My friend Haley just posted this on Facebook and I couldn’t help reposting it here, if only so I always have it virtually bookmarked for reference.
The type treatment on this video reminds me of that Ford Truck Month spot, but the message is so wonderful. Dream big, have huge ambitions and take the time it requires to catch up to those goals. We’re all going to get there, and we gotta be patient and persistent.
On this day last year, I posted a pretty mushy goodbye letter to my first employer. I was an emotional wreck at the time. Exhausted, dwelling on itty bitty wedding details, preparing for a trip to sweltering Atlanta to find a first place to live with my soon-to-be husband. Still pretty unsure about my decision to leave a hilarious and brilliant boss, a good job, a cute apartment and a city I enjoyed. It took a full year to adjust to the bumpity bump bump of driving in Richmond, City of Potholes, but I’d done it. At the time, deciding what our Newlywed Plan was going to be seemed like the most critical decision ever in my whole life. Although I don’t think I showed it too much, I was overwhelmed by a lack of self-confidence in my design skills and quietly questioned the decision to change paths. Being a creative, at least in the context of the respect and awe it garnered at that agency, was a really big deal. Even considering that I could one day be lumped into that department seemed a bit foolish. I’d been accepted to a portfolio school, sure, but the ability to kind of draw things and recognize some fonts does not a designer make. I was sure everyone was going to be absolutely marvelous at everything, razzle and dazzling award-worthy work at all times, and a fear of failure made its home in my gut.
And now, a year later, let me raise my hand and say that this kind of fear is a really good thing. A critical thing. When you feel like it’s going to swallow you whole, you’re making progress. For me, internalizing the need for a big change was a mile-high hurdle to jump, as I was scared of what admitting that would mean. But what I’ve realized is that we owe ourselves the chance to be the best somebodies we can be. Companies are resilient and it is not, in fact, then end of your future if an employment date spans just a year. Or even less, whatever. And it’s not the end of the world if you want to change careers when you’re 40. And it’s not the end of the world if you already have your Master’s degree in teaching but want to go back to school to become a surgeon. It’s the beginning of a new world where you give yourself the chance to be a better and happier you.
Applying, enrolling, leaving, moving, changing has been an amazingly rewarding chain of events. I get to make things every day and spend time with people who are bubbling with excitement and ideas and passion. And while I definitely, absolutely miss the camaraderie of employment at a fun company (and having a reason to browse the J. Crew work collection), I know, without a doubt, that going back to school was the right decision. Embrace nerves. You’ll be a lot better and a lot happier if you do.
The weather is getting warmer in Atlanta. It rained hard yesterday, giving the air that bit of warm moisture that makes you want to do everything outside. This weekend was a beautiful one, especially since my mama and brother were in town. We ate and shopped and talked and talked. Lucca was thrilled to have extra bodies in the house. Extra ankles to nibble and love to receive! Andrew will be back from Maine in a few hours and the pup and I have enjoyed an afternoon together in the backyard digging up a root and sketching logos in the sun. It has been quiet, and it has been good.
I’ve been struggling with something at school that I kind of cryptically alluded to here, and Tuesday afternoons are my decompression hours. The issue certainly isn’t resolved at this point, but perhaps I’m now resolved to let it pass without any further fight. Although I was furiously venting just hours ago, I am exhausted by frustration and focused instead on the many things to be happy, grateful and excited about.
And there are a lot of these things. My friend Kyle told me about Ginny Branch Stelling’s (lovely and fascinating) blog in which she writes her daily gratitudes. Small and big things, simple and complex, but all things that Ginny appreciates. I think this is a charming habit and one that I’d love to maintain on my own. What better way to truly internalize all of the wonderful parts of life?
So today I am especially grateful that one of my best friends just moved to Atlanta and is awaiting my arrival at her new apartment. I’m grateful for Christopher and Amy whose patience I admire and whose company and partnership I’d go (extra) crazy without. I’m grateful that my husband is almost home and is staying in Georgia for the rest of the week, that my college roommate and her boyfriend are coming to hang out on Sunday, that my family was able to visit and see where we live. I’m grateful for a new freelance project during which I’ll work with exceptionally creative people on very cool packaging design. I’m grateful for the warm weather and the slight sunburn on my arm, if only as evidence that the sun was beaming bright. And I’m grateful that this sweet puppy dog will let me put a little peanut butter on the tip of her nose so I can laugh as she spends minutes trying to lick the very last bit.
My mama showed me this video a few weeks ago and I’ve since fallen in love with the tune. It’s such a happy song and one that can defunkify you within the first thirty seconds. I have yet to figure out why Bill Murray is in the video, but it adds an extra something. Enjoy, friends.
Hello, friends. A very happy new year to you. I hope your Eves were full of Jägerbombs, sparkly nails and a lot of expensive all-you-can-everything parties. We celebrated the end of the Best Year Ever with fake cheese macaroni and Modern Family. CRAZY, I tell you. My throat is a splotchy crimson and my nose a loaded gun, so a relaxing New Year’s Eve was in order. But Lucca didn’t poo in her crate during the night, so it was really a win of an evening. And I got to kiss my husband at midnight, which is always lovely. Cheers!
There are a few things I remember from my six psychology classes at Duke. Heuristics and illusions and something about Wernicke and Broca. And that publicly announcing something makes one more likely to follow through with it. Also that my professor was quoted in Allure. Something about a correlation between blushing and libido, I think. Anyway, I always make resolutions to be better about this and that, do something that makes me happy, give up something bad for the bod and so on. 2011 is no exception.
Behold, some public promises for this year:
CRAFT REVIVAL: Hello, I’m Catherine, and I like to make things. Always have. If I’m capable of making it, I prefer to do so, and I’m more likely to use it if I know I broke a nail during the construction. I love a good DIY project and have dozens of ideas rattling around in the ol’ cage. Between school projects, I’d like to take the time to make my own recipe cards, stationery and a custom grocery list pad for our casa. Other prospective 2011 projects include a home-sewn Christmas tree skirt, an “R” magazine monogram for the gallery I plan to put above the sofa, a wax seal (how fancy!), coffee can lanterns for the amazing backyard we hope to have one day and moss-covered planters to make it extra special. I believe we’ll kick off 2011: Year of the Crafts by refinishing our hexagonal side table tomorrow.
WRITE, WRITE: I like writing and I want to do more of it. I used to write horrible poetry in high school. I won awards for it sometimes, only because Amy didn’t enter her brilliant work in such competitions and I didn’t write about depression or unprotected sex. Only how obsessed I was with boys, which apparently impressed the judges more than talk of warm blood. I used the prize money to buy Vera Bradley bags at the Hallmark across the street. Pattern: Katherine. I was really clever in high school. But seriously, I’d like to post here more often.
VOLUNTEER WITH THE HUBS: When Andrew applied to college, his list of extracurricular activities was quite extensive. The boy likes to volunteer, and I’d like to do it with him. Soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity, anything and everything. It means a lot to him and I want to make time to do it together. I’m also mulling over the idea of volunteering with the Georgia Aquarium as a tank diver. Put that SCUBA certification to good use and make friends with the whale sharkies housed in their 6.3 million gallon tank. That is a hell of a lot of glass to clean, and I’d pop on a wetsuit twice a month to help.
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LOVE THAT TREADMILL: I mean, who doesn’t pledge to exercise more in the new year? I am not unique. But seriously, being in school is not conducive to working out. Problems, problems. Fortunately, there is a pilates/yoga/gym combo studio located three, yes, three blocks from our place. And I scored a one month membership on Groupon for 70% off to motivate me into jiggle-free heaven. Deals, I tell you.
…AND RUN A RACE…OF SOME SORT: I am not a runner. This is a fact. I did run track during my freshman year of high school though, and although I was certainly not good, I didn’t suck THAT much. I would have been more successful if I’d actually run the warm-up 3 miles instead of jogging to the nearby park, climbing into the tube slide and taking a break with my fellow cardio-haters. My big sis, who actually runs and wins races all the time, has been so patient with me as I’ve promised year after year to run something, ANYTHING, if she’d write a training plan for me. Liar no more. 2011 is the year for some kind of competitive running. Swear. My Nike+ is ready to roll.
SAVE MORE MONEY: We’re relatively frugal over here and I’m a self-proclaimed deal finder, but there are ways to be better in the financial department. I watch way too much HGTV and I’d like to have money to buy a lovely home one day. Maybe one with wide paneled bamboo floors, art studio and a steam shower. This is why saving more money now is important. And to send our future bambinos to college.
MORE REAL FOOD, LESS CEREAL: A former coworker always said that the sign of a long week was looking in the dishwasher on Friday evening and seeing ten bowls, ten spoons. Since Andrew often travels for work, our dishwasher knows this tale. Multigrain Cheerios and organic milk does not a meal make. We acquired most of Williams-Sonoma in wedding presents and it’s time to learn how to use all them fancy tools. And learn to love doing it, which is the real problem.
TRAVEL: I’d really like to go visit some of my friends this year. I’ve only left Atlanta three times since I moved here on the first of September, two of those trips being holiday jaunts to our hometown of Asheville, NC. Which were lovely, of course, but I really miss my high school, college and work buds. In 2011, I’d love to make it to at least a few of the following: Washington, D.C. to see Christan and Patrick, Richmond to see agency friends, Littleton (NC) to see Sra. Mikush, New York City to see half of my Duke graduating class and Tony, of course, Chapel Hill and Durham to hang with the many folks still around there, Greenville to see the sis, San Francisco to see new Googler, Miss Kyle Anne. Plus I’d love to work in San Francisco post-school, so I think I can categorize that trip as career research. Right?
WEAR SUNSCREEN: I had a facial three weeks ago and the esthetician guessed that I was 34. Years old. Thirty four. I am 23 years old and even though I have yet to locate a wrinkle on my face, apparently the damage in my dermis is “extraordinarily severe.” Her words. THIRTY FOUR. THE DIFFERENCE IS ALMOST 50% MORE YEARS THAN I’VE LIVED. If we keep going in this direction, I’m going to look 60+ by the time I’m over the hill. Dear Lord. I pledge to wear some serious sun protection every day this year, even though my tinted moisturizer has SPF 20. The kind with Zinc in it. SPF 400. Every day.
I am optimistic that 2011 will be a magical year indeed. Here’s to another year of happy changes and intense sun protection!
Image courtesy of Wikimedia.
Real Simple tweeted this the other day and I kind of fell in love.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. The world needs people who have come alive.
Howard Thurman
