Focus on what is great about you!
What's something beautiful about you?
Focus on what is great about you!
What's something beautiful about you?
π¨Warning: Do not read this post if you don't want to know about my sexlife π
I don't give out my number until after our first date for my own safety and privacy.
It's a numbers game, try on your non-types and make sure to have some fun!
I also pulled off the shelf my pal Amy's fantastic book: Meeting Your Half-Orange. This little nugget alone changed my dating mindset:
Yes, I'm open to meeting people of differing opinions but I've found these are values-dealbreakers for me and I had to implement them after several run-ins with anti-vax-Trumpers who feel if only I believed in a talking snake we would be perfect together π³Again, this is why paying extra for filtering is SO worth it!
He sent back a funny confident reply that had me amused and intrigued... and yada yada yada... a few days later gave me one of the best kisses I've ever had! So, though he didn't match my image of what I wanted he was definitely worth the try-on.
Today I care less about his looks and more about how it feels when our legs touch while deep in conversation; he can be shorter if he's got a huge heart; and if he's working out some large challenges but has great communication skills, watch out I'm a goner π
You silly girls, even on your worst day millions would gladly trade places with you.
Anytime I'm being bratty or grumpy I remind myself how lucky I am. My friends sometimes get annoyed because I'll often say there is nothing to be upset about if we have running water and a toilet. Mostly I'm joking, but not really.
When Mr. Klemm said millions would trade places with us, it's actually probably BILLIONS! π©
π Ok, by now you might be thinking: alright Joy enough with the goodie-goodie aren't we lucky to be living in today's times and have basic creature comforts. I've got some stuff to be really unhappy about!
Well to that I would say: Yay you!! Because if you've got real problems then you've got a real life and are alive to figure those things out.
See because the other big life lesson I learned is Memento Mori: Remember that you die!
This Latin phrase has been used by religions and philosophers over the ages to remind us that life is impermanent and we need to therefore cherish the time we have alive. So if you are having a hard time or suffering in any way I know it's difficult but try and remember that we are all lucky to be alive even through the sucky times in life. The alternative is to not be unhappy at all, ever π¬
Again, I don't have it all figured out but when I contemplated what to share with Sheryl this is what came to mind. Several specifics on other life topics popped up as well, so for the next few months I'm going to write a bit about other ways I try and be happy. If you have any topics you'd like me to opine on please send me a comment/note and I'll see if I can include them.
I have hope that 2022 is going to be wonderful and I have perspective, gratitude and death to point me in this direction. Come follow along with Sheryl and me as we explore it even further. Cheers to teenage angst, toilets, time here together and finding the JOY and the Happy π€
When I was doing my year end summary and Creating 2022, all I could think about is how weird the last two years have been. I mean as you'll recall I had high hopes for the new decade and thought 2020 was going to be amazing. It was alright, in that I was amazed at how crazy things got in our world.
Then 2021 comes and I'm sure it'll be so much better, how can it not?!
Well let's see, an insurrection, an impeachment, our top olympic athlete has the spins, abortion is once again (read: still) dividing the nation, tornadoes, fires, vaccine deniers, anti-maskers... and did I mention while the world was spinning I was in search of a new home, job and love?
I was originally going to use the rollercoaster metaphor but I hate every single moment of ever being on one so it does not apply. Because thank goodness 2021 wasn't all bad. The inauguration was uplifting (how awesome was Amanda Gorman?), we're back in the Paris Agreement, vaccines are here, Simone Biles left us even more inspired and we can at least have a semi-nornal life again. Sure some of it was super surreal, like how I found myself cheering on Liz Cheney who of all people is fighting to save democracy.
Three months have passed and I can now look back with relief but I had a very bad time moving over the 4th of July weekend. I won't bore you with all the details but let's just say it was messy and stressful and cost twice as much and took three days longer than anticipated.
And when I woke up on July 5th I had a bit of a panic attack wondering how I ended up in a 100-year old farm house living next door to chickens and down the road from horses. π³
Don't get me wrong, my new place is beautiful and homey and filled with light and charm and I have flower baskets hanging from my front porch and a flag waving in the wind. I now live in a little slice of Americana so idyllic it'll give you a toothache.
So when I was freaking out to my best pal Vickie about how uncharacteristically out of sorts I was she calmly explained to me I was like the plants sitting in my picture window nook. Plants don't like to be moved because they get use to the conditions they are grown in. And they especially don't like to be transplanted. Their roots are raw and they don't always take to their new pot, soil or conditions.
She said, your roots are just tender from all the upheaval and you need to get use to your new environment and you'll be good. I've moved more than a handful of times but I have never had a moving transition as unsettling before so I was upset that I was even upset. But then she used some of my own words back at me (which you know is extra-annoying π) and said: so you're not enjoying big unexpected changes during a global pandemic... it clearly must be you!
Ha, ok yes, I guess when you say it like that.
This is just a little refresher to remind you (and later me, when I re-read) that we are in beyond weird times and since it's been over a year we seem to think any change is no big deal and should be almost normal by now. But trust me, I feel ya.
So if you too are feeling out of sorts and like your mind, body and soul are raw from whatever you're being uprooted from (relationship, job, home, whatever) it's ok. Just try your best to relax, unpack what you can at your own pace and focus on the good things: for me, it's my awesome tub-- but for you it might be more time to yourself after a breakup; getting away from a narcissistic boss after a job loss; or deep appreciation for your health after this scary time.
Because, heck, we're not even yet out of the pandemic, or a year away from a jarring insurrection, or back to a steady normal. So hang in there. Find joy where you can. And when you need any help along the way reach out to a good friend to remind you it'll all be ok when you get rooted in your new reality. If we're lucky - and if you're reading this, you are- we might even grow a little out of all this π©
Be well π€ππ»
I'm high! π©Ή
I hadn't realized how much of a release it would be to get a vaccine. My emotions are all over the place and I'm writing this to warn you: you too might want to be prepared.
First, when my folks were vaccinated I could feel myself finally exhale: phew! I have so many friends who have lost both of their parents and so to have lost my Mom years ago but still have my Dad and my Bobbie around is such a gift. They've been in Florida this whole time and to have missed so many occasions and not know for sure when it would be safe to be all together was really tough.
Then there have been the other sadnesses that we've just beared. Friends have lost loved ones and I couldn't be with them to mourn in person. Killed me!
Missed a favorite nephew's wedding, lost a job, haven't had a professional haircut, yada, yada- you know! The amazing thing about my missings is that we've ALL had them. No one sailed through this without feeling slightly battered and bruised. At least we all collectively know how beyond bizarre things have been.
When I received the shot I got in my car to head back home but instead went for a long drive with the windows cracked belting out my new favorite tune π π¨ πΆπΆπΆ
This song from Begin Again has been reverberating in my head for days. And I sang it over and over at the top of lungs and am only now getting the irony.
And that's what we're all about to do again. See everything with new eyes. Get back the freedom to be with others and to be out in the world and begin our lives again.
Not going to lie I had a little upset tummy, which could have been from the shot or just the excitement of now being within sight of seeing my friends again in real life instead of a Zoom screen. To play games with my family. To hug EVERYONE!
Here's what I embraced most during the pause... life is delicate. I mean I keep re-learning this same lesson over and over. Life is short. Things can change in an instant. A couple swipes on your phone can connect you to new possibilities. A vote can restore sanity to a nation. A text checking in on an old friend can make someone feel loved. Delicate. Delicious life!
At some point we will probably need to put back on hard pants, go back into an office, and figure out the path forward. But if you are anything like me, you'll have a moment of gratitude at how lucky we were. How amazing science is. How there is no time to waste in life, even in just enjoying the pause when it's put upon us.
One of my besties has been too busy with a family crisis to do anything but check getting the vaccine off her long to-do-list so she was amused by my happy-high. Some will be: all shot, no chaser. But I reminded her that feeling the buzz of life being lived and taking a moment to breathe is what it's about. Feel it all.
So, I hope you and those you love are well. I hope you get a shot at/for health. I hope you were scared and sad just enough in this last year to treasure this return to "normal". And I hope when it's time for you to begin again you hug, sing and dance yourself around wherever you go.
π€ π€ π π€ ππ» π€
[ My current playlist if you want to Begin 2021 with me π§πΆ]
Special hug to π€ Chip