Life lessons, man! I keep re-learning the same one lately.
Gratitude. Living in the moment. All that Oprah shiz is working very hard to get me to cooperate with it even when I don’t wanna.
This is very much in line with my New Years resolutions that I’ve already had quite a struggle with (as you may have heard on Insecurities!) and yesterday I got a good swift kick-in-the-pants wake up call to take those resolutions to heart once again: Time to slooow down and enjoy all the good.
As you may know, yesterday was the launch of my new podcast, Totally Mommy, and this here new website! Even though I’ve been very excited leading up to this launch, I woke up yesterday filled with self doubt and worry and fear of failing. Instead of acknowledging that yesterday was “special” or something to be excited for, I protectively and pre-emptively busied myself with a massive to-do list (lists, uggh!) which included all the boring stuff (150 emails, insurance, bills, etc) that’s been piling up. It wasn’t going to be a day of fun but of grinding it out (and not in the sexy way). Howevah… the universe had other plans.
I present to you: Things that happened yesterday that distracted me from “getting my shit done”:
I woke up to an email from our amazing web designers Andrea Tomingas and Gabe Danon informing me that the website was live. I proceeded to spend an hour exploring, and oohing and ahhing at how pretty everything is, eating into my prime morning productivity time. Scoreboard: me: 0; emails: 149.
Then just as I was settling in for a lovely health insurance paperwork nightmare that’s been put off for weeks, my friend Ellen texted to meet up with her for a coffee/walk. She’s the greatest. The answer was YES, it was a no brainer. It ate up 2 hours of my day (I’m waddling more than walking these days…) and I returned home at lunchtime. Nothing accomplished. Nada. Score: Me: 0; health insurance: 500 million forms.
I checked my phone while making the quick lunch I was going to eat before “getting to it!” This is when I saw that the messages from you guys and other listeners had been rolling in. Wonderful, loving messages of support and excitement about the podcast! This was an awesome distraction. (me: 0, grilled cheese: burned; to do list: holding steady at full.)
The rest of the day brought continued surprise phone calls and visits from friends - all of them from women I haven’t talked to in far too long but have been thinking of A LOT. One friend called to tell me that she is pregnant (yay!) My friend Kathryn generously brought over her movie screeners for us to borrow (she is the greatest!) Then my friend Tami called. She is such a badass that she is giving a keynote speech to her Alma Mater this weekend about her career of badassery. We had such a great conversation that made me feel some much needed security in this new career path I’m taking right now. (PS. Tami is the greatest!)
As soon as we hung up, my friend Pammy called. She’s my dear friend (the greatest!) from NYC who makes me laugh and I can always make her laugh which, let’s be honest, is just as important. Laughter ensued. Emails remained unanswered.
By now it was already dinnertime and I had not touched my inbox, or appointments, or birthing babies reading assignments, or other boring stuffs. The day had “gotten away from me” but I felt like I was walking on air. I mean, how lucky am I? All these incredible women reaching out to me on the same day, a special day for me even if I hadn’t been willing to acknowledge it.
Oh, and BTW, Guess what I was doing all that time on the phone? Without really thinking I began doing laundry while talking - washing, drying, sorting the gorgeous mountain of baby clothes that my friends have bought/handed down/ and given to me. It’s been another thing on my “to-do” list that has just been sitting there: another task. A chore. But it was not a chore yesterday, it was a beautiful way to spend the hours feeling like I was cradled in this new chapter of domesticity while beautiful women reminded me of how lucky I am to have all that I have.
So. there you have it: the baby clothes are organized and put away, and it happened in the blink of an eye with great love, no effort. All the while I got to reconnect with friends. It’s that lesson again - it’s all about perspective. I’m hoping to (once again!) approach more of the things in my life with this sort of ease and enjoyment.
AAANNND if that weren’t enough, just as I was getting ready for bed, THIS happened - an enormous, giant, earth shattering hug from all of you - (You are the greatest!):
#1?! Holy hell, what a joy. Thank you for putting my fears at ease and listening and supporting. It means the world to me.
Tell me in the comments to keep me going on this feel good train! What sorts of lovely distractions from your to-do list are you grateful for?
