Twitter as group therapy

I was in a foul mood last night.

Independent consulting certainly has its perks (and it’s definitely the best decision I’ve made in my career), but sometimes having no one to pat you on the back, tell you when you screwed up, help you improve your designs, help you get out of a sticky situation, tell you when it’s time to walk away — well, it can feel pretty overwhelming and lonely. Sure, lots of friends and colleagues are more than willing to give me their advice, but no one else is actually experiencing it with me. There is no team. And the lack of consensus and direction and togetherness sometimes puts me in a funk.

Last night before I hit the sack way earlier than I normally do, I sent this tweet:

And when I woke up early this morning to get a head start on my day, I was blown away by the amazing response I got from folks who had seen my tweet — friends and strangers alike.

Twitter really is like group therapy. Everyone is here to encourage each other to do think harder and do better, stand by each other in tough times, act as a sounding board, listen quietly and chime in when we feel it’s important to. I’m so appreciative for the amazing show of support I got, and I really hope that I can be that shoulder to lean on when any of you need it.

Thank you so much for always being there.

Related Posts:

• 10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design — the presentation
• My Creating a Culture of UX workshop at UX London
• Today is my 1 year anniversary on Twitter
• Twitter talk at the IxDA NYC Recap of Interaction 09
• Twitter: An Asymmetrical Chat Room