We’ve reached 30 newsletters. Let the celebration ensue.
I just had one of the wildest weeks of my life. I was on a Bahamian team retreat with seven men and one lady. I was the lady. I still am.
As you know, I joined a Write of Passage as Creative Director. My first ten days of work straddled Denver, Austin, and the Bahamas. This isn’t typical—or is it? At 45, I joined a startup. These men are hungry, whip-smart, and one-hundred percent going places. I guess that means I am too. 🚀
If I learned one thing during my travels it’s this: THINK BIG. Now, think BIGGER. My god, is it scary, but you don’t go BIG places without thinking big.
We’re capable of at least 10x of what we believe we are. Our children, too. What’s here is comfortable, even if it’s the uncomfortable kind. What’s out there is definitively frightening (until it becomes the norm and the next big thing feels insurmountable).
Now, just because I recognize this doesn’t mean I own it. I’m working on that. Let’s do it together.
Onward, beautiful people…
I’m Listening to This Book
Cliff Notes: Feel your feelings.
“Imagine that you have a thorn in your arm that directly touches a nerve. When the thorn is touched, it’s very painful. Because it hurts so much, the thorn is a serious problem. It’s difficult to sleep because you roll over on it. It’s hard to get close to people because they might touch it. It makes your daily life very difficult. You can’t even go for a walk in the woods because you might brush the thorn against the branches. This thorn is a constant source of disturbance, and to solve the problem you have two choices.”
Extract the thorn (feel your feelings).
Develop contraption after contraption to protect the thorn.
The issue with extraction is pain, the rip-the-band-aid-off sort. The other issue is, our feelings are foreign. Really, what does it mean to feel? We’re so adept at protecting our thorns, most of us have no idea what true feeling feels like. Guilty.
“The truth is, the thorn completely runs your entire life. It affects all your decisions, including where you go, whom you’re comfortable with, and who’s comfortable with you. It determines where you’re allowed to work, what house you can live in, and what kind of bed you can sleep on at night. When it’s all said and done, that thorn is running every aspect of your life. It turns out that the life of protecting yourself from the problem becomes a perfect reflection of the problem itself.”
This reminds me of a cycle I witnessed during my mom’s Leukemia treatment. After her bone marrow transplant, she was given copious steroids for all the reasons steroids are given. Thank god for steroids! Except, the drug caused a host of new issues, from which, she needed more medication to combat the new thorns. That medication caused other issues. More medication was prescribed. A cycle was born.
Feelings and drugs—different medium, same phenomenon. So, say yes to drugs and no to feelings. Maybe it’s the other way around. I’m too tired to know.
I Use This Tool
If you need confirmation on your Title Case skills, which somehow I do quite often, hop into this tool for validation. It’s the little things.
My Team
Earlier I said I was the only woman amongst seven men. That’s partially true. Pictured here are the core gentlemen of Write of Passage. The two females you see are young adults who accompanied our travels as we charted the future of Write of Passage for high schoolers. Two of the men are not pictured.
While each man was incredibly kind and a joy to be around, I miss women.
Kid Update
After almost 10 days, I picked up Emma from school today. I missed her soul so much. We got the oil changed, she had frozen yogurt, and we hit the park. Two out of three were in her favor.
Owen’s in Mexico until Saturday. He’ll be home for two days, then he’s off to Oregon to raft the Rogue River with his 7th-grade class.
Last night, his dad and I received an update from Mexico. It read, “Owen received four stitches on his chin after opening it with what most would call an ill-advised dive over a friend in a pool with a depth of 4.1 feet.”
I couldn’t help but smile. What a guy! I miss him too, but I’m thrilled about the experience he’s having.
Yes, Romeo and Roo are overjoyed I’m home. Thanks for asking. 🐱
“Lenny, if you’re going to think, you might as well think big!”, said my maternal grandfather when I was 14 years old. No other way to go, Simone!! Thanks for sharing your story!
I'm going to chew on that whole feel your feelings thorn in the arm....a good metaphor. wow seems like a very glamorous and fun job:)