Man in the Mirror

In 2014, I decided to turn the volume way down on a private sector corporate grind by joining the public service workforce. And I soon found myself with a surplus of cognitive energy.  Having been trained to focus, grind, complete and repeat,  I was challenged by the boredom of public sector red-tape. I had even been asked to put my proverbial feet up and work less. I was enduring a work culture shock and it wasn't long before I knew I needed to channel this surplus elsewhere.

So I started volunteering my time with organizations that appeared to be in service of others. [I would later find that this intention runs in parallel with vedantic yogic philosophy.] One of the organizations was the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 

ASCE is one of the largest non-profit civil engineering professional networks in the country - broken into Sections and Branches. Its Vision: Civil engineers building a better quality of life. My interest laid in applying my engineering skill set without having to track how profitable I could be. And I wanted to grow my professional network. [After all, you never know who you'll meet.]  So I cold-called the sitting president of the ASCE Miami-Dade Branch and was offered a position on the Board of Directors as the Younger Member Group Chair. [The Branch carries approximately 900 active members, 30 who are in leaderships roles, and 10 who make up the Board of Directors.]

My duty was to host social events with pretty simple rules: 1. Obtain sponsorship from a local civil engineering firm. 2. Advertise and host a Happy Hour.

So I got right to work by setting an intention - to bring local (and commonly introverted) engineers together, free and clear of a corporate environment, so as to promote  more casual business relationships. Our younger members spent enough time professionally crafting emails and artfully obeying company policies. It was time to let go and find out who people were beyond their job titles and roles.

Toward intention, my focus was finding unique and memorable venues that would serve as a catalyst to people having unique and memorable experiences. For example, one of the venues was a hidden gem of a brewery on the outskirts of the newly booming arts-district, Wynwood. Today, the Wynwood Brewery is a pioneer in Miami's craft beer scene. Go see and show some love to my boy, Javier.

Over the course of a year, we hosted hundreds of members, raised hundreds of dollars across various charities and best of all, had members asking us when the next social would be! Engineers excited to socialize? Not so stereotypical. At the end of my term, I was awarded the Branch's Young Engineer of the Year Award - which caught me way off guard.

I didn't see my work as the Younger Member Group Chair as admirable or worthy of an award. I was only working with my easily accessible and free intuition. I wasn't grinding through someone else's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) - as commonly found in engineering.  Flowing through creativity and intuition felt frictionless.  Light bulb.

I realized throughout my career, my own creativity and intuition were not given priority - for one reason or another. I followed those before me without trusting my own instincts.  This light bulb was the conscious birth to self-reflection.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." - Buddha