Happy Friday! 🎉

Today has been a bit somber for me—this week, I may very well have attended my last conference for the foreseeable future. To clarify, I may very well have attended my last in-person conference. I managed to squeeze this week’s conference, and the one in Baltimore a couple of weeks back, in before funding was cut, and we’d been asked to cut travel and expenses. Any events moving forward that I wish to attend, it’ll be on my own dime, at least the travel part. Thankfully, I still have my yearly education benefit that can be used to at least pay for registration.

I know I’ve said it before, but attending events—for me, anyway—is draining. It’s certainly not in a negative context, but the energy, the learning, the connecting, all of it, takes a lot out of me. I’m proud of myself in saying that I made new connections at this conference as well, and I’m very thankful for it. There were some really great people, and again, some wanted to learn more about me. It takes some getting used to—forming the words to tell my story to others, as it’s not something I do very often. Regardless, I will be using the weekend to once again recoup, and recharge.

Would I do it again?
You bet I would. Over and over.
I’m slowing and steadily getting out there into the community more.
I’m learning to shine my light a little brighter so others will see it.
Honestly? I can’t wait for the next opportunity to come along.

I haven’t touched on it in a little bit, but on the ChatGPT front, I continue to use it on a daily basis, several times a day, as a matter of fact. For those who have followed me and my blog for a while now probably have noticed—it has helped me rediscover my creativity. I feel like it has also helped to improve my writing and grammar as well—especially my newly-found penchant for the em-dash (—).

Where has this little gem been hiding all this time?? ☺️

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This Got Me Thinking

Have you ever come across an old phone or computer, and just started scrolling through it—not looking for anything in particular, but rather just poking around? Maybe you stumble across a long-forgotten folder. Inside of it: screenshots from conversations that once mattered, a photo of a rainy day, a note you wrote to yourself and never finished.

What do you do with those kinds of things? Do you delete them, like digital cobwebs? Or do you quietly leave them, as if some part of you still exists there?

It got me thinking about how many versions of ourselves linger in our devices. There is so much talk around “digital hygiene”—cleaning out unused accounts, securing old data, minimizing our digital footprint. But how often do we talk about the emotional part of it?

Sometimes, those digital bits aren’t just clutter. They’re memories. They’re identities.
They’re ghosts—quiet, almost forgotten ones—of someone we used to be, tried to be, or hoped we would one day become.

Maybe good digital hygiene means letting them go.
Or maybe…
Maybe it means choosing which ones to let go, and which ones to keep, not because they are still useful, but because they remind us of where we’ve been.

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Lastly, here’s a look back at what I wore to work this week. It’s another very small collection, I’m afraid. However, next week I will be back to my regular schedule. Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

-Terry

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June 2

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June 5

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June 6