Due Diligence

Good Afternoon, Night Owls!

Due Diligence. What does that mean to you? For me, doing my due diligence is taking all necessary steps, actions, research, etc. before deciding to do something. This, of course, can mean anything and everything. I wasn't always this careful, which is why I am so careful now. I admit, I made some poor choices in my past. I mean, haven't we all?

I feel like a hypocrite for even confessing my need for such careful decision-making processes because I want to be the sort of person who can take risks. I just can't be the sort of person to take such a risk that may compromise the safety of my family. Now, I have a family to think of and not just myself. I have Evan and my cats to think of, and I can't just make decisions that may affect them. Truth be told, I made sure to convey my desires to connect with this one specific individual before attempting to extend my friendship to this person. This was the same person, for who I had mentioned in my previous post. Today, I made a new acquaintance while attending Day Two of the Peerpocalypse. For confidentiality reasons, I won't give specifics about this person. I will say this, the person that I connected with today happens to be incarcerated.

I don't think that people, whom are incarcerated, are all scary and/or dangerous. Having that thought is part of the problem. However, erring on the side of caution is definitely necessary. I am grateful that I utilized my common sense and did my due diligence instead of blinding deciding to share personal details with someone that I had just met. Incarcerated or not, I will not just blindly trusting people that I don't know.

During one of my workshops, this morning, this new acquaintance started sending me private messages. The Peerpocalypse conference, this year, is completely virtual. Every workshop is conducted on ZOOM, so video conferences and chatting on a messaging service is available. It is a great way to network and meet (on the computer) new people with shared interests. This person, let's call him Mac, started messaging me after he saw a response that I sent to the whole room. It was my declaration of this being my first time ever attending the Peerpocalypse conference. Apparently, it was his first time as well. After that initial introduction, Mac continued to send me private messages throughout the duration of the workshop that we were both attending.