Day 18: March 18, 2024

I first need to say that where I am, it’s only 9:22. So I didn’t technically miss today, and this is the first minute I have been back in my hotel room with access to a computer since 8:04 this morning. I’m tired. But I had a good day. 

I had one of those days where there weren’t as many small slices because it all felt so big. It’s hard to look back at the day and choose one moment for a slice. I’m choosing the three most meaningful moments for me. 

1. I attended a disability and inclusion workshop, which I was hesitant to do because it sometimes feels too personal yet also not personal enough. I’ve struggled with this identity a lot, feeling guilty that I’m not disabled enough, or that some people don’t define disability in the same ways. I walked away from the session happy I went, still struggling with guilt, shocked at how inaccessible the world is in general, but happy it’s beginning to be a conversation. Our ‘turn and talks’ were fun, people were passionate, and someone next to me kept nudging me to share out. I didn’t, but it reaffirmed that maybe my ideas are worth sharing sometimes. I’m often caught in thinking – I’m too young, someone else will say something better, I’ll word something wrong, what if I offend someone? I’m going to work tomorrow on worrying less about that. 
2. We had a reception at the Seattle Art Museum tonight. My coworkers and new friends all were laughing at how much easier networking gets with a little liquid courage. Suddenly I was talking to a staff member that helped plan the event because our elevator earlier in the day had made some really off and scary sounds, and we had made wide eyes at each other. The elevators are split between floors 1-26, and 27-44. I’m on floor 24, which means it can take a long time to reach my room. As the elevator squeaked up, it ended up being just the two of us, and we both released our breath as we got off. When I saw her at the reception, we joked about how we had been able to get down the elevator and went on to talk about other scary things we do in life, talking about the slide I went down in Costa Rica into a pit of snakes (no, this was not advertised), and the zipline in Guatemala that only had Spanish instructions. She ended up being one of the most valuable people I’ve met, and she is on the lookout for a few names I’ve been looking to meet for me. 
3. My boss and I chatted briefly today and he asked me how I was doing. “Good,” I said. “I think I’m doing much better than last year, and I’ve met a lot of great people.” He said, “I’ve heard actually. So many people have come up to me and said they’ve met a coworker of mine, Clare? D told me to remind you of her threat to connect yesterday. She wasn’t kidding.” We laughed, but it felt good to know I’m maybe on the right track here.