Letter to My 10-Years-Ago Self, an excerpt: Things I’ve Learned

[I am participating in a 30-day writing boot camp (and pretty jazzed about it). Our first assignment was to write a letter to our 10-years-ago self, and then finish it up with some life lessons learned. Turns out I had a LOT to say to my 10-years-ago self, mostly quite personal (it’s been an eventful and at times very difficult decade). I surprised myself by writing for a solid 90 minutes and roughly 2600 words. Beats staring at a blank page with writer’s block. Anyway. Here’s the excerpt of the things I told my 10-years-ago self that I have learned in life thus far, including the last 10 years.]

1. Middle-age isn’t nearly as “old” or as bad as people make it out to be. You will really not mind being here. You are much more comfortable in your own skin. You worry far less about what you look like or whether people like you. You are much more comfortable with an attitude of “This is me and I make no apologies for being me.” This especially holds true in regard to your being sensitive and deeply feeling, so very high in empathy. You no longer care if people think you’re “weird” in your depth of feeling or the way you think, or look at you like you’re from another planet. This is very freeing. You now think, “Love me or leave me, this is me.” It has taken you a very long time to fully embrace who/how you are. It’s about dang time.

2. One of the biggest lessons of the decade – and most difficult: You need to stop giving your precious time to people who don’t have time for you (we’re still working on this one – Self, we’re bad at this).

AND

3. Other people’s behavior is not a reflection of you. The fact that some people don’t value you does not mean you don’t have value and worth. Your worth comes from within, not from without. You cannot let people mess with your head and your heart in that regard the way you have in the past. (Self – Be patient with yourself. We have to undo years – nay, decades – of negative reinforcement in this area.)

4. One of THE most difficult things to do is to trust again after being devastated, to be vulnerable again after having been deeply wounded, to reach out again after being rejected. Do it anyway, no matter how terrifying it is; BUT be discerning. Choose wisely. Even then, you can (and will) get kicked in the teeth on occasion. You WILL get hurt. But being vulnerable is how you reach people. It’s how you connect and encourage. It’s who you are and when you close yourself off, you’re not being true to your authentic self. You’re being just a mere shadow of yourself and it just feels wrong. I know this is really tough for you, that it would be so easy to close off and become cynical, and honestly, it will hurt like hell sometimes, but fight that and stay open. Believe me, I know how very hard that is to do, how very scary it is to risk all that hurt yet again, but I have to believe some people really are worth the risk.

5. People will disappoint you. Even if you have very few expectations or none at all, people will still disappoint you. We are all human and flawed. It will happen. It’s how they behave next that matters. COMMUNICATE. Always listen and work toward understanding why people do what they do. Be forgiving.

6. You will disappoint people. You are nowhere near perfect. You are very flawed. This does not make you disposable, not good enough, or unlovable. Own your mistakes. Apologize. Make it right if you can. Again, COMMUNICATE. The people who truly care will not leave you because you make mistakes. You are NOT your mistakes.

7. Your dark periods and tough times will show you who your true friends are. The people who draw near when you are at your lowest or most difficult and not great to be around – those are the people who truly care. They are there for you, not because they need or want something from you or because of what you can do for them, but because they care about you. Keep those people.

8. Everyone has hurts, struggles, insecurities. They are often not visible. Be compassionate. It is not difficult to be kind and give the benefit of the doubt. We don’t know what people are carrying, and we all carry something. Sometimes a word can be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back or a literal lifesaver. Being kind is always an option. It is a choice. Always choose to be kind.

9. You will never not make a stupid face in photos except for that rare selfie (and you know how hard that is!). Give it up and just laugh at all the many derp faces people capture of you and try not to avoid the camera like the plague. I know you HATE having your picture taken, but your kids will cherish those derp photos some day, so force yourself to be in more photos. You know how much Mom avoided the camera and as a result how few pics you have of your parents, especially Mom, and how much you cherish the few you do have. So do it for your kids so they’ll have those precious memories. (It’s not like they aren’t an accurate reflection of your true goofy self anyway.)

10. Laughter and a sense of humor are still – always – one of the most imperative necessities in life and one of the things that makes life worth living. Never lose your sense of humor. There are bad things coming and your sense of humor will help save your sanity.

11. Time is fleeting. It goes faster and faster. Focus on what matters most (people – it is always people.) Spend as much time as possible with your kids. You will blink and they will be graduating, engaged, starting lives of their own. You won’t believe how fast it goes. I still struggle with it some days.

12. Say I love you. Say it often. Tell people how you really feel about them. Never assume they know. You’ve always been aware of this and pretty good about it, but it bears repeating. We both know how life changes on a dime and people are just gone in literally a heartbeat. Make sure people know how you feel about them. It avoids regrets, yes, but even more importantly, they need to know. Don’t make people wonder where they stand with you or question if you even care. That’s an awful place for someone to be. (You know, you’ve been there.) Remove their doubts by telling them. Trust me, they need to hear it, even if you’ve told them before or 100 times before. It can make all the difference if you take the time to tell someone that they matter to you, that you care. Don’t take for granted that you can do it later. Sometimes now is all you have.

We have much, so much to learn, Self. I swear every year we realize more and more how little we know. Hang in there. Here’s to us both growing in wisdom and grace over the next 10 years and to making 10 years from now me/us proud of who we become.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

• The weather warning being canceled and only getting a small amount of snow.
• Notebooks, journals, writing utensils, and quiet time to write to my heart’s content
• A husband who is a good provider and is allowing me the luxury and support of time at this point in my life to pursue my passions
• The internet that brings so many people, places, forums, and opportunities into my world, without which I would never have access to or even know about
• A spark of creativity that just the small act of nurturing it for a bit has been a mood booster.

I hope you are all having a good day. Please know that no matter what is happening in your life right now, you matter. (Hug)

On Movies, Stories, and Buried Treasure

Awhile back, I watched Life of Pi. It was beautiful. I believe I had read “visually stunning” and I cannot argue with that. I am sorry that I did not see it on the big screen. Some of the scenes literally had us “oohing” and “aahing.”

What’s interesting to me is that one of my kids was kind of interested in seeing it, one had heard it was about a boy and a tiger and wanted to see it, and one had heard from their friends that it was “long and boring” and not worth seeing, so didn’t really want to see it.

I mentioned that maybe they didn’t care for it because it wasn’t your typical exciting movie, but that did not mean it wasn’t a movie worth watching, a story worth hearing. Some movies have a slower pace and require that you give them a bit more of a chance, a bit more of an investment, but they can surprise you.

After it was finished, they were all glad they had seen it. They all liked it a lot and the one who had heard it was “boring” was glad they had not listened to their friends and had watched it with us.

It wasn’t an action movie. It wasn’t wildly exciting and didn’t have us on the edge of our seats. It required some investment up front to get to know the main character, learning his back story, before we could understand the main part of the story.

The movie really was beautiful to look at, but it also had, I thought, many subtle insights into human behavior, and some subtle lessons, woven throughout. It was well worth the time invested.

And this started me thinking …

Sometimes it is the same with people. There are those who are loud or flashy or charismatic or funny or outgoing (all in a good way) and immediately draw our attention, much like an action movie or a thriller. They draw us in right away.

Then there are those who may be shy, or quiet, or maybe who have been hurt and are a bit more hesitant to engage, or are just a bit different from us, so we either tend to overlook them because they don’t draw our attention, or maybe they are just a bit harder to get to know, for whatever reason.

Those people can take a bit more investment, a bit more persistence, a bit more “work” to get to know them. Some of those people may be written off as “boring” or “not worth the time.”

Take the time. Make the effort.

I often think of people as buried treasure, not unlike a sunken ship or a diamond mine. Some take more time and effort to get to the good stuff, but oh the payoff.

People are treasure and to be treasured. I believe I can learn something from every single person with whom I cross paths. I believe that people matter and that they contain a wealth of good things, i.e., treasure, though often we need to take the time to “dig” for it, as it is not always readily apparent. I like to think of myself as a “treasure hunter” and my treasure is found in people.

You may be surprised at what a treasure people are if you invest a little time, if you give them a chance. They are worth it.

Everyone is.

There is not a person alive who does not have a story to tell.

They might not be the most captivating storyteller. They might not have the most exciting story. Or maybe their story is absolutely stunning, just told in a simple way. Maybe they have a story that you need to hear. It could be a funny anecdote that is just the bit of humor needed to brighten your day. It could be the start of a wonderful friendship. It could be a lesson that is life-changing.

It could be buried treasure.

To Write …

Early morning waking stream of consciousness scribbles while in bed, pardon the half-awake messy scrawl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pens and Pencils

This writing prompt asked when was the last time I wrote something substantive by hand, be it a letter, story, journal entry, etc. It also inquired whether I could ever imagine returning to a pre-keyboard era.

This is an easy one for me. I write by hand all the time. I carry notebooks and journals with me. I have one next to my bed, one next to my chair, several backups ready to go. I always have one nearby for jotting down thoughts and ideas.

I have a fondness for handwritten letters. To me, there is no substitute for the personal touch. When someone takes the time to sit down and actually prepare a handwritten letter for me, I deeply appreciate the time and effort that takes, particularly in our electronics-driven world of instant gratification.

My stash of stationery, ink stamps, and stickers is rather large. My love of writing utensils is unending. I am tickled that my daughter shares this passion. We wander the aisles of all things paper and writing together with glee.

It’s probably a natural extension of these things that this past year I have begun to attempt to teach myself calligraphy. I want to learn the Spencerian/Copperplate style the most. It will take a great deal of practice, but I am hoping to be fairly decent at it by the time her wedding invitations need to be addressed. Hand lettering is a form of art, to me, a creative outlet, and one I very much enjoy, even if I never become proficient at it.

While I cannot imagine going back to the days of typing pre-keyboard, with Wite-Out and carbon copies and all the headaches that entailed, and certainly I very much like the instant access to faraway friends and family, as well as my children, via texting and email, I don’t think I will ever tire of writing some things out by hand.

There is just something about the flow of ink, the forming of letters, feeling my words travel from my brain, down my arm, through my fingers, and out my pen onto the paper, that delights me.

Handwriting, to me, is as unique as a fingerprint. Just seeing the handwriting of certain people can instantly bring tears to my eyes because of the love the very sight of their handwriting immediately conjures.

With online friends, I sometimes request a sample of their handwriting, because not knowing what that looks like feels like an essential piece of their puzzle is missing for me. The thought that I would not recognize their handwriting if I saw it feels very wrong to me.

I fear that knowing and recognizing a person’s handwriting will be something that future generations largely miss out on, and that makes me sad. I hope there will be a resurgence of handwriting and that schools will bring back cursive.

My handwriting is an integral part of me and how I express myself to others, and when I take the time to write to someone, I put a lot of myself into that simple expression, specifically tuned to the recipient, because it’s one way I try to show that I care about them, and I always hope that comes across.

Pens and pencils, ink and paper, to me, are some of life’s simplest pleasures.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

1. My pup, who is always by my side – literally – I have tripped over her multiple times today. Currently, she has her head on my lap, all sweet face and pretty eyes, patiently waiting for a Cheez-It.

2. Friends, old (ha) and not so old who make me smile and chuckle and are close in heart, no matter how far in miles.

3. Bacon.

4. Bones!

5. A kid with a sharp mind who likes to challenge me in games, especially word games, even if he starts SEVENTEEN games of the same game all at once and it takes me half an hour to catch up on all of them.

(Hug!)