My spreadsheet brain
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2016 The recap
It’s a new year and a new season and I’m still tired. Okay, let’s scratch that. It’s no way to start my first blog post for 2017! How about: Hey friends! Happy new year! Okay, that sounds better. 2016 has been a pretty eventful year in the life of my spreadsheet brain. I thought that we should go over all the highs and lows of the year in a “2016 the recap” kind of style. Sounds like fun right? Here goes: -
Preggy update: The need to relax
As far as pregnancies go, I’m super duper tired. But like, more tired than you’re actually envisioning in your head right now. My body feels as if it hasn’t slept in a week! I need to relax ya’ll. If you’re feeling like I am (with or without a baby in your belly), then this weeks Rain Africa giveaway is for you. -
Just a little “Christmas Crazy”…
I am a self professed Christmas girl. Yeah, I can get a little Christmas crazy. I mean, I even had a Christmas tree in my wedding photos. Okay, I actually got married in December… I didn’t randomly use Christmas trees as my wedding decor.
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Spreadsheet brain for what? Pt. 2
Today, I take a metaphorical ‘spreadsheet brain’ breath as my entire life literally goes rushing by me. It is the day for a much needed “wooooosahhhhh” right before #ECMeetUp madness ensues.Oh, good morning to you too. I did not see you there, amidst all my deep, philosophical thinking. I’m sure you (and me and the entire human race) noticed all the soap box oversharing that had been going on over here recently. (Although if I had to share ALL the latest happenings in my life, we could probably produce an entire season of 7de Laan… ad breaks included). The past few weeks have been cray cray!
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My spreadsheet brain VS Life
The thing about having a spreadsheet brain is that I want my life to be like that too. You know, ruled and equated by formula; Easily sorted in numerical or alphabetical order; Colour coded at the click of a button. So you can imagine the amount of smoke signals exiting my ears these past few weeks as I said goodbye to a career that I had known for almost 10 years, for something completely different!WARNING! WARNING! UNIDENTIFIED DATA FOUND IN THE SYSTEM! ABORT MISSION!
Okay, that might be a tad bit dramatic. But it pretty much summed up my thought process as I bid farewell to the comfortable. Suddenly, nothing made sense anymore. My formulas were not adding up and the sort function had malfunctioned. Nothing was the same! Aaack! Change! Everything’s chaaaanging! Damn you, Stefano DiMera!
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Spreadsheet brain for what?
Oh hello there, it’s me, Luchae. Yep, the actual Luchae of this actual spreadsheet blog. I know I haven’t been around in a while, but I’m back now. Life’s been borderline cray cray. So many changes, big milestones to celebrate, events to plan and farewells to savour. Today, I lay under blankets, watching the rain fall, pondering on all of the above and then some.I’m in that “I should be planning something but I don’t want to and I don’t know how to work my way around that” mood. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I can probably spreadsheet if I want to. But I’d prefer just chilling here, considering the complexities of life and wondering how Kim Kardashian gets her boxer braids to be so perfect.
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Do it for the 20…
I have a lot going on and between EC Meet Up, Gateway News, my commitment to my church’s Music&Creative Arts department, my actual 9 to 5 and oh ya, I have a family; things are a bit cray cray on this side. I explained all of this to Hubstopher, telling him that I’ve only been able to blog once or twice per week, lately. I had been toying with the idea of pausing the blog for a period (or indefinitely) and jokingly said that the 20 people who read it won’t exactly be boycotting the internet because of my idea to shut down. To which I was promptly and politely put on my place. My darling Hubstopher reckons that it doesn’t matter if your post reaches 1 person or 1000 people… “if only 20 people are reading your posts, then that’s fine… do it for the 20!” he said.
He was so passionate about it, I almost thought he was going to go all church preacher on me. It didn’t end there. An hour into being at work, he sent me a text that said “do it for the 20”. This guy is as persistent as Madonna’s music career. But I think that he has a point.
Have you ever considered what YOUR reach is? When we think about people who have influence, Mother Theresia or Beyonce comes to mind. But you don’t have to be a blogger, or a politician, or a celeb (with really good hair) to be affluent. You are probably impacting individuals on a daily basis (and you don’t even know it!) with the things you say and do.
I mean, if you’re a mom, it’s kind of a no brainer. You already know that your kids watch everything you do (I can’t even poop without an audience, yo). So the way that you treat people and respond to situations is, like, a blueprint for them. Our biggest audience may be online, but our most important audience lives under our roof.
We are all walking billboards and sometimes we kinda forget to be mindful of what we are advertising – you have the ability to affect those around you! Your influence is important, whether it touches 1 life or 10000 lives.
And hey, let’s not even bring up social media, yo. Social media has literally given the masses a microphone, allowing everyone to shout out their opinions all at the same time. It can get a bit mind numbing, for sure.
But hey, you don’t need to be on a stage to make a statement. You don’t need to have a big following, in order to bring about change. Be persistent. Be intentional. Be consistent. But, above all, walk in the confidence that you are exactly where you’re meant to be, you have the ability to change the atmosphere wherever you go, and you have the power to influence… even if it’s only 20 people.
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Mother’s Day is for Mothers
Mother’s Day is around the corner (Sunday, 8th May, to be exact) and while I am aware that I am a mother (and have been one for a very long time) I have yet to earn the perks that come with a Mother’s Day. The simple reason is that my mom and Hubstopher’s mom is still around (and very much kicking) and so the Mother’s Day celebration quota gets evenly distributed between the two of them, leaving nothing but a Sunday school handmade gift for me (sniff sniff sob sob). Not that I mind. Those Sunday school gifts are usually very charming. But this year, I’m like, you know what? I want some Mother’s Day celebrations too!
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I saw Mariah Carey and this is what I learnt
In case you didn’t know, I am an avid music lover. I sing. I write songs. I write songs about singing. I’m really into it. Consider my love for music similar to that of a coffee snobs need for great java. It is one of the great loves of my life. Why the overshare, I hear you ask. Well, I needed to explain all of that to you so that you could understand my deep appreciation for good vocals. I was especially excited when I discovered that the vocal dynamo herself, my favorite singer in the history of song, Mariah Carey, was to grace SA shores in 2016! (Please excuse the terrible photo quality in this post – my Huawei could only do so much)
I mean, if you’re sitting around waiting for pigs to fly, then let’s just say all my pigs were flying when I found out that she was coming to South Africa. This was something that I had been waiting for ever since I learnt how to talk. Literally. Okay, not literally. But it was up there on my bucket list and I think that just about every single member of my family and inner circle knew it! Who says your hearts desires can’t become a reality? Slap that person and unfriend, immediately!
Hubstopher (not a fan), Me (fan) , Mandy (fan) and Sheldon (not a fan) The build up to the concert was pretty lame. Oh sorry, were you expecting something else? Haha. Why, you ask? Well, because I have a family and a 9 to 5 and I really could not spend a lot of time being excited about it. But a few days before, reality sunk in! It was a dream come true! We boarded a plane to Cape Town (Cape Town is a great town), with some friends of ours who shared our exact sentiments (she’s a fan, he’s not) and besides for the brilliant opportunity to take a break and enjoy being in another city, us girls were really pumped up about finally seeing Mimi, live!
The concert was amazing, the vibe was amazing and the lady’s vocal was A-mazing! It’s been 26 years since her debut release and Mariah’s still got it, no doubt. Hubstopher appreciated the musical genius of the band and I loved hearing all my favorite songs, being sung by my favorite singer, in living color! Watching her prance around on stage taught me a couple of other things too:
If you want to be the boss, BE the boss
This woman is not only good at taking command while on stage, she is pretty much executive producer on all her albums and writes her own songs. She knows what she wants. She knows how she wants it done. She works hard to make it happen. She owns it! I was so encouraged to take authority in my career space.
Looking good in the bodysuit is not always enough
Look, I love me some Mariah, but Mimi needs to give up the scantily clad outfits now. The girl is not a girl anymore. Wear some pants, for crying out loud! Okay, okay, her dresses were breathtaking. But the bodysuit… nah. Fortunately, I don’t listen with my eyes. Vocals were on point, so I was good to go. But it reminded me that looking good isn’t everything, yo. You don’t have to be sexy in order to be successful.Keep your inner circle close
Mariah is surrounded by a whole bunch of Day 1 peeps who are still on her team, still working together, to get the job done, years after her initial success. I like that. It gives this sometimes glamorous, sometimes fake, music industry some creditability when there are like minded individuals in it, together, for the long haul. Relationships are beautiful. Who are you surrounding yourself with? How healthy are your relationships?
My selfie with Mariah. Hahahaha Human beings should not be worshiped
People pretty much lost their minds as they all clamored after Mariah. These uber fans take their jobs pretty seriously, yo! Someone even called her Jesus, because her birthday is during Easter and she has the highest selling Christmas album. That is hilarious. Hilariously dumb. I can appreciate the artist without worshiping the artist, because really, she is just another human being. You know? Hey, I’m a fan for life! But being a fan won’t take over my life.There can only be one Mariah
Many have tried and some may come close but there can only be one Mariah Carey! All in all, it was a top notch experience and it left me pretty motivated to chase my dreams and work hard for what I want. I love seeing passionate, strong women succeed!To end, I need to quote a Mariah song (it’s only fitting) (don’t roll your eyes at me): “If you believe in yourself enough and know in your heart you’re going to make it happen (make it happen!) and if you go down on your knees at night and pray to the Lord, He’s going to make it happen (make it happen!)” *and scene*
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Should I friend my work colleagues
Social media has added yet another layer of relationship dynamic for us to manage. (Thanks a lot Mark Zuckerburg) The popularity of certain sites has created a portal for just about anyone to “friend”, well, just about anyone else. And with app’s constantly prompting you to share your location or milestones or photo’s, I often find myself treading on the barrier between privacy and stupidity. I mean, why would I want anyone to know my street address? If you recall someone once took all my info and pretended to be me. It was especially fun. But it got me to thinking: Should I friend my work colleagues on social media?
These sites have opened a door that is normally kept shut. This open door may find you begrudgingly accepting your boss or work colleague’s “friend request” on Facebook. It creates this grey area where exposing your personal life to your professional acquaintances has to weigh against the opportunity to build on your relationship with them. What to do, what to do…
Whatever your choice or reason, mixing work relationships with social media has it’s pros and cons. For starters, I am able to celebrate success and wins more publically with my work team on social media. But that would mean that my boss gets to see photo’s of my grandmother’s 80th birthday party. Is it worth it? Work place politics can sometimes be worsened when employees have instant access to each other’s personal lives and opinions. Sharing that funny, disparaging pic or commenting on that derogatory post could be offensive and potentially harmful to the way your co-worker’s view you.
Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that your posts can be used against you in court. If your company deems your Facebook or Twitter posts to be harmful to the company’s image, it could result in your dismissal. If your posts are harmful to the business of your employer, they can do something about it. Yes, this includes those “I hate my job so much right now” posts.The legality around the weight of your social media posts will also get you into trouble if you’re that guy who calls in sick on Monday morning and then posts a dismal looking selfie with the caption “so hungover right now”. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure that one out. But, with that said, employers will also need to tread lightly as far as allegations are concerned. I mean, a picture taken from a balcony of a (far away) beachfront does not mean that your employee has been lying on the beach, sipping pina colada’s. One would hope that common sense will prevail.
With that said, there is the wonderful prospect of being able to connect with each other on a more personal level. On some occasion, it’s great to know where someone is coming from or what they are going through in order to help understand them better.
“Well, is there a middle ground?!!” I hear you cry. Settle down. Yes there is. Let me tell you about it. It’s called ‘privacy settings’ and Facebook, in particular, has introduced a bunch of these privacy controls that would allow you to add people to specific groups and then decide which of your posts they are able to see. There is a very informative article on Techlicious about it.
So there you have it. At the end of the day though, nothing beats actual human conversation. You know, the one where we use our mouths to communicate (instead of our fingers). Maybe the answer to these modern day problems lies in our lack of face to face communication, more than our lack of privacy settings. Something to think about!
For more info on social media vs labour law check out this interesting article I found on News24.
