Dear Friends,
As I write this today, the leaves are beautiful shades of red, gold, yellow, and green outside of my window and the sky has the crisp blue of a clear, fall day. I like to pause at this time of year to reflect on all the change the year has held and begin intention setting for the year ahead.
A few weeks ago, I participated in a women’s leadership “Wisdom School” that will be part of my continued personal and professional growth over the year ahead. We were up in the nearby mountains in a beautiful location with a diverse group of sisters from all over the world. As we began our 9-month leadership journey together, we all worked to craft a clear and compelling intention for our growth and, as we were sharing them in circle, in a light-filled room surrounded by shimmering aspen, a female moose came prancing out of the forest, straight across from where I sat across from a large window. My expression was undoubtedly priceless as I gasped at this beautiful sight. When I was done sharing, I stood and walked to the window, where my moose friend had stopped to casually munch the leaves. She looked right at me as if to say, “Yes, you’re on the right track, keep going.”
This month’s newsletter is very much in that spirit.
We look at the relationship between change and mental health over the course of time, through the seasons, and over our lifespan (and offer some helpful tips for regular mental health tune-ups and ongoing self-care). We also paused to reflect on our own staff retreat and the joy we felt at (FINALLY) being able to gather together in-person again. We were also excited to see one of our early pandemic projects bear fruit as the International Space University published its findings on the use of space-technology in identifying, managing, and preventing major health crises. And finally, we examine the role of intentionality in cultivating a JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) mindset and ways of being in leading and facilitating.
As we look ahead, we are also excited to share that the team at Integrated Work has a brand-new website! As we evolve and grow as an organization, we are excited that our site now even better reflects who we are and where we are going. The new site is easier to navigate, and more clearly articulates our human-first focus along with our deep commitment to and experience leading justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) work. We have also added a robust resource library based on popular demand and have plans to add even more features to serve our partners in the coming months.
We hope you visit soon and enjoy the site!
