Workshop with the French

Last week we had a 4-day workshop with our Europe team. One member was originally from Columbia and emigrated to France after marrying her French husband. The other member has a surname that has origins in England. On our side was a lady from Mexico who took American citizenship though speaks fluent French. The other member, me, is from the Philippines and took Singapore citizenship and is now American.  The other member is from the American South and loves fishing in the Florida keys.

I kept quiet most of the time in the workshop as I represented computer technology while the others were on the business side. Sometimes keeping quiet is the best contribution that one can bring though it gives the mind a sense of paranoia as it second guesses what one perceives to be where one should speak. It is the imposter syndrome. However, everyone knows (at least I think so) that I am engaged in several projects both as squad leader and Project Manager.

My mind is prone to rumination, churning along as I had to focus on cleaning up PMB data, planning for going live,  meeting with my squad members, scheduling meetings, and handling several issues\. I am at a disadvantage since I have to do double work as compared to when I was only a squad leader and my work has increased with the turnover of the other projects. This is the best outcome as helps me avoid bureaucratic effort if no person is the project manager.

Yesterday, I ran in the 6k GE race which was held at Hartness subdivision which was like a park with a lot of green hills, lakes, and excellent views of the countryside. In the afternoon, we were at a party with our friends where we were exchanging stories and as usual, expressed where individual projects which were better than the others. In our case, moving money from the Philippines to the US stock market. Various tax strategies were discussed.

 Today, I swam in the early morning, rode our bike in the Swamp Rabbit trail, went to the Fall for Greenville where I had 2 glasses of beer, and samosa, and watched a Jazz and Blues band called amongst the trees. Afterward, we walked to the new Grand Bohemian hotel looking at the waterfall below with great views from the balcony. It was a great weekend with time to get out of my ruminating mind which ad focused on paranoia and imposter syndrome rather than celebrating our own contribution.

Perhaps it is because of our young American colleague who is eager to show her intelligence. Youth is on her side and I am glad she is on the team. As usual, there is a lot of politics involved with my young boss trying to be part of the team in this project. My paranoia has gotten the better of me and my 6k race in the rolling countryside, weekend swim and bike ride, and Fall for Greenville has brought me back to my senses.