Back on my grind

Well fellows, 2011 is upon us, and I'm not the first to note it in this space. I'm glad to have this new beginning. I was happy and lucky to spend a week out of Chicago for the first time since moving, and the break came at just the right time. I suppose December kind of threw me off, never quite settling back into the routine after Thanksgiving, knowing that more holidays were around the corner. With folks out of the office for various reasons, and a strangely low number of clients coming through North Lawndale Employment Network's doors, December was quiet on the work front. But just as I was glad to step away from my fellowship life, I was equally glad to return, if not more so. I loved the time with family and friends, the hedonism of Christmas cookies and New Year's champagne, but when I got on the flight back to that city in the midwest, best city in the whole wide wide world, I was happy.

In advance of our major annual fundraiser, the Sweet Beginnings Tea, to be held in February, work at North Lawndale has kicked into overdrive in the new year. I for one am glad to be back in the swing of things, back with the rhythms of the work week, and all the little things that make living in Chicago phenomenal. On my cab ride from the airport late last Sunday, the cabbie and I got to chatting. He mentioned that he collects proverbs, with a new one for every year. For 2011 his proverb was this: "Life is like riding a bicycle, you have to keep moving forward to keep your balance." He told me this on the Stevenson Expressway, with the glittering lights of the Chicago skyline up ahead, and I fixated on what he said.

Certainly it's been a change to be here in Chicago, where only seven months before I had been a naive Princeton senior finding creative ways to fill my time after I handed in my thesis. Following the proverb though, I've managed to keep my balance by just moving forward. 9 days into 2011, and I've got high hopes for my contributions to my organization, and my own development during the rest of this fellowship experience.