Lady in Red

I just completed a year long journey called Leadership AAHSA. Meant to help me transform as a leader, this program didn't just change me professionally. It forced me to reflect on my life - where I've been, where I'm going, who I truly want to be - and thus changed me personally.

3 weeks ago in Los Angeles, the Leadership AAHSA fellows were "celebrated". I was so blessed to have people at the reception whom I truly care about - best friends, colleagues, mentors, coaches - and who truly care about me. In a sense, it was a "re-emergence" for so much has changed for me in the past year. It wasn't just a celebration of the journey... it was a celebration of those who helped me along the way.

I am not the same person I was a year ago. (For one thing, I'm blonde.) I am dedicated to living the most authentic life I can. And I am choosing happiness. Happiness isn't something that just happens - you have to seize it by getting out of your comfort zone and taking risks.

6 months ago, I journaled that I wanted to "wear a red dress and be noticed, be loved." I had forgotten that journal entry until the plane home from LA. And do you know what I wore on that celebratory occasion? A red dress and these black patent leather Calvin Kleins with a red tortoiseshell accent. As I was told by some, "that dress is fierece/those shoes are killer".

So I was noticed. And I am loved.

If I were a Curator...

I thought I was going to be a curator at some fancy shmancy art gallery in NYC when I was younger. Instead, I was the assistant to the curator at the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale in the Bronx. Then an assistant curator at Columbia University. Then on to Boston to be an art consultant at Boston Corporate Art. None of that was very fancy. Although I did have big fun living the high life (on credit) in my 20s in Boston. Then I moved back to DC, got a position at AAHSA, and the rest is history.

I love my job. I love our mission, working with the members and knowing we are making this country better for people like my grandparents and Paul's dad. I love knowing we are transforming aging. But sometimes, I can't help but wonder, what life would be like if I had stuck with the art history. Would I be at the National Gallery right now? Would I have gone to Europe? Would I work in a swanky gallery in NYC?

None of this is regret, mind you. It is just an exercise in wondering... do you ever do that?

Regardless of where my path would have taken me, I know I would have owned these fabulous Joan & David pumps!