Archive for ‘Think Kit

Month of Whirlwind Posting

Posted by sara

Jan

2012

One month of whirlwind posting later, we’ve successfully completed our Think Kit goal of daily blogging. Thank you, thank you to those of you out there who played along, commented on the project or one of our posts.

We embarked on this little mission to challenge ourselves to blog more frequently, but we had a few other fringe benefits, namely:

We had two SmallBoxers write their first blog post for SmallBox. For Elizabeth, it was her first blog post ever (Hooray, Elizabeth!). Adding more voices from the team made our blog feel more vibrant than before.
By comparison, our normal level of posting seems much more doable. Was it easy to post every day? Nope. There were days we were down to the wire. Sometimes we had to swap assignments as thing popped up in our schedules. But we did it, and now a blog post a week seems like a cake walk.
Internally, we’re talking about our blog, ideas, what types of posts we should write in the future much more. There’s more enthusiasm across the team.

We’re considering keeping the Think Kit candle burning by emailing out a blogging idea periodically throughout the year. Think you might want to participate? Go here to sign up for emails, and we’ll keep you posted!

Think Kit: One Word

Posted by lydia

Dec

2011

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Filed Under: Think Kit

My word for 2012 is commit.

For me, this word will serve as a mantra for how I will choose to move through life in 2012. Whatever I do, I choose to commit. Getting up before the sun to go for a run? Commit. In the home stretch of graduate school work and not sure I can make it? Rally energy and commit to making it. Making a tricky rock climbing move? Commit. Need to relax and allow space for rejuvenation? Commit.

This word also reminds me to focus, bring my attention to the full moment, be present and ignore distractions. Less hemming and hawing and almost-ing. More definitive yes-ing and no-ing. Fully commit to the yes. Fully commit to the no. Own the responsibility for that commitment.

In 2012, I commit.

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.

Think Kit: No Obstacles

Posted by sara

Dec

2011

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Filed Under: Think Kit

When New Year comes around and people start talking resolutions, the same thing comes to mind every year. I look back on a year’s worth of personal work (mostly writing and art, but also knitted goods) with a twinge of regret. I wonder why I didn’t make more time for personal creative endeavors.

With no obstacles, I’d make the time to tackle at least one small project every week. I tend to not make serious resolutions, but opt for simpler challenges like ‘this year I’ll wear more yellow.’ But maybe this is the year where I’ll sign up for ceramic studio time, records some songs and knit up a storm.

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.

Think Kit: Going Places

Posted by leigh

Dec

2011

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Filed Under: Culture Think Kit

For some reason, ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to visit Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Maybe 2012 will be the year to make that happen!

This post is part of Think Kit 2011.

Think Kit: New Skills

Posted by lydia

Dec

2011

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Filed Under: Culture Think Kit

One of my favorite things about SmallBox are the conversations we have with each other that aren’t related to the work we do every day. Don’t get me wrong, conversations and discussions about our work are fun and rewarding. But it’s these side conversations that provide insight into the passions that help make us well-rounded people. I love learning about what my workmates love to do in their spare time.

Many times these conversations steer toward food. We have many talented cooks on the team (as evidenced by the number of tasty chills we sampled during our Chili Cookoff). Many of us randomly bring in cookies or other baked good experiments to share with the group, and we regularly share stories of our latest culinary adventures at home or a dinner out that was just delightful. Because of these conversations, I have learned new ways to prepare quinoa, made my first reduction sauce with great success, and become aware of the joy of thumbprint cookies and their infinite possibilities of variation.

Inspired by my workmates and our food chats, my goal this year is to learn to cook in a cuisine I don’t normally cook. Choosing what cuisine was easy: for Christmas, my sister gave me Madhur Jaffrey’s At Home with Madhur Jaffrey, and I’ve always wanted to learn to cook Indian food (having enjoyed it the past few years, courtesy of India Garden). Jaffrey’s book is recommended by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of The Splendid Table and a woman (and food genius) I have long admired, so I figured it’s a good place to start. My goal is to dive in, study and explore Indian food and learn all I can about the history and culture of food in India. Over the course of 2012, I’ll prepare every recipe in the book (supplementing it with the previously mentioned history and culture explorations) and hopefully (very likely) find a few dishes I can add to my regular cooking repertoire. I’m really excited for this new adventure! (And if you want updates over the year, I’ll definitely blog about it over at my personal blog: wanderlydia.com.)