Two weeks ago, I went to the 2023 WordPress Community Summit to discuss important topics for the WordPress community, connect with folks from around the world, and get my fill of possible new ideas/approaches/problems to explore. I love gnarly, complex problems and WordPress has its fair share to sort through with a robust community to guide it forward into the future. Nine years on at Automattic, I continue to find myself stunned that I’ve landed smack dab in the middle of where I’ve longed to be: community creating technology and technology creating community, both online and offline. I only hope I can continue to evolve in the ways the future demands and that I keep a strong awareness of what I don’t know so I can act responsibly. The weight of the responsibility of this work and the scale of impact sits with me every single day.
Nine years ago, I was just trying to get a job in San Francisco to be with a person I loved and have some sense of stability financially. I had stitched together multiple jobs at a time throughout my time at college and didn’t quite know what I had to show for it, beyond an aptitude for going deep in a few different areas and learning quickly. My psychology major was looked down upon by many places I talked to and Automattic gave me the chance to show what I could do with our trial process rather than just making a decision based on my limited resume.
I knew I was lucky to land here but just how lucky I have been continues to grow as the years do too. I’m off work today and spent the morning making travel arrangements to go to Brussels and Copenhagen with my mom, building off of a work trip to Spain. We’ve traveled to Europe together four times (maybe five?) for multi-week trips and one nearly three month long journey. Who can say they’ve done that? That doesn’t even begin to count the seemingly endless trips with other loved ones, like the trip I did to the Dolomites this summer. This job has allowed for creating meaning far outside the walls of work.
There’s also the groundedness I’ve had in building a life in Seattle: a new relationship, 800+ miles of bike riding often in the middle of the day, a somewhat furnished apartment for the first time, a few camping trips, hours of soccer playing, countless picnics, miles of walks in the rain, and many moments of being present with others. I feel as though I have had multiple lives within this very short one, living in many different places and having true freedom to spend my time as I want with who I want. It’s radical and expansive, especially as a queer woman/human, and it’s beyond what I could have imagined for my life. I hope to continue to use this massive, extraordinary privilege to benefit others and bring others with me in the year ahead. It’s too much goodness for just one person.
agm 
Leave a comment