volunteerism

ChatGPT as therapist

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not particularly enjoying my time on my church’s Executive Team and will be glad to get off of it soon. In truth, it’s mostly due to one person.

I copied and pasted a couple of her annoying emails into ChatGPT for a diagnosis and I’m amazed at how accurate the results sound.

Seriously, this is so accurate!

Wow.

Related:

Come ON Ladies

Five skills

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments

Share five things you’re good at.

I attended a three-hour business zoom meeting last night for my church. We are an elected, unpaid executive board. Someone else was running the meeting and honestly, it was pretty bad…poorly organized and inefficient. We spent an excessive amount of time on non-issues and didn’t even get to the important items until 9:15pm.

I’m realizing that even though I’m good at it, I don’t want to do volunteer roles like this. If I’m going to do “work work,” I want to be paid. If I’m going to volunteer, I want it to be fun.

I still managed to accomplish several things for the church during the meeting using my business skills:

  1. Perceptiveness (understanding situations clearly)
  2. Prioritizing
  3. Speaking directly
  4. Writing succinctly
  5. Getting shit done

I have fully recovered from whatever Imposter Syndrome I may have had when I was younger (see yesterday’s post).

All-day retreat

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

I was at church ALL day yesterday. I got there at 9 for choir rehearsal. Then we had the service and coffee hour. After that, I attended a four-hour retreat for the Executive Team of the church. (I agreed to fill a one-year position on the Standing Committee. Typically these are three-year positions, but someone got sick and couldn’t fulfill their term.)

I’m finding that this leadership role feels a lot like work, except I’m not getting paid. If I’m going to be doing stuff that feels like work, I think I’d rather be getting paid. In my new post-election “Circle the Wagons” mentality, volunteerism should be limited to fun things that I truly enjoy, like singing in the choir and sacred circle dances. Anything else I do should directly benefit my own family. Therefore, it would be better for me to get a paid part-time job than continue to do volunteer work that feels like real work.

Pretty selfish, huh? Well that’s what the election hath wrought in this previously civic-minded, privileged white lady. Fuck it. I’m all about me and my own family now.

In addition to being politically liberal and drinking a lot of coffee, Unitarian Universalists (UUs) are known for talking endlessly. Our congregations are self-governed, democratically, without much control by the national organization. The minister is paid (obviously) but has no real authority over the congregation, other than her moral and intellectual leadership. The power of persuasion is her main tool.

Here are some classic jokes about UUs:

Why did the UU cross the road?

• To support the chicken in its search for its own path.

What’s a UU’s idea of a great sermon?

• A strong opening, a thoughtful middle, and no definite conclusion.

How do you scare a UU?

• Say, “Let’s vote on a creed!”

Why do UUs always bring pencils to services?

• To edit the hymnal as needed.

You get the idea.