Who am I? That’s a good, albeit tough, question
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Communication, Human resources, Training & development
Recently I wrote a post about two scenarios:
1. social media as a halloween grab bag, where you reach out into the dark and don’t know what you’re going to bump up against or
2. social media as a place to meet, connect and build relationships, like meeting in a gorgeous field of flowers.
Regarding the latter I’ve made a wonderful connection with a woman named Sam who, after I’d asked her what she’s about and she responded, she asked me of the same.
Here’s your reply Sam.
I am more than the sum of my parts.
I am the crossroads, where family, friends, travels, education, authors and even strangers have brushed their influences upon me.
- I’m as comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt working with people in poverty as I am in a suit in the C-suite (no heels, come on I’m 5’10”)
- I work with professional comedians, because I believe humour is a gateway to powerful learning
- I was born to teach and train, it’s in my blood. I enjoy nothing more than setting a smorgasbord of diverse learning opportunities that’s so sumptuous that participants can’t help but help themselves
- I once lived in a house that had a jail cell
- I went to school on a ship that sailed around the world
- I’ve worked with the former President of Mozambique, the Honourable Joaquim Chissano, the United Nations, and the Olympics
- When I was young I worked with people who were autistic, people in a psychiatric boarding home, sex offenders, severely physically challenged folk, and French kids in a daycare (no better language teachers).
- I’ve always been fascinated with all faces of diversity which, decades ago now, convinced me that becoming a fashion designer wasn’t the route I should take (though I was accepted into fashion design school).
- I was an entrepreneur at 13 when I started selling boxwood to clients
- I know what the term Lusophone means
- I have been inside the ring of a camel wrestling competition
- I have been a single married mama
- I lost 30 pounds more than 2 years ago and along the way learned much about the process of change & how to affect change
- I am delightfully public and intensely private
That’s me.
And you? Who are you?
Tags: introduction, social media, who am i, who are you
July 20th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
What a fantastic idea. So much to tell and reveal yet at the same time it makes you more intriguing.
I also feel I can be intensely private and delightfully public. I like that one person can be both.
I will have to look up what Lusophone means!
Thanks for sharing
Natalie
July 20th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
My goodness! What an extraordinary life! Must catch up and get on with meeting some Presidents and watching some camel wrestling : )
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:37 am
Thanks Natalie. Yes, being both public and private is an intriguing dance. I learned about what Lusophone means when I was working with the former President of Mozambique. Let me know if you ever do a similar post, would love to know more about you.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:43 am
Hi Nicola- I think we’re all extraordinary. Really, truly. I do recommend watching camel wrestling – and if you can get inside the ring, even better!
I checked out your site– love your ‘I believe post’ especially #10; I believe in small steps and #11 I believe in big leaps.
July 24th, 2010 at 8:27 am
What a delightful response to ‘who am I’! You offer layers of mystery that invite us to imagine ‘what choices did Lee-Anne make, what led or inspired her to go there?’… Wrestling with camels. Indeed!
If I were asked to interpret the major influences on Lee Anne’s compass, I would say that she is compassionate, curious, sensuous, with a wonderful appetite for life.. all of the above function with the help of a light hand, a big heart and a profound awareness of the way laughter opens the heart, the mind and the soul..
I suspect you are a wonderful Mama…
thank you for sharing!
ps traveled on an Italian cargo ship and lived alone in a 3 story in a building that morphed over the years from library to YMC to Sheriff’s office with a jail cell in the basement.
July 28th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Hi Sam
Oh I was so hoping you, the inspiration for the post, would comment. Thanks for you kind words. Makes me humble in my thanks and proud in my heart. What a testament to the ability to forge connections virtually. I’m so glad we’ve connected and I look forward to coming to know you better.
PS I was just at a family reunion where I learned about bull farming – including pre-sale requirements which include having to measure the testicle size of and test the sperm of the bulls. I wasn’t sure whether my farming relatives were pulling one over on me but it’s true. How delightful it was to step into an entirely different world where one’s not sure which way is up and what’s ‘the truth’. Hmmmm fodder for a post on learning me thinks. Who am I? I have prairie blood hidden deep in my DNA.
I’m combining worlds and writing this in a tent with my family, just before drifting off to sleep under the prairie sky. Good night all or good morning, depending where on this earth you call home.