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.
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Wow. This is awesome. And you're actually one of the people who really keep me on Twitter :)
Very cool… it is awesome to see twitter used in positive way.. real interaction happening.
I couldn't agree more with that last paragraph.
Aaron I
Hi Aaron,
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for commenting on my blog post,
“Twitter as group therapy.” It’s really important to me that my blog be a
place where people can discuss issues at length, instead of it merely being
my soapbox. Any thoughts on how I can further facilitate that would be much
appreciated.
Thank you for contributing to the conversation and keep reading! I look
forward to your future insights.
Take care,
Whitney
Great community we all be.
It is a good thing you've got a large enough following on Twitter for that. I'd have trouble seeking such with my group.
Stephen,
I truly believe that I have a “large” following because I've put the time
and energy into cultivating it. Yes, a year ago I might not have had this
reaction to a single tweet, but there's nothing preventing you from
experiencing the same thing — put yourself out there for other people and
you'll be amazed at what you get in return.