Better late than never

[Image credit: manostphoto]

Last year around this time I started my internship as an editor at In With Skin, a national beauty and lifestyle magazine. It was my first job after I graduated from ASU on the 26-year plan (following two consecutive semesters interning on Superstition Review, ASU’s online literary magazine). Now I work at a local publishing company learning a different side of the business and I write in my “free” time.  Although it took me over half of my life to figure out what I wanted to do “when I grew up,” I would still do it all over again if given the choice because I ended up on a rewarding, albeit different path. And I have a sneaking suspicion that’s a snapshot of Someday — when I’m wrapped in the embrace of dreams fulfilled — surveying the sometimes crazy, oftentimes tumultuous and always the anything-but-straight-and-narrow route which brought me there … better late than never.

Is there something you’re glad took place better late than never?

Digging down deep

[Image credit: Michelle Meiklejohn]

The time preceding my mini-vacation required me to meet deadlines, add to my cold-weather wardrobe and solidify plans with family and friends. But now, more than a week since I’ve been back from my getaway, the days seem to drag, as well as loom endlessly in front of me. Although I still possess my list of goals to work on, as well as a job I enjoy showing up at each day, writing commitments, fitness objectives, routine chores and a family to care for, I feel like I’m missing more than my motivation.  So I figure there’s no better time to dig down deep and allow the memories I brought home with me — and the anticipation of next time — to pull me out of my funk and propel me one day closer to my dreams coming true.  Easier said than done, but a pity party for one is just no fun.

What does it take for you to recover from a funk?

The changing seasons

[Image credit: Simon Howden]

Until recently, my adult daughter and I shared a car since she earned her driver’s permit four and a half years ago.  I can’t count the number of times I lamented over the trash she left in the center console or her work schedule putting a crimp in my plans.  Not to mention worrying when she was out until all hours of the night.  When I returned from my trip this past weekend, she surprised me by showing up at the airport in her “new” car.  I’m genuinely thrilled about her purchase, but now the only trash in my front seat is my own, and I have no excuse for running late or missing plans.  I no longer need to take my lunch at 9:30 A.M. to drive her to work, and when I come home at the end of the day she’s not waiting to use my car.  As a matter of fact, I’ve hardly seen her all week.  Although I still worry a bit, I do understand this is the natural progression of things.  I just wish I had been content in that season before she didn’t need me quite as much.  Then again, now that I’m the one making plans to spend time with her, I wonder whose car we’ll take.

Are you content residing in today’s season, or are you crossing off the days until something changes?

Two heads are better than one

[Image credit: Salvatore Vuono]

A well-known proverb states two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.  I’ve found this is oftentimes true, especially when I need to bounce an idea or a challenge off someone else.  Particularly when it’s hard to be objective about a situation we’re involved in personally.  Perhaps it’s an email you’re preparing to send to a client covering increased ad rates.  Or maybe it’s something as simple as a choice about which pair of jeans is more flattering than the other.  You may be considering a career move or another life-changing decision.  Even something as straightforward as posting a daily blog may require a second set of eyes to catch grammatical or punctuation errors (thanks, Big Sister!).  Personally, I don’t think we’re meant to figure it all out on our own, and that’s why we’ve chosen people in our lives who we trust with our hearts — including those we don’t pick but who we can still count on, like family.  And even though we’re ultimately responsible for our own choices, hopefully the feedback we receive will give us a bit more confidence in the long run.

Do you prefer to go it alone or to seek counsel when in a pinch?

Moment by moment

[Image credit: digitalart]

This moment contains all moments. ~ C.S. Lewis

Each moment is a place you’ve never been.  ~ Mark Strand

If this moment (the one right here, right now) contains all moments as C.S. Lewis purports, and if each of these moments is a place we’ve never traveled/explored/basked in according to Mark Strand, then it stands to reason that every one of these instances should be lived to the fullest — a blip in time we will never see again.  Experiences like our first car, our wedding day, the birth of a child, our name in print, a smothering hug hello.  This isn’t to say there aren’t moments we’d rather forfeit — sickness, suffering or each lingering goodbye — but I believe even those situations can be looked at as opportunities to equip ourselves for the moment that comes next, and the one after that.  And maybe if we take copious notes during the journey, as well as avoid blinking or sleeping away what could possibly be the single most important snapshot in time, when Someday finally arrives we’ll look back and realize it all made perfect sense.

 

Do you live life moment-by-moment, or are you always looking ahead?

 

Have your cake and eat it, too

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For some time now I’ve been wondering if it’s possible to live life with one foot planted firmly in reality and the other bound in fantasy — essentially enjoying the comfort of the known, while previewing a little of what we expect (or hope) to come.  The future is unknown, of course.  At best, we can offer up a guarded, yet accurate guess because it’s what we’ve set our minds on for years, maybe even a lifetime: those dreams which fuel our passions and fill the empty places deep within our hearts.  If it is possible (to have our cake and eat it, too), I believe it will call for us to step outside of our comfort zones, realizing we cannot be true to ourselves if we deny what makes us tick.  Which happens to fall under two of my goals for 2012: #10) take chances and #14) step outside my comfort zone.  Now I just need to give myself permission to live it.

Do you think it’s possible to have your cake and eat it, too?

Getting your groove on

[Image credit:  John Kasawa]

Bittersweet: the taste of my favorite dark chocolate and the color of my new toenail polish.

Admittedly, this week I’ve been struggling with getting my groove on since returning from my trip.  My stomach is in knots from changing up my normal fitness regimen and food choices, and my motivation is next to non-existent.  For as long as I can remember, I have regularly craved these getaways with the purpose of recharging my creative juices.  But this time instead of feeling refreshed, I find myself in a period of mourning.  Or more accurately, a period of reflection over my future plans — not the 24 goals I prepared for 2012, but my dreams for that indefinite season suspended in time — when fantasy and reality collide, my hopes finally coming to fruition.  And I figure I’m going to require a supply of that dark chocolate and frequent pedis (along with a side of patience) in order to survive (and thrive) between now and Someday.

How do you get your groove on after a break from reality?

Out of sight, out of mind

[Image credit: digitalart]

As we delve into the bustle of our day-to-day commitments, it can be easy to transfer a dream or two to the backburner while we focus on today.  Sometimes it’s purely for self-preservation, because knowing in our hearts that something is out of our reach or beyond our control may be unproductive or discouraging.  And other times it is simply too much to think about as we struggle to make ends meet, dance the dance and a myriad of other distractions in the game of life.  But a dream shelved does not mean it’s out of sight, out of mind or that we’ve given up on it becoming reality.  After all, it’s deeply buried in our hearts.  It just means we may have to wait until Someday to fully appreciate it.

Are there dreams you’ve been putting off?

Reassessing our dreams

[Image credit: Jennifer Ellison]

After four days of traveling — and deviating from my normal routine and set of goals — it’s been a bumpy ride returning to reality.  With the anticipation long gone and the memories beginning to take a backseat to daily life, perhaps it’s time I scan the horizon and re-evaluate the big picture.  It may be that the change of scenery during my trip has rendered the path a little clearer now that my feet have landed on familiar territory … and perhaps I will discover it’s necessary to forfeit one dream in order for another to thrive.  Because sometimes what we think we want and what we truly need are two different things.

How do you know which dream to surrender, and which to retain?

Too much of a good thing?

[Image credit: digitalart]

 

There’s something to be said about too much of a good thing.  It may cause a stomach ache or headache in the case of overindulging in dark chocolate or fine wine, or perhaps distress when it’s time to say our goodbyes after a brief visit.  But if we’re fortunate enough, once it’s over we’ll pick ourselves up and move forward without dwelling on our loss — the empty candy wrapper or bottle of Black Bubbles, or the missing link between our heart and home.  And we’ll realize that while we were in the moment, it was worth every second.

Do you believe in too much of a good thing?