Connections

I've been told that looking for work is all about your connections.

As I dropped my daughter off to spend a few days with a friend she's known since preschool, I was struck by the depth of the connection, not just between my daughter and her friend, but between her family and my own. I guess that's not surprising, considering that we have seen each other go through transitions and changes for over ten years. In addition to our experiences, some shared and others parallel, we have the memories of our daughters at the age of four. Cuteness is powerful stuff.

While "cute" was not a factor in my time at ABC, the idea of years of shared experience certainly was. I was the planner (or the recipient) of many a baby shower. I celebrated birthdays and commiserated about crazy families and child care situations. As private a person as I was, people knew me so well and for so long, there was a shorthand and a relationship not so different from what we have with my daughter's friend's family. A connection.

I would venture to say that almost anyone who spent years on a soap would say the same. The long hours and long-term work of our jobs bred a familiarity rare in many workplaces, and even more rare today, when "long-term" can mean a year.

When I moved on after ABC, I realized (and was reminded by well-meaning supporters) that I would probably never have that kind of connection at a job again, and I was good with that. After all, you don't recreate preschool or twenty-plus years every day. Yet, from time to time (today being one of those times), I am reminded of how comforting and supportive it is to have that kind of history and connection. While I don't expect to have the exact same thing again, I do believe that connections at work are valuable things to want.  As comfortable as we might be with our own responsibilities, we are always more powerful with the support of the people around us. With connections.

So, while my future coworkers might not know the intricate details of my children's births (I'm not planning to do any more of those), or my travels through the public education system, I do believe that I will want connection with them. The connections we make at work don't just enrich us. They enrich the work we do as well. That's true whether we're somewhere for a month or for twenty years.

And in the end, enriching our work--or the work we get to do--is pretty much what connections are all about.