Community Building / Giving Back / Identity LEADER Part 1

In my daily life, as my primary job, I’m an art jeweler.
I design and fabricate with metal and other materials that strike my fancy. I create a jewelry that falls within a range on the wearable jewelry spectrum. This is where I naturally find myself.

There are, however, other hats that I wear and toggle between. They all overlap and create beautiful meaning in my life.

I’ve written in the past about my ‘teacher’ hat.
Today I write about my ‘leader’ hat. 

For me this, like teaching, is about giving back and participating in community building in a field that I’m passionately involved with - art jewelry. However, unlike the teacher hat, being a ‘leader’ is newer in my self identity.

Although this hat has shown up in various places, I write today in relationship to my volunteering with Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) - a small yet robust arts nonprofit that advocates for the international field of contemporary art jewelry. Amongst other things, we have travel trips / events, host panel discussions, award grants, and publish original content about the field. It’s a wonderful organization to know about. I encourage you to dive on in!

Here’s the trajectory of my involvement with AJF:

• around 2010 or 2011 I start volunteering on a committee

• 2013 I joined the board of directors

• 2013-2017 I was chair of the same committee I first volunteered on

• 2018-2019 I became co-chair of the board of directors

• 2020 This year, I became chair of the board of directors

WOW! This still makes me loose my breath a little. I have to work at grounding to soak up the reality of this moment in time.

Strangely, it’s been a natural progression for me, yet not one that I could have ever planned, hoped for, looked forward to or the like. 

Some part of me has cracked open with this ongoing experience. 

I’m learning so much on this job, finding out about myself, others, and nonprofits.

Things it has been and is:

• many hours of work

• teamwork

• big picture thinking

• spirit building

• infuriating

• exhilarating

• empowering

• challenging

• surprising

• frustrating

• humbling

• collaboration

• fun

Think about the experience like this:

You’ve written your resume in one way for your entire professional career and it’s served you well. 
Now you have an ongoing experience that sheds light on other skills and interests that you have. They relate, but not explicitly. 
You now have to write an entirely new resume to map out who you are, your skills, interests, accomplishments.

What are the words, the structure to use? How to translate the experience onto paper?

This is where I’m at. It’s a bit daunting; also fascinating. 

That’s what I’m sitting with and digesting for the moment. 

What’s daunting you? What’s fascinating you?

Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear.