First of all, thank you for visiting my website! It wouldn't exist without the countless hours of contribution from the Open Source technology community and supporting organizations.
Over the last many years, I have not prioritized the time to give thanks, appreciation, and recognition to those that have helped me so much. In my keynote at Drupal GovCon in July 2019, I spoke of the next phase of healing from burnout was on the active expression of the appreciation.
Now that I've taken a sabbatical to care for my family during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to act!
Feeling the appreciation just isn't enough. I've been feeling gratitude and thanks for years without actively doing a thankful act in return. Even to those people and organizations that have helped the most, those that I'm most indebted to, I did not provide a thankful act in return.
Goals
- Actively communicate the gratitude and thanks I feel to others.
- "Catch up" on long-overdue thank-yous.
- Reconnect with old friends.
Strategy
- Transfer thoughts into action and create a tangible deliverable. A note, a phone call, a text.
- Dedicate a consistent, set time in the day to communicate thanks. Don't skip it!
- Do not overthink and over worry about "who gets the first thanks". Let it just come at the moment.
- Keep a journal of each act of communication.
Execution of Thanks
- The "Act of Thanks" will come after my daily morning exercise.
- A minimum of one extra directed act of thanks per day will be in addition to the polite thank-yous through daily living. These are the real juicy thanks for the acts that have made such an impact on my life.
- I'll be listing the acts of thanks here on this page (after I do some more web site development). Some may have more detail than others based on the level of privacy and nature of the thanks.
18 May 2020 - Thank you to Fellow Drupaler Mark Conroy
Mark Conroy has a "Thanks" page on his website. It struck me as a grand idea and aligned with my personal goals of appreciation and thanks. Not only am I thanking Mark for the idea of a "Thanks" page, but him for being a pure joy to work with. I had the honor to work with Mark on a pretty challenging project in late 2019 and he was helping with Hook 42 when we decided to close due to COVID-19. I hope to work with him again through the Drupal community projects and meet up the next time we can gather. He truly is a wonderful human being.
19 May 2020 - Thank you to the Olivero Drupal theme team
This site would not exist so fast and at such high quality without the brand-new Oliver Drupal theme! Mike Herchel, the man with the blue lightning cowboy boots, and Putra Bonaccorsi from Lullabot wrote a lovely article on the theme and the team. I look forward to contributing to the Olivero project over time and as I use it on this site.