My first online event
Last week I was part of Code Like a Girl zoom call and gee it was hard. Not because of anyone else, they all were so lovely, but because even though I love tech, being on the camera and listening to someone far away, and also trying to be part of the conversation when you are muted… All those things were so much that I had a headache afterward, a very bad one, though probably it was also because I was smiling all those two hours of the conversation. I didn’t get to say much, my mind was blank from all the excitement and of those couple years of talking baby language (or on the other hand just painfully listening about all the things Minecraft) and there were 80 participants with limited time, also my Zoom didn’t work as expected and I couldn’t choose a breakout room, too bad, but that’s fine.
What have I learned?
- Nothing new about CLG that I haven’t already read on a beautifully made CLG website, except that wonderful people work there, with exceptional, selfless intentions.
- Heard a lot of different journeys and also had a few doubts about my own along the way (as you do, because who knows if whatever we do is actually what we are supposed to be doing).
- That there is a group of people I can talk to about the books that I like, things that are close to my heart, similar intentions and similar roadblocks along the way.
- And most importantly, I want more of it. But even more of live conversations. Funny that I say that because most of my life I was introverted and changed because I had to change to move forward from some hard stuff while growing up. But I do miss conversations with other interested, successful, determined high achievers.
And so in saying that I bought a ticket to another, this time live event for Women in Digital. Sure, it is a way broader topic event “Life By Design: Creating a career for you & your lifestyle”. I might be jumping over my own belly button here, but I just need to get out there even if for a couple of hours, meet other people, and to know that we are not on the Matrix, and we are still living breathing organisms on this planet.
I am really putting myself out there lately. Talk about stepping out of the comfort zone. I don’t even have anything to wear except for my lounge wear.
Oh, boy…
So, what do we do when we know that we need other people to succeed?
We find courage in our hearts to trust the process. And mind you, all those other people are probably going through the similar things in their heads – wondering if I look ok, if that mess behind my back is visible, is my accent too obvious or if what I am saying makes sense, because it does in my head but once it’s out in the air somehow it sounds a lot like mumble jumble. Also, those moments of a few people talking at the same time and awkward moments of silence following, or even worse “you go first, no you go first”. I know there are some very experienced Zoomers out there now but for me it’s a completely new world, not that I don’t know how to operate the software but the social impact of that is on such a new level for our chimpanzee brains that I bet after this pandemic we will have a lot of new kind of research about how static communication affects our overall wellbeing.
I miss meeting new people in a more personal, body language (not I will smile all the time in case someone was looking at me right this moment) kind of way. I hope to form friendships too because being Lithuanian [insert your own nationality] in Australia [insert any other country that you immigrated to] and fighting for the right to stay, does put a strain on creating meaningful relationships. In saying that I do have wonderful friends that I love dearly, and I am forever grateful for the things that they did to make our life in a foreign country feel like home (I am just happy I am not so introverted anymore).
Thank you to companies like CLG and WiD for creating opportunities for people like me who are just starting out, or are stuck in the rut, to get out and meet other wonderful people. Can’t wait for more, and I will keep this blog updated after the even too.