Day 1

My flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was delayed, so unfortunately I missed the opening dinner.  Nonetheless, the view as we landed was spectacular.  Interestingly these pictures were taken around 10 pm, note how light it still is outside.  #imreallyfarsouth

The program officially kicked off today.  We will be spending 2 1/2 days in Ushuaia ramping up before we set sail on Dec. 31st.  If today is any indication, the days are going to be full and challenging – in a good way.

We spent the first portion of the day setting out ground rules for our time on the ship.  Given that there will be 80 of us on the ship in unusual circumstances without access to any of our usual coping mechanisms, this was a particularly important exercise.  Clearly the overriding them was respect and I think my favorite line from this activity was something along the lines of “Real queens help each other fix their crowns.”  As our group worked through the process, it was interesting to note that our initial approach was to look only at how we treat others, but ultimately recognized that we also need to be compassionate to ourselves.

The afternoon was a look inward at how we see ourselves, our values, traits, preferences,  roles, skills, and ultimately our purpose.  This was a lot harder than it sounds.  It’s much easier to describe these qualities in others than it is in ourselves.  We also started looking at what values are important to us in our personal lives, our work, and our relationships.  This will be the groundwork for tomorrow’s strategy exercises.  Tomorrow will be another full day.

Today was my cousin Stefanie’s wedding.  So happy for them and so sad not to be there to celebrate with them.  She makes a stunning bride and she and Russ are a gorgeous couple.  (Not the best picture quality, but I couldn’t help but share.)

I was also going to say that I was sad to miss out on family shenanigans, but through the wonders of modern technology, both Glen and Glenda and a former version of myself were there to celebrate…