You know what? Sunlight makes a huge difference for me, so the fact that we’ve had plenty of it this week and have potentially record-setting temps on the weekend horizon has me feeling pretty uplifted right now.
So there’s that.
And I know it’s only two more days, but I also feel good that we have those two more days of daylight that extends past 4:30pm. More time to get out there and absorb all that Vitamin D!
(Speaking of the time change, even though I’m professionally out of the fire and life safety business, all of us need to be in it personally. Test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, change the batteries or the units if needed, and do the same for elderly family or friends—have a visit, push the button, change the battery. You just may save a life.)
You know I believe that there’s power in perspective and I also believe that we have a lot of power over which perspective we choose to take—overall we need a mix of all angles and all distances, and depending on those things, whatever we’re looking at can be blindingly beautiful or disturbingly disastrous. Last time I wrote on a Friday I reported feeling ok and I am happy to report that this week I am feeling ok-er. Yes, because of the sunlight and the warm weather (it’s totally f-cking incredible!), but there’s lots of other good stuff going on too. So I’m choosing to stay at this vantage point and focus on that stuff for a bit. I have enough time and enough worries to occupy me later as I continue to sort sh-t out, so for now, it’s all good. Ok-er in the aggregate but all good right now.
I provide the picture above for two reasons.
I’m loving both the actual wide-angle lens on my iPhone camera and the actual wide-angle view I’m taking of life. In the case of the camera, I’m taking what I think are some fun shots…and beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. So that’s cool. But I’m also working hard to take a broader view of life and maintain an out-of-the weeds perspective. I’m finding that in times like these, this wide field of vision keeps my mind equally wide open, not zooming in on whatever complicated entanglements lie beneath. Some of those knots might never need to be untangled, so why worry about them?
Life provides, in Crayola 64-speak, gray and goldenrod in the same frame. Sometimes you have to strain to find the bright patches lest you get sucked in by what feels like a vast, dark, empty expanse…but more often than not, no matter how bleak the canvas, if you squint you can see the bright spots. That’s how I think of this goldenrod in the field of gray.
Anyhow, with that perspective as context, here’s what I’m feeling good about right now:
November 1 has come and gone and I told you that on 11/1 I would start using my Panda Planner…and I did. I feel a little pressure to fill out everything and I feel a little inadequate because I can’t, but if I can set that aside (which I can, and I have, for the most part) I really enjoy that it forces me to be explicit about what I’m trying to accomplish, how I feel about it, and what I’m going to do about it. Being explicit is hard, which is why sometimes people shy away from it. Other times they shy away from it simply because they don’t know something—they can’t be explicit. When I think about it, this classic scene from the classic show Schitt’s Creek comes to mind.
🤣🤣🤣
No, saying something in a different tone of voice does not change its meaning.
🤣🤣🤣
In business, when someone wasn’t able to be explicit it always became a bit of a sticky wicket for me. There’d be a lot of questions and a lot of “you knows” and for me, well, no I didn’t know which is why I asked the question in the first place. And then asking a seemingly straightforward/important question crosses some threshold and is viewed as questioning and enter defensiveness and zero chance of ever getting clarity. But I digress—the Panda Planner forces me to think about what I am doing and why, and actually articulating it all is hard—which might be why I love it. Well, that and the new pens.
If you like an occasional bite of chocolate, have you tried Tony’s Chocolonely? Highly recommend this caramel sea salt milk chocolate.
Since I love Harry Styles and Olivia Newton-John and Grease, well…say no more!
And while I’m channeling my inner teenage fangirl (perish the thought!) now seems like a good time to announce that I was able to pre-register to maybe get a presale code to maybe buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s 2023 Eras Tour. I’m not sure of the math yet but I think I have better odds of winning Saturday’s estimated $1.5B jackpot than I do of getting tickets to a show. That said, if I do win, maybe I can fly Taylor to Tahiti for a private concert. I’ll keep you posted on how all my big dreams turn out.
I already mentioned the weather but I didn’t mention that lots of sun and warm temps mean lots of walking. And some days even in shorts! I’ve been able to get in some nice long walks, the kind when I’m so lost in thought and watching my feet get lost in the leaves, I’ll look up and have no recollection of the last quarter-mile stretch. “What? I already walked up Puritan Road? Hm.” But I love walks like that…I seek and find peace and my soul is soothed.
This was a banner Halloween for The Ladies of the 220, with a record number of trick or treaters. Probably two dozen or so. And thanks to the Blink doorbell, it really was a treat for me. Here’s why:
When I was last forest bathing in Canada, my two friends and I were talking a bit about our college days and the conversation turned to professors that made a difference for us, specifically around the questions “Do you think they knew?” “Did you ever tell them?” I only had once such professor and I know she knew and I know I told her…but it had been a little while since we had an exchange so I shot off a brief email (not knowing whether she was still using the @bowdoin.edu suffix all these years later). She wrote back, days later and in detail…it was a great message. The high points she remembers are the ones that I remember too. But the real kicker is that she’s almost 88 years old. Then it hit me (even though I hadn’t thought about it before I sent my message) that it was very likely that my email could have reached a, er, dead end. Anyway, I was so glad I took the time to reach out and to make that connection, realizing now that it well may be our last. I’m not sure why I was surprised that she was old. I mean, I graduated 33 years ago and it wasn’t like she was Doogie Howser then. Time has a way of stretching and snapping back…of bending…of wrapping…until eventually it will break. Has someone mad a difference in your life? Seriously…let them know before it’s too late. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic, effusive, emotional affair. It can be as simple as an “I was thinking of you (for these reasons) and wanted you to know that.” We live in a world where people are quicker to spout hate than to profess love. I believe that together we can flip the narrative.
Met a friend for a fantastic Fall bourbon cocktail (x2) on Wednesday and am planning on hitting it hard tonight on the patio with some of my faves. Initially we were going to drink beer and rage over my getting shitcanned, but my friend has had some pretty cool stuff going on that needed to be celebrated. So it’ll be a real celeragion—we’ll drink beer and run the emotional gamut, but I’m betting on more laughs than anything. Sounds like a perfect Friday night to me. But I raise this to raise a bigger point…I feel really good because I have an amazing support system and have been feeling the love lately…I’ve needed it. (Side note, when you need support, don’t be afraid to admit it or to accept it.) They say we’ve gotten where we are by walking on the shoulders of giants, and I believe that to be true. Were it not for the sacrifices and hard work of those who came before, none of us would be where we are today. But in times like these I realize I am still standing on the shoulders of giants, and I have a different kind of gratitude for it. And speaking of gratitude, it’s Thanksgiving month—no need to wait until the actual designated day to appreciate what you’re grateful for…my cornucopia runneth over in the ways that matter most to me.
Allow me to send you into the weekend with this song, which I’m loving these days. The melody, lyrics, and vibe are such a chill, happy combo. I love the lyrics for their optimistic realism—who knows where life we’ll take us? Things might be amazing. Or not. They might be amazing, but different than we hoped or expected. But there will be love. I happen to be very inspired by that sentiment. Hope you like it.
Before you get to the song though, I have one more thing. Thanks so much for being here. I spoke of gratitude earlier and of telling people when they make a difference, and you being here with me makes a difference. That you open the emails and read the words, or click on the link in social to drop in, it means so much. And the conversations I’ve had with some of you and the relationships that have strengthened offline, well, words fail me.
Have a great weekend. Love you too.
I’ll be back at this on Monday. Until then, if you got here from social, why not subscribe to get this in your inbox weekly?
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❤️