Architect (me) + Action (write away your secrets) = Result…

(feedback on my guide for successful submission to the AIA College of Fellows!)

I had the fantastic reward of hearing newly elevated Fellows at the A’23 Convocation say my guide to Fellowship submissions, Architect + Action = Result, was, to quote one person, the “light under their feet” in succeeding in their first submission to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.

I’m spending a lot of time volunteering, which doesn’t always sit well with my retired husband and friends anxious for my retirement, but for those of you who understand the idea of sharing as essential to feeling reward and a joyous convoluted sense of empowerment these words were music.

One of my favorite quotes is from Maya Angelou, which appears as part of my email signature line, is:

“If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” Toni Morrison

Perhaps this attitude is one gift of age. [Whatever, Rebecca, my readers say, waxing poetically is annoying; isn’t that what you taught us?.] However, I did want the book to take the ideas and guidance I give to all Fellows candidates and make them available to everyone interested in AIA Fellowship.

The architects kind enough to make these comments prove that I too can be extraneous—perhaps I’ll write later about my thesis project, where success meant disappearance. It may sound odd, but becoming extraneous and facilitating my own eventual disappearance is a fun place to be!