Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying
I've been thinking a lot lately about joy - finding joy in every day. I have an extremely busy job, and when it gets super busy (especially in weeks like this where I've working into the evenings multiple days), I find myself struggling to find joy. Last night I walked into the house at 8 pm after a crazy busy day that started in the office at 7:45. I took my son with me to my evening event, and I'd been in a dress and heels for more than 12 hours. I didn't feel joy; I felt exhausted. My colleague got this photo of my little guy and me at an evening meeting. I love my job. I love cities - especially MY city - and I love what I do. But doing it well and checking all the boxes means spending a lot of hours. And in the last few months that has felt more exhausting than joyful. Last summer I was asked to be on the board of Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL), a great national organization of local government professionals. It's a passionate, fun group, an