Gone are the days when I used this blog on a frequent basis to share resources, ideas, announcements. It’s left my workflow, though I’m writing as much as ever. More Slack and text messages than in years past. An example of one other professional change.
Last year I turned over the administrative and business reigns of UCGIS to another professional, and slipped into the role of Senior Research Fellow instead. Still cats to herd, still deadlines, still expectations, but a responsibility of a different type. So far so good. Meetings with I-GUIDE Teams take up the bulk of the hours and the most satisfying ones are focused on the GIS&T Body of Knowledge, for which I still serve as Project Manager. Maybe in 2022 we’ll actually finally migrate off of Drupal and in to our own instance of The Living Textbook. That’s a hope.
Earlier today I listened to the most recent episode of the Quitted podcast, in which Holly Whittaker describes the liminal space in which she finds herself: having quit (or having been removed from) something (again) and not yet started something new. I’ve now listened several times to the last 15 minutes of the episode. The bits that are most powerfully resonant for me are about the reluctance to disappoint people whom you think are counting on you, and the metaphor of having your body responding viciously when you allow yourself to be sucked back into something that your gut absolutely knows it must leave. Plus the overall point that it’s all about identity. How you respond when someone asks what you do. What is our purpose? Our purpose as human beings is just to be human beings. Super important wisdom that I need to be reminded about, again and again, as I weigh the next round of changes.
diana maps 