Investments

It was time to step back and take a look at things.

I had just left a job I Loved with a capital L. The community I was working with the past five years was an idillic collaboration of support, loyalty and inspiration. Our team had always been carrying each other over obstacles, much like the teams you see competing for glory in those crazy races. Sometimes I was the one being lifted and sometimes I was the one doing the lifting, but together we all grew. Our team was functioning in a state of flow, and because of that we were able to put extra everything into the community we were serving.

My investments.

I believe I have made about four hundred investments since I graduated college. My first was the largest, a BPS in East Boston. I was a trained and contracted Play Coach, adored by all three hundred something children, each of whom I saw on a daily basis, always in the context of playtime. The remainder of my investments had passed through the care of myself and my wonderful team. More focused, long-term investments. Children I cared for from their first loose tooth to their first real actually-emotionally-crushing crush.

Because my old team is such a strong team, I had less anxiety about taking myself out of our care equation. Everything would be fine in my absence; the staff would pick up my slack and the program would continue serving our community with as much dedication as they ever had.

And now I have started the process of replicating our hard work in a new place; leading a newly hired team, gaining the trust of a new community of families, and setting my eyes on my newest investments.