The story behind my rock

I have this rock (actually it's a pebble). For four years I carried the rock in my back pocket every Monday-Friday (I'm sure I missed a few days, but not many). It's basically an adult "blankie" if you ever had one as a child.

This is the story behind my glorious rock. 

For four years, I had the second longest commute at LinkedIn (someone lived in Fiji). I lived in Lake Tahoe, CA and commuted to Mountain View, CA. It's 219 miles each way. During that time I commuted over 100,000+ miles which is the equivalent of driving around the world 4x.* It was difficult to be away from my family during the week. 

Sometime early in my commuting days my wife took me out to a fancy dinner at our favorite restaurant. They do this feng shui thing where they place a few elegant black polished pebbles at each table setting. That night we talked about lots stuff -- why we were choosing to have me commute, hopes & dreams, our kids, stuff.  

At the end of the dinner and a bottle of wine (we walked home) I told her I was taking one of the fancy black pebbles with me and would carry it every day I was apart from her and the kids. She smiled and I'm fairly certain thought to herself "how cute". But I was serious, and the rock (literally) became a part of me.

There are many stories to be told about my rock like "Why did we choose that work/life balance? What did your kids think? Is your wife superwoman? Would you do it again?" And there are some stories about my rock that should never be told like "5 ways my rock made me a better manager". But for now that was how we got started.

I still carry the rock from time to time (technically I'm on version 4.0 as pebbles can break if you accidentally drop them). I like to slowly roll it between my thumb and index finger during meetings like I'm polishing it. Helps me think. Evokes family. Reminds me that my work always starts with polishing an idea.

Once in a while a co-worker will catch me rubbing my rock during a meeting (yeah that sounds weird) and will ask "What's up with the rock?". Now you know. 

* I threw a party at LinkedIn for my car on 6/14/2012 when my odometer passed 100,000 miles. If you travel in snow I highly recommend a Toyota Highlander. The car saved my life a couple of times. I once had to sleep in it when I got caught in a blizzard that wiped out I-80. #dependable