love what you're doing and be so.fucking.over.it at the same time.

We just spent an hour and a half looking at all the work I'm doing from a fresh perspective. We realised how easily I get excited about stuff and how that excitement seems to generate more ideas which turns into this runaway train of rad work. Ha ha. Yes, it's rad, but please note, I also said 'runaway'.

And so, with the help of someone super smart (and who, importantly, is not currently a passenger on this runaway train), I've been able to step back and see the tweaks that need to happen. I'm able to realise what needs attention, and where strong foundations need to be built.

There's a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that I love :

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

And for me, it's always a reminder of when I'm in the right room. Because the conversation is exciting. The kinds of conversations that go deep and ask big questions of you. The kinds of conversations that can go on for hours but feel like minutes. And most importantly, the kinds of conversations that inspire action.