I got out of the shower yesterday and was greeted by chaos in what just was my clean room. The closet rod managed to break during my shower, spewing clothes that I had neatly hung up and organized all over the place. I didn’t know if I should laugh, or cry.
How Questions Strengthen Relationships
My favourite part about meeting someone is getting to know them and their story. What are the events that have shaped them? What are they most excited about? What and who are the most important things in the world to them? Their quirks and their strengths and their weaknesses–I can’t get enough.
Your Board of Directors
On a job interview for an internship 10 years ago, I got some of the best advice of my life.
The interviewer, the head of one of the HR departments, had received my resume in advance along with a list of questions to ask me. Before we could even start with the questions, she said, “Before we get started, I have to ask: Bollywood dance team?! Wedding planner?! How cool! Tell me about those things.” And I did.
Cleaning Up
I looked at my shoebox of a room the other day and thought, “Where did all of this stuff come from?” I had sworn that I would only keep some stuff with me here in SF while the majority of my things were in Portland, yet somehow my room was full. Not only was it full, it was full of stuff that I wasn’t sure I needed. It was also a reminder that there was ALL THIS STUFF in Portland that I didn’t need, considering I had been gone for almost two years and much of my stuff was/is still there.
You Are A Badass
Hey you. Yes, you. I have something I want to tell you.
You, my friend, are a badass.
Win or Learn
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” I have no idea where I heard that quote or who it’s attributed to, but it was running through my head today.
Spreading the Joy of Snail Mail
Writing is that loyal love that always makes me feel great, yet I neglect. Whenever I make the time for it, I feel empowered and more creative and genuinely happy. It’s my way of taking all of the thoughts, ideas, and feelings that I have running amuck in my head and getting them out. Then why don’t I do it all the time? I don’t have an answer for that, just excuses.
Last year, I decided to no longer neglect my loyal love and to dedicate more time to writing. I set a stretch goal of writing every single day. And not just jotting down an idea on the Notes section of my phone or scribbling in a journal, but writing to someone. Every. Single. Day. Whether it be a 3 page letter, a post card from a new destination or even a quick hello on hotel stationary, I was going to be writing. To connect with people through prose. To spread the joy only snail mail can provide. To improve my penmanship because even I can’t read it sometimes. To commit to something.
Reigniting My Love for Reading
Reading 1000 books is on my bucket list, number 16 if we’re being specific. As a kid, I used to go to the library almost every week and check out as many books as I could carry. I would read these books late into the night, going into the bathroom for hours under the guise of using the potty when I was secretly just reading. I could finish Book It challenges in a week, easily earning my free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. My parents would punish me by taking away my library privileges when I misbehaved–which might be why I was such a good kid. In grade 2, I won a school wide contest for the most pages read in a month, and my school went from Kindergarten to grade 8. I was a bookworm and I loved it.
“Can We Talk?”
I have had more difficult conversations this week than I have had in a long time. Some have turned out better than expected while others really cut me to the core and drained me of my energy. Though some were initiated by my, not all of them were my choice. A few of the difficult conversations from this week were in my professional life, a few were in my personal life, and a few were internal ones that I was having with myself. Here are a few things that I’ve learned to help me have better difficult conversations:
An Insufficient Thank You
One thing has changed since then though. While I do know several people who have served, I’ve met them during civilian times, after their service. As with anyone, their history and the path they traveled on before your paths crossed, is something they carry with them, but it can be easy to separate the two because you never witnessed it. Somehow, somewhere, sometime between then and now, I met someone who is currently serving in the military and through him I’ve learned more about the military, the demands, the details (the ones that can be shared at least) that come with being in the army, which makes Veteran’s Day more personal for me this year. Things like overnight shifts, and missing holidays, and classified information (curiosity might truly be the end of me one day), and upcoming deployments. I always knew those things were real, but to actually hear about them one on one…completely different experience.