I'm DIANA

A holistic systems and process architect, who believes in elevating the creative economy. You’ll find tips, podcasts, and resources on this blog!

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Word For the Year

“Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person. In those transparent moments we know other people’s joys and sorrows, and we care about their concerns as if they were our own.”

~Fritz Williams

It’s been a whirlwind couple of years.

In 2017, I left my community to work with an adoption/foster care organization in Hong Kong. Came back abruptly with no job or money and moved in with a dear friend in 2018. She was diagnosed with stage IV cancer days after I moved back to the States. Five months later, she passed and left us, with our feelings and grief. By the end of the year, I encountered closed door after closed door. Still no job and after many resume submissions for review, no one could tell me anything that was wrong with my resume. What a way to welcome me home, America.

When things are hard, heck, when they seem impossible… I tend to lean on my faith and my community. Some dear friends encouraged me to start my own business, to which I scoffed… for months. I doubted my ability to help others. I couldn’t even see who I was and what I was meant to be doing on this earth. I was told time and time again, that my gifts and dreams “weren’t my own”, rather I was “taking someone else’s vision”.

Enter 2019. The word for the year, UNAPOLOGETIC. What a year it was. Filled with laughter, tears, lots of change, and a quiet acceptance of who I am and what I have to offer the world. I love details and my desire to see someone else succeed IS my vision and my dream. It’s not a cop out. When one of us wins, we all win.

In 2020, as I continue to build on what I’ve learned in 2019, my word is RISE. Like most other small business owners, I face imposter syndrome head on every day. But the reality is, I have been in the professional world since I was 13 years old and administratively running the Rehab floor at a Nursing Home (true story). This is the year, I lean into more and more of who I am and who I was made to be. This is the year, we rise (yes, we) and be set free.

In the next email, I’ll go into more about what I do at The Finer Points. In the meantime, do you have a word for the year? A goal? A habit you’d like to change? 

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