On Friday night I attended a blogging research group at the University of Calgary. I thought it was kinda strange that a meeting like this would take place on a Friday night, however I kept an open mind and decided to honour my commitment and attend this research group. It was a great experience and I am very happy that I invested the couple of hours of time to attend. I had the privedge of meeting some of the leading bloggers in the Stampede City.
One of the attendees turned me onto the “Calgary Is Awesome” blog. Looks like a pretty fun place to come and see what is happening around Calgary. The age group appears to be a bit younger focused that this 40 year old man to attended the blogging group as the only business blogger. However, perhaps it is time to let my hair down (whatever I have left). So sure, let’s go for it and have some fun with this.
I have approached the folks at the “Calgary Is Awesome” blog to write some stuff for them. We will see how this goes.
Earlier today, I posted on Facebook that my blog needs a bit of tune up. Lately I have reverted back to some old posting habits and I know it is very easy to sucked back into the negative side of life. Today, I have decided to flush all the old crap down the toilet. The DELL partner stories (I will still share my love of DELL but won’t get frustrated over those who don’t share my feelings), the bitterness I still carry about my departure from IT Matters, and time to focus on going forward and really sharing my journey as a person, father, husband and business person.
After all this is why I started this blog.
Janet and I spent the afternoon on Saturday (actually we spent most of the day together) running around town. Looking for hardwood for our floor, memory for my Macbook and a battery for my youngest son’s cell phone. It was great just to spend time with her without the kids around. We enjoyed a very basic lunch at one of Calgary’s best pizza restaurants, Cocobrooks. They have two locations in Calgary.
The lesson I learned from Cocobrooks…
It is very obvious the minute you walk into Cocobrooks that it is something different. Not only in the quality of the food, which is awesome. The staff are friendly, they are very attentive to our needs, the pizza is awesome (did I mention that) and then the gem. This is a very Christian run organization and they are not afraid to show what matters in the world. The stories, which you can find on their website and throughout their menu offers stories of hope, grounding and the brick story will last a life time with me. I will share this in a far days, I just need sometime with it myself first.
Why can’t all business be like this?
Why do some of us hide who we truly are?
I guess I can reflect inward on this when I was having my own life challenges. Sure I mentioned above about my frustrations with IT Matters. Let me be perfectly clear here, the frustrations are with me, not with anyone else. I am shouldering this and dealing with it. I will never cast the first stone here. None of us has that right. We are the ones who make the decisions, no one holds a gun to our heads.
What stops you from showing who you really are?
Are you the type who can even lie to yourself?
I know I have mastered that fine art. Although I try very hard to really be honest about myself, some days are better than others.
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It was a pretty neat focus group, wasn’t it? I was surprised at how quickly the two hours went.
Nice meeting you, too, btw!
Heather, it was truly an honour to have you and the others as part of the group. I look forward to our paths crossing again and I will add your blog to my blogroll..
Cheers
Stuart