Bucket List

We all have ’em – those things that we want to be able to say we’ve done before we die. Some are extreme and completely outside of the comfort zone, others are completely sane and reasonable. While I certainly haven’t been thinking about my imminent death (don’t worry – as far as I know, there is no such plan for me to die), I did start to think about some of the things I’d like to accomplish or try before I kick the bucket. In no particular order, they include:

1. White Water Rafting: This one should be relatively easy to accomplish, given the close proximity of a place in Ottawa that does white water rafting tours. How someone like me, who used to hate boats, will do is an entirely different question. This is something that I’d like to accomplish this summer, so if anybody wants to go hit me up on Twitter or comment below!
2. A trip to South Africa: I don’t know why, but I’ve always wanted to go to South Africa. No, I don’t plan to travel around the African continent and kill animals like Donald Trump Jr., but there’s something that keeps drawing me towards a visit.
3. Become a vegetarian: This one may be hard to accomplish solely because of how underweight I am. However, I am a huge fan of animals and a proponent of animal welfare. The more I learn about factory farming and the way animals are treated prior to their slaughter, the more it makes me want to not be involved in that process in any way. So – if any of my veggie friends have tips on high calorie, high protein veggie diets that would keep me on track at the gym and help me transition to vegetarianism, I’m all ears.
4. Write a book: This is probably the first of two lofty goals that will be a big roll of the dice. I’ve always enjoyed writing (obviously) and I’d like to see if I have the dedication to write a 50,000 novel. As for what it’d be about, I haven’t the foggiest clue.
5. Become a Member of Parliament: While PR is certainly my passion,  we all know (assuming you know me, that is) that I’ll wind up in politics some day – this time on the elected side of things. Campaigns are a lot of fun – and I can only imagine they are a lot more fun and challenging when it’s your own name on the ballot. I want to know what that feels like.

Some people have a bucket list pages and pages long; on the other hand, mine is just five goals. Two of them are more “short-term,” one is medium-term while the last two, obviously, involve a significantly higher level of involvement. Perhaps some of them are ridiculous goals, but hey – if you don’t set them, why bother living?

Change.

Okay, so not this kind of change; but you get the point.

Change: The act or instance of making or becoming different.

Change happens; be it quick or be it slow, it happens. For some of us, change means we see close friends have kids and/or get married. For others, it means moving away. For me, change is coming in the form of a new job.

I’m excited about this new challenge. It means new responsibilities, new people and it helps me achieve my goal of working in a PR agency. I like how hectic agency life is. I like being able to work for a lot of different clients.

This new job is out of my comfort zone. Every single job I’ve had in my professional career has been with a small team: be it working with a Member of Parliament and having a staff of three others in our office and two in the Ottawa office, or be it working for another small PR agency where there was only eight of us. Even the ROM, which is a large organization, had a small PR team (which is awesome). I learned a lot in all of these positions but now I’m going to a bigger organization – NATIONAL Public Relations. I’m excited to join a bigger company, because I feel like there is going to be a lot of talent to learn from. At the same time, I’m nervous because I’ve never been part of a big team. I’ve always been in a “little pond” so to speak, so this is my proverbial leap to the ocean.

The decision to go to NATIONAL caused a lot of internal conflict. And it was a lot to think about, until a good friend of mine, Katie (and yes, you’re a friend) gave me some words of wisdom. She talked to me about doing what would bring me peace and doing what I could to go to sleep at the end of the day, knowing that I’d made the right decision. It made me realize that, as a young professional, I have a lot of opportunities for new things ahead of me. I have the chance to experience a lot of different things and the opportunity to join NATIONAL is going to let me experience a lot of those. It was her advice that made things a done deal for me.

So, I’m at peace with my decision and I’m excited for the next challenge of my professional life. It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be interesting and I know that I’ll be able to go home at the end of the day, enjoying what I’ve done. This change is a good one.