Zap! Reconnected

I've been back in San Francisco all of five days and it is like I never left. My calendar is filled with meetings with old friends and new ones. When you live your dream career your friends just naturally blend into being your business partners.

Amazing realization -I'm back to being the happy, optimistic, friendly, "connector" I was before I moved away three years ago on July 3, 2005. Although I quickly fit into the Houston scene it was such a brief respite of only 10 months. Then London was two years of extreme personal and professional growth. It never felt like home.

When I first landed here last Saturday I was nervous about being back in San Francisco. Was I going backwards? Was I going to over-commit to projects and get under-paid again? Were people going to ask me about my failed marriage? Was I going to be able to start again? But I have evolved and so have my friends, my network. We're all a bit more mature, a bit wiser and more grounded in what it is that makes us tick.

I found my heart again in my lovely home by the Bay, San Francisco.

Live your dream: make it happen

Nicole and I had a fantastic conversation about articulating your own personal vision and mission statements. "Once you've articulated what it is you are about so much more falls into place" was her advice. As a consultant and coach I certainly offer the same guidance but good golly I find it so hard to do for myself.

At first I came up with something very lofty and filled with lingo. I then tried to share it with Nicole and I couldn't even remember what it was. Didn't roll of the tongue, got stuck in the brain. Following the KISS theory (Keep It Simple Sister) I chunked up on the vision (meaning that I took it up a few notches) and this is what I realized.

Vision and Mission statement - all blended into one:

Live your dream: make it happen

That's what I'm about. I'm starting to reflect that more in my consulting and coaching website Leading-Together.

Getting Into Pace with the City's Dog Patch

Living in London it took me a while to match the pace of that city. I would say it is a fast moving place where you had better figure out where you're going and how you're going to get there on your own. There is with little interaction between people and on public transit you certainly don't make eye contact or polite chatter.

San Francisco, on the other hand, is a city that is easy to get into sync with quite quickly. Yes, the public transit is somewhat confusing but your fellow travellers are generally happy to help you out and give you recommendations for good sites to see along the way to your destination. Plus, they'll keep chatting with you even after you have figured out where you want to go and how to get there.

I've enjoyed my four days back in San Francisco and familiarizing myself with this friendly banter on public transit, meandering along sidewalks and general sun/surf gazing that happens along the Embarcadero. You really feel that Life is Good here in SF.

I'm temporarily staying with my generous friend Nicole in her house out in an area called Dog Patch or Potrero Hill and possibly classifiable as Mission Bay. Ah yes, the beauty of naming San Francisco neighborhoods. Geographically it is close to South San Francisco and is an industrial area with lots of lofts, warehouses and public transit storage facilities. Nicole managed to buy one of the beautiful old Victorians that dot the city. The foundation of hers is from the 1800s. Inside it is fitted out with all kinds of modern features. It is really a little slice of heaven.

Maps from the website Dogpotch.