Culture Is Back In My Life

New Mexico does have its cultural charms in place. I've been feeling the vibe that the air is certainly different here than my past few years living near the Stepford Housewives. My intuition was confirmed as I was thumbing through the weekly Alibi (in Kansas City terms, it's NM's Pitch).

Just a quick glance of the Community Calendar shows a broad range of dancing options. There's classes for African Dance, East Indian Dance, Tribal Belly Dance, Soul Dance, Adult Tap, and the list goes on. There's Yoga for men, women, and babies!

Art also dominates the cultural scenes with weekly poetry readings, lectures, and gallery shows.

I feel like I'm in my college days where the opportunities to learn new things are so accessible and affordable.

Today's Fortune Cookie

"To be mature is to accept imperfections."

Networking, the latest buzz word

Do, do, do is such doo doo.

Why do people feel like they should be doing stuff all the time. Chill out, everyone.

So, it's all about networking. I used to love the word, "networking." It was a great justification for socializing and going out. Recently, the word has begun to wear on me. The word itself is being overused. Good word, but it should be used a bit more sparingly than it is today.

Getting to know co-workers and customers at a personal level helps with business, but it does not define the relationship. Good business springs from technical confidence as well as personal interactions. It seems the trends are shifting over to personal interactions and away from technical aspects. Pharmaceutical sales comes into mind, but this idea applies to many working fields.

Instead of spending all of one's time networking, how about spending it on building one's knowledge base by reading or diving into a personal hobby? This leads to my plug for personal quiet time. This block of time is so important for people's mental health. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People strongly encourages people to take time to plan the week (setting short term goals) and continuously reflecting on the long term goals. These are individual activities.

I see people get criticized for choosing to stay in after being invited to social events. That is unfortunate. Again, it is a personal choice and a right to privacy (which is tough to have these days).

Perhaps, I am speaking for myself because I feel that my most productive hours were the ones "doing nothing." Others may feel that tangible social activities prove to be more productive for them. I would just put out a warning (and this is a reminder to myself) that doing something is not knowing it. I could drink beer all my life and not know a thing about it. If I did, though, it would just create more depth into what I know. It would be a topic of great conversation and would probably earn me some credibility with others. Again, I'm writing this to remind myself that personal time allows me to dig deep into a lot of topics.

The only networking I want to do for awhile is neural networking.

The Hybrid Model- A Woman's Lifestyle

Open-minded.

Adaptable.

Creative.

Compromising.

Those words might reflect a woman's attitude when she is considering her master life plan. I took a step back to piece together all the conversations I've had with women and the trends I've seen in the media concerning women's careers.

A woman's role used to be understood as the caregiver with respect to taking care of the home and family. That really has not changed to this day, but this was on a full-time basis. Of course, I think people had more children back then also. That is pure speculation. Feeding the masses was another huge responsibility mothers undertook. Drive-thru grub and instant meals were not prevalent as in today's world. Cooking (and the resulting cleaning involved) takes quite a chunk of the day now, it must be even more back then. For example, I watched in awe as my cousin biked through the streets of Vietnam daily to the local, outdoor market. She would gracefully haggle with the vendors to gather the raw ingredients for the day's meals. That took street smarts. If a guy has trouble in the supermarket, I'd like to see him handle this environment. My point is that there were a lot of factors that called for women to dedicate themselves fully to the home and family.

Then the full-time job turned from the home to the office. This could have been the result of the women's rights movement or a result of the changing economics. Either way, businesses would have reacted to this change by investing in day cares at their companies or teenagers advertising their baby-sitter qualifications. Restaurants undoubtedly benefited from this change and continue to adapt their services to family dynamics.

Now, the trend is to find the happy medium that has the flexibility to handle both the home and work. As the world turns as it always has, companies are opening policies to accommodate these demands, which really is a great movement.

With all this in mind, how is a woman supposed to plan for her future career?

It's no longer all or nothing, it's a hybrid of lifestyles. One quick comment about men. They must balance their lives as any woman does, but men's typical expectations are to work full-time advancing their corporate careers, family or no family. It is by nature a woman changes physically and mentally by starting a family. There are mothers who still work in the office full-time, which absolutely amazes me. It must be so demanding. There are mothers who work at home full-time, which poses another challenge. How will she return to the office again?

The 2-, 5-, 10- year career plans may need to be revisited. A decision block may need to be added to the flow chart diverting the corporate route to a family route that includes an option for part-time jobs. For some working fields, flexibility is an advantage. For other fields, additional college education and certifications would be required to take on more flexible jobs. So, should one plan for a flexible job too?

I have double standard feelings about the whole topic. The media statistically show women are not making as much money or are not reaching the corporate power levels as men, but I wonder if that is a discrimination or a balancing act women sacrifice between work and family. The working mother may not think it is worth even-ing out the statistics by sacrificing her role in the family. She may not focus as much on her career since her family role lies heavily with the kids. In this case, it is a woman's choice, not her inadequacy, to fulfill a high corporate position. That's one reason why I think this is a slow trend. I think it's great that a family can have a financial ability for one of the parents to raise their children. At the same time, I like seeing a woman go to the top of the charts.

I have heard several conversations that dance around these topics, and as with any life choice decisions, there is no general answer. It is a personal choice. For the most part, people make the right ones too.

Hiking the Sandia Mountains

It's been about a month since I've gone on the Old La Luz Trail Hike, but I had to share some of the photos I took. It was a gorgeous hike during the fall season. The 7-mile trail led my group and I to the top of the Sandia Mountians, where we took the Tramway back down. It took the group and I about 4-5 hours to complete, including lunch breaks. It was the first time I truly felt the effects of altitude on my breathing.

This shows the Donald Duck rock formation. It was definitely the comical relief during the uphill hike.

This was taken after the lunch break. It was a very memorable portion of the hike. The fallen yellow leaves contrasted so well with the white tree barks, and the occasional green plants accented the scene. Nature's soundtrack was just as fitting with the crunching leaves as the hikers walked and the water brooks in the background. It was a poet's dream.
The fall season can be easily detected in this photo. The scenic mix of mountains and trees definitely portrays the Southwest flavor of beauty.

Now we're getting so close to the Tramway, we can see it. Thank goodness.

Here is a top view of Albuquerque from the peak of the mountains.

Just a Physical Move

People move for several reasons. The most common reason I've noticed is for work, and I fall into this category. Only after a couple of weeks of implanting myself into a new state, I realized I was spending my time the same way I had always done. This made me think about people who move to avoid bad situations.

Relocating doesn't change habits or personality traits. It does, however, give a sense of a fresh start. The change in environment and people may be enough to influence a personal transformation, but it would be a gradual process.

My point is that I do the same things and think the same way regardless of all the changes that happen around me. The surroundings do influence me, but it will take time before any of those repercussions show. I should check in with myself in a few months.