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When is the last time you faced that moment, when you know you’ll need to bridge the gap between the work you do and people’s lack of familiarity with your field? Just the other week I was a professional association meeting (the name remains secret to protect the identity), which began with the typical unstructured networking time that I so loathe. I know some folks who attend the meetings and I feel compelled to say hello and chat for a bit. I don’t know lots of folks and want to meet them, as that is in large part, my purpose ...
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I have just a few goals this year— and I am working at being just fine with that (it's a process). I have taken to heart the work of Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. It’s time to focus ONLY on what I do best, and that’s difficult for me.  I LOVE so many things and do more than one or two of them rather well—like most people! How do you come to this conversation? Are you enjoying an abundance of many passions, ideas, and goals or are you more laser-like in your focus? How ...
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Just last week I had an inkling that this bold, desirable, and challenging choice might be too audacious to achieve. I designed a month of work for myself that was just a wee bit over the top—with training, travel, projects and new initiatives. By the second week of the month, I found myself having to apologize to a few folks for my delay in responding to their emails. I started to feel frustrated and that turned to feeling troubled, bordering on disheartened, though not hopeless. How about you? What successes are you experiencing with your resolution(s)? While I hope they’re ...
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What do you find challenging in your work? My challenge is truly integrating my new learning with my existing knowledge to create new approaches, content, and materials. Remembering/refreshing my memories of what I have learned over time with new concepts and practices is daunting and yet delicious! Just this month… I chose to step into the opportunity to unite two areas of interest to support my practice. I joined the “Commit to Sit—A 90-Day Commitment to Practice” program offered by Koshin Paley Ellison, one of the founders of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. It’s a wonderful opportunity ...
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With just a few days distance from 2019, I can without hesitation, claim that it was a year of great opportunities, unexpected personal challenges, and ultimately, one of transformation. What about you? Where did you begin the year? What hopes and dreams materialized as planned, what difficulties did you face, and what did you experience, learn, and accomplish? My highlights were

• sifting and sorting through all the types of work I have done through the years and landing in a new, more cohesive, place and space/site (www.jillgreenbaum.com)
• reviewing and reflecting upon my visual practitioner work, and creating a visual ...
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When is the last time you devoted your precious time, energy, and resources to attend a retreat, conference, or meeting? How’d it go for you? What did you learn along the way and in reflection after the event? Earlier this month, I participated in a story-prototyping lab—Friday evening to Sunday evening—that’s a big commitment! It’s an aspect of my work that I enjoy yet it’s not central to what I do. I was intrigued with the opportunity to meet folks in different fields—film, graphic design, illustrators, cartoonists, advertising, marketing—and to use our collective skills to create an original visual narrative ...
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It’s been a whirlwind of experiences! The last three weeks have held:

• the six day Fast and Loose Sketching Retreat with Christina Merkley and Rhoda Draws in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
• the last of three NYCNVC (nonviolent communication) Integration Program retreats
• and, a bikablo training at University of St. Thomas (as part of my bikablo + Lettering partnership with Heather Martinez)

I won’t lie, with all the work and play of the last three weeks, it’s been challenging to cleave to my goal of immediate application of my new knowledge and skills. In each of my experiences, ...
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I am super-excited to be preparing to go to San Miguel de Allende for Fast & Loose Sketching with Christina Merkley and Rhoda Draws (yes, that is really her last name—these days). The Backstory… I have been thinking about this trip for almost a year now. When I first started seeing Christina post about a drawing course she was taking in Mexico during, wait for it, Day of the Dead, I was intrigued. I was diligent in tracking down Rhoda, asking about her schedule for this year, and then had to sit on my hands and wait until decisions about ...
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I am passionate about being in connection with folks. And, I’ve realized of late (through doing a deep dive into Nonviolent Communication Training) that I have a need to contribute. The question of how to share my love of visualization/visual thinking/drawing with more folks for whom this work is intriguing, a bit foreign, perhaps even scary, has been rolling about in my mind. Honestly, I have done more than my share of coordinating groups and meetings over the years. I have no desire to be the glue that holds a group of folks together. I’m searching for people who share ...
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Yay! It FINALLY feels like fall is here! I bask in the memories of getting ready for the adventures of a new school year. Getting new notebooks, organizing pens, markers, and pencils, making book covers from grocery bags—wow, there’s a memory—are the stuff of halcyon days. Before diving into the remainder of this year, I’m getting out my iPad and Apple Pencil and envisioning the future… I’ve drafted it here. Are you feeling the same? I am asking myself,

• Where have I been this year—both literally/on the planet, mentally, and emotionally?
• Where am I now and what are my ...
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The reality feels more nuanced to me,,, I get it. Folks all want to feel like they have their lives under control—I like to feel that way too. The idea of balance, feels really cozy and, well, balanced, stable. It seems like an ideal to be realized, that becomes a way of living, a practice. My life feels different. The idea I have worked with, and endeavored to achieve over the past dozen years or so is, harmony. So while there are days that I feel like this I am always seeking this Years ago, early in having my own ...
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I’m so happy that you’re here! I am passionate about bridging the chasms that sometimes open up in our daily conversations. When interactions become challenging, I turn to my existing tools that I may not be using fully, or look for new resources to support me and others. I find the ways in which we engage with each other endlessly fascinating, and quite often, amenable to immediate change. Just over two weeks ago, I hosted a session, “Why is this conversation so difficult?” at the International Forum of Visual Practitioner’s annual conference. We did a deep dive into our personal ...
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