I've been thinking a lot about blogging lately. Not like actually blogging something but about the act of blogging. I know some tend to have some pretty strong (negative) opinions about blogs and those who blog but I have been thinking a lot about how good it has been for me. I don't keep a journal. I wish I did. But I can just see myself picking up a journal being forced into journal-writing mode, accounting for all the days' hours and when-and-whereabouts and I just don't get a lot out of rereading that kind of stuff.
Because I know that someone besides me may read my blog, I feel a certain amount of pressure (maybe motivation? maybe both?) to write something meaningful, insightful, entertaining, which stretches me and allows me to explore the depths of my creative mind brushing off cobwebs of the olden days when writing used to be a daily activity--even if it was just for some professor.
A friend of mine told me that he tries to scare himself every day. He looks for ways to get out of his La-Z-Boy recliner, take off his Snuggie®, and do something that takes him beyond his iPadded comfort zone. Writing has always been my Snuggie but blogging makes me feel vulnerable which is definitely not in my circle of comfort zone feelings. What if I write something and someone disagrees? What if I write something and I offend someone? What if I write something and everyone reads it and my thoughts become like graffiti on the wall of a subway station--so public that it loses meaning? What if I write something and no one reads it because no one cares what I think?
It definitely scares me. But fortunately, even if it does something or nothing for anyone else, it forces me to be introspective, which is very rewarding for me.
Gordon B. Hinckley said, "All of us ought to pause once in a while and just stop and think. We are prone to talk too much and do too little. I think it is a wonderful thing to just indulge once in a while in moments of introspection."
So thank you, Modern Technology, for amid all of your devices that distract us from thinking and doing, I've found one that provides me with the opportunity to scare myself, be vulnerable and discover new levels of happiness.
And to those of you who think blogging may be self-serving, self-centered, egotistical and whatever other adjectives you want to pin to it, in some way you actually may be right. And I'm okay with that.
Tuesday, September 14
Thursday, June 3
When I Grow Up, I Want to Be...
I thought that by age 30 I'd have life figured out. Or at least I would have figured out what it was that I wanted to do with the rest of my life. When I was little, the first thing I remember wanting to be was a pediatrician because I knew doctors made a lot of money and I knew I liked kids... but really, what 5 year old doesn't like kids? Then my 4th grade teacher inspired me so much that all I wanted to do when I grew up was be a teacher exactly like her. Then I started liking boys and that was the end of wanting to do anything outside of getting married and having kids.
But alas, at almost 30, here I am not married and not having kids wishing that maybe I woulda stuck to some dream of what I wanted to do professionally. Don't get me wrong, I have a great job that I love, just not sure I'd ever choose to do this for the rest of my life.
As it turns out, I'm not the only one who's "undecided" at age 30. I found this list of some pretty famous and successful people who didn't start their pretty famous and successful careers until after reaching the big THREE-OH.
This post is dedicated to Jay Evans and all my 30-something friends who live their lives passionately yet who are still searching for their life's passion. And a way to get paid for it.
But alas, at almost 30, here I am not married and not having kids wishing that maybe I woulda stuck to some dream of what I wanted to do professionally. Don't get me wrong, I have a great job that I love, just not sure I'd ever choose to do this for the rest of my life.
As it turns out, I'm not the only one who's "undecided" at age 30. I found this list of some pretty famous and successful people who didn't start their pretty famous and successful careers until after reaching the big THREE-OH.
Sylvester Stallone, deli counter attendant. After getting no career traction as an actor in his 20s, Stallone attacked his 30's like any 5'8 man should: He wrote a movie where he was an all-American hero with unbelievable success in sports.
This photo is from four years after Stallone broke through.
That movie was "Rocky." He banged out the "Rocky" screenplay in three days, in between working at a deli counter and as a movie theater usher and it launched his career with an Academy Award for Best Picture.- Andrea Bocelli, lawyer. He'd loved music and singing his whole life but didn't really see (no pun intended) it as a career possibility. So, after school, he got a law degree at the University of Pisa. At age 30 he was working as a lawyer and moonlighting in a piano bar for fun and extra cash. He didn't catch a break as a singer until 1992, at age 34.
- Martha Stewart, stockbroker. When she was 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker, no doubt learning all about finance and the ethics involved therein. Two years later she and her husband purchased a beat-down farmhouse in Connecticut, led the restoration, transitioned into a domestic lifestyle, and parlayed that into her evil, evil career.
- Mao Tse-Tung, elementary school principal. At age 30, Mao was involved in communism. He was a young star of the Chinese Communist Party but didn't realize it could be a career. (Probably didn't see communism as being very lucrative?)
Instead, he was working as the principal of an elementary school. Where, no doubt, hall passes were decadent. Four years later he started a communist group that eventually became the Red Army and put him in power.
Julia Child, government spy. Absolutely the wrong career. At age 30, Child wasn't cooking she was working for the U.S. government as a spy. She went on clandestine missions to China and Sri Lanka to get intelligence documents to agents in the field. She didn't enter cooking school until age 36.
International woman of mystery.
How it took until now to make a movie about her life is mind blowing. They made a movie about the life of MC Hammer. They made a sitcom out of the Geico cavemen. I mean someone bought the rights to make a movie out of "Where's Waldo?" You're telling me Waldo's more interesting than female spy-turned-TV cooking superstar? It's "Alias" meets "Top Chef"! Just because Waldo traveled to a bunch of exotic places where he managed to mingle with lots of other people wearing deceptive red-and-white striped shirts doesn't make him movie-worthy.- James Joyce, singing. By 30, Joyce was writing... just not getting published. So to make ends meet he reviewed books, taught and, weirdly, made a lot of money thanks to his gorgeous tenor singing voice.
Joyce finally got his first book, "Dubliners", published at age 32, which launched his career as, arguably, one of the most successful authors of all time. - Colonel Sanders, tons of blue collar jobs. When yes Harland Sanders was turning 30, he was still switching from one career to another: Steamboat pilot, insurance salesman, farmer, railroad fireman, gigolo. He didn't start cooking chicken until he was 40 and didn't start franchising until age 65.
Michael Jordan, baseball player. At age 30, Michael Jordan was the biggest star in the world, had just led the Chicago Bulls to three straight NBA championships and promptly quit to become a minor league baseball player.
Michael Jordan as a baseball player.
This remains one of the most suspicious moves any celebrity has made in our lifetimes. If this happened today, the Internet would actually blow up with people debating the real reason why Jordan quit.
Anyway, I included this on the list because it shows that even Michael Jordan was still searching for the right career at age 30.- Rodney Dangerfield, aluminum siding salesman. He started doing stand-up at age 19 then gave up on it in his mid-20's. He started working as an acrobatic diver and then as an aluminum siding salesman. He didn't start getting back into comedy until he was 40.
- Harrison Ford, carpenter. When Ford was 30, he starred in "American Graffiti"... which was a huge hit. But he got paid a pittance for acting in it, decided he was never going to make it as an actor, and quit the business to get back into the more financially dependable world of construction.
Four years later, he met up with George Lucas again (for those who don't know, Lucas directed "Graffiti") and Lucas cast him as Han Solo. - Jesus, carpenter. At age 30, Jesus finally stopped doing carpentry and started performing miracles. See, Harrison Ford and Jesus have more in common than you'd think.
This post is dedicated to Jay Evans and all my 30-something friends who live their lives passionately yet who are still searching for their life's passion. And a way to get paid for it.
Thursday, May 27
Why 30 Will Knock My Socks Off
I still feel like I'm at the beginning of the first hill on a roller coaster--arms up, anticipation growing by the second, not sure when I should start holding my breath, and excited about the downhill slopes, loops and spirals that await me. When I was younger, I kinda always pictured 30 as old and nearing the end of the ride--still fun but with smaller hills and thrills and just kind of comfortably coasting along. But the older I get, the more I realize that we don't just ride the ride, we create it. So here's to making my own roller-coaster and deciding when I get to start feeling old!
30 Reasons Why Turning 30 is Gonna Rock:
30 Reasons Why Turning 30 is Gonna Rock:
- I get to check a new age group box on forms.
- I get to say, “I remember when I was in my 20's...”
- I still have 2 years to prepare for what Good Morning America considers to be the ideal age for a woman to get married (which also happens to be the age at which a woman reaches her sexual peak... hmm, coincidence?).
- I have stopped trying to find myself and started creating myself.
- I can write my age as "XXX" in Roman Numerals.
- The Mishna Brura explains that a 30-year-old is "humble and broken-hearted, and can pray sincerely from the heart."
- I can run for Congress and in 5 years, I can run for President.
- It is more exciting to say “I am 30″ than “I am 29 or 31.″
- I can celebrate BIG for this birthday... which means bigger presents too, right??
- "I may be thirty, but I'll always be flirty." - Dane Peddigrew
- Old enough to gamble, young enough to make 3-hour midweek trips to do so even when I have to be at work at 8 the following morning.
- Getting hit on by 25-year old men never felt so good.
- Getting a traffic ticket doesn't mean I have to live on Top Ramen for a couple months. Being 30 means not having to live paycheck to paycheck or donate plasma in order to go to a Backstreet Boys concert.
- I can get discounts on purchasing hair dye in bulk for the 6-week reapplication to cover grays.
- I am still young and healthy enough to get pretty good deals on life insurance.
- All the life lessons I learned in my 20's, I can now apply to my life.
- Don’t have to worry about being 30 because I just AM.
- Peak age for body building is early to mid-thirties which means I still have time to achieve top physical condition.
- "The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." - Hervey Allen
- 30 is the new 20.
- Rashbam explains that at age 30 one is "worthy of leadership."
- People naturally take you more seriously when you are in your 30's.
- I can reminisce with others my age about how much more fabulous movies, music, and television cartoons were in the 80's.
- I have the option of whether or not I want to live with roommates.
- "Time and tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty." - Robert Frost
- I am okay with declining dates with guys I know I have no interest in.
- The Talmud declares: "At age 30, one receives strength."
- Instead of stressing about acne, I can stress about wrinkles and gray hair.
- "Everything I know I learned after I was thirty". - Georges Clemenceau
- There is only one option to not turning 30, that is death. I say, “Welcome 30!”
Tuesday, May 25
Ode to 29
In trying to think of something to continue blog about because 1) I think writing is good for me and 2) since they took Facebook away at work, there's nothing else to do during down-times, I thought I should focus on the future for a bit instead of reflecting on the past. So enjoy these next few posts on turning 30.
Believe it or not, I'm actually excited to turn 30. I just don't like saying it out loud. It doesn't feel like it fits me. The color orange fits me. Northern California fits me. Being an EFY counselor fits me. Monkeys fit me. Playing games fit me. Curly hair fits me. Dinner parties fit me. Freckles fit me. The Infiniti FX fits me (though I still have yet to own one). A double-scoop ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins fits me. But 30? Let's just say one of these things is not like the other, one of these just doesn't belong. Twenty-nine fits a lot better than thirty. I like hyphenated ages.
I have 29 days left of being 29. This year's been good to me and I will certainly miss it when it's gone. And I think it gets ignored way too much because the moment someone turns 29, all they can talk about is 30. So in my attempt to appreciate 29, here's a fun fact ode to you (because fun facts also fit me):
Believe it or not, I'm actually excited to turn 30. I just don't like saying it out loud. It doesn't feel like it fits me. The color orange fits me. Northern California fits me. Being an EFY counselor fits me. Monkeys fit me. Playing games fit me. Curly hair fits me. Dinner parties fit me. Freckles fit me. The Infiniti FX fits me (though I still have yet to own one). A double-scoop ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins fits me. But 30? Let's just say one of these things is not like the other, one of these just doesn't belong. Twenty-nine fits a lot better than thirty. I like hyphenated ages.
I have 29 days left of being 29. This year's been good to me and I will certainly miss it when it's gone. And I think it gets ignored way too much because the moment someone turns 29, all they can talk about is 30. So in my attempt to appreciate 29, here's a fun fact ode to you (because fun facts also fit me):
- The atomic number of copper is 29 and in my opinion, a much prettier metal than zinc (30). Plus, I served my mission in Chile, home to the largest copper reserves in the world and I currently live 30 minutes from the largest man-made copper mine. I know, it's fascinating how I keep ending up near copper.
- It takes 29 years for Saturn to revolve around the sun. If I lived on Saturn, I would be celebrating my first birthday. I would totally be up for eating cake with my hands again!
- I'm a big fan of the night sky and I love being able to enjoy a full moon every 29 days.
- I learned first-hand this year that 29% of all driving accidents involve cell phone use. The repairs from the accident cost $2,900. The two "29" lessons learned here will probably end up saving my life multiple times.
- I pretty much thought that the skull was one large bone. It's not. It's made up of 29 bones. If there was one thing I couldn't live without, I'd say it would be my skull.
- 2009 was the last year I was able to look at the first and last number of the year and say that's how old I am (well, for half the year anyway).
- In my 29th year, I experienced over 75 things I've never experienced before. It brought me the highest highs and the lowest lows and without the wisdom gained from 29, I think I'd be rather afraid to turn 30.
Thursday, May 13
Some Final Thoughts, Part 1
So the month of reflection has come and gone. Okay that's a lie. I will still have occasional lapses of reflection and self-discovery, I just may not be blogging about them. I want to thank you all for reading and for the support that you've given me over the last month through emails and conversations and blog comments. More importantly, thank you for the love you've shared with me over the last year. It's been quite the journey and one I feel indeed grateful for!
Someone once said, "Everyone should experience a divorce once."
You're kidding, right?
Someone once said, "Everyone should experience a divorce once."
You're kidding, right?
"You may think it’s absurd now, but you will see what I mean. You will learn things about yourself and about others. You will learn how to appreciate the other person in your life more. You will relearn things you thought you already knew and your perspective will change.”
So I present to you, my dear faithful blog readers, a few things I've learned and how my perspective has changed:
I've learned that taking care of myself should be top priority. It sounds twisted I know, especially after being taught to "lose yourself in the service of others." When I began to reevaluate those teachings, I learned that we often skip over the selfish-sounding parts. For example, we read "love thy neighbor" but skip the last part of that scripture that says "as thyself." We cannot sufficiently love our neighbors if we aren't loving ourselves. I started to suffer physically, emotionally, and spiritually because I was focusing so much time and energy in trying to make the marriage work that I lost sight of trying to make me work.
With that said, I've learned that the most important relationship in a marriage is the relationship between me and God. Again, I spent far too much time reading books about how to be a good wife and how to have a happy marriage instead of the time I could have spent on my knees and reading scriptures. I know that sounds so cliche but even with all the self- and relationship-help knowledge in the world, there is still only so much you can do.
For one of my class assignments, I attended a support group that implemented the 12-step program. The first three steps involved admitting that we are powerless before God, acknowledging that He can restore all things, and deciding to turn our life and will over to his care. I didn't accept the principles immediately because it made me feel as weak as I feel on day 5 of a no-sugar diet walking into work and seeing that they're having a dessert buffet to celebrate everyone's birthdays for the month. I am absolutely powerless when it comes to celebrating birthdays. Or free dessert--I haven't really been able to distinguish between the two. But the more I learned to trust the process, I quickly discovered that all of my efforts to control my life weren't producing the outcomes I wanted (see also my "Unplanning Life" post). Paradoxically, I never experienced more strength and freedom than I did the moment I accepted my own powerlessness. All that broken-heart and contrite spirit talk finally made sense to me. It was teaching me to be humble so I could accept God's power to heal all things in my life.
The wisdom gained here led me to realize that it's okay for life to be messy. Based on the normal conditions of my room, my mom would probably be shocked to hear that I don't like my life to be messy. When I get to a trial that seems to upset the flow of things, I quickly accept it as a challenge to overcome or a problem to solve--or in this analogy, a mess to clean up. I've discovered though that in trusting God, we also must trust his timing. I learned to let go and allow myself to accept an otherwise messy situation, realizing that God has already accounted for a housekeeper with the Handi Wipes and Swiffer Sweepers to clean up the mess that sometimes we need to live with for a while to learn the lessons of faith, patience, love, forgiveness, and accepting the agency of others.
To be continued...
Some Final Thoughts, Part 2
And the final portion of my final thoughts...
I've learned that a marriage needs to be an equal partnership. Growing up Mormon can be difficult when you are surrounded by so many examples of amazing wives and mothers. I was anticipating my Florence Henderson transformation the moment after we said our "I do's," but somehow I didn't find the magic transformation potion in any of our wedding presents. We were both working and going to school full-time and as a new wife, I felt like I had to have home-cooked meals every night, a packed lunch ready to go every morning, all the laundry done, bills paid, house cleaned, grocery shopping done, homework completed, callings magnified, and be ready for some sweet married lovin' by bedtime. I had no idea how absolutely absurd and unrealistic my own expectations were. But I still attempted to do everything which made the marriage extremely unbalanced--and at no fault of his. I just signed up for every task because I had some silly image in my head that I needed to do it all. It took a good year or so to realize that it was okay to let some things on my to-do list go unchecked and it was even okay to tear that list in two and give half of it to him. He was content having much less of the perfect world that I seemed to believe marriage was supposed to be. But he was also more than willing to help me make it perfect had I just asked him. Hmm, asking for help. I won't write about that yet since I haven't quite learned that lesson.
I've learned that it's okay to be divorced. I dreaded being slapped with the d-label. Although divorcees are technically single, society is very careful to not let them stand under the same umbrella. Surveys, documents, and almost every form I've filled out asks me to check single, married, or divorced. It made me feel like such a failure. It made me feel like I just got back one of my college biology tests, one that I struggled to complete, that I thought I did okay on, only to get a big fat "F" written with red marker right there on the front page. Okay so maybe they don't really do that in college but those were the only tests I ever failed and that's the way getting those test results always made me feel. When I started to share my story, however, it was shocking to me how many impressive married couples--the "it" couples who had it all--had previously come from a divorce. It renewed my hope in finding love again and it gave me a sense of peace that it was okay to be divorced.
I've learned that it's okay to be single. One of my only complaints about going to BYU was the immense pressure I felt to get married. Among my peers I was voted the first to get hitched and secretly (okay, not so secretly) I wanted to live up to the challenge... hence one of the reasons I chose to go to the Largest Mormon Dating Pool South of Heaven. But I wish I would have taken a few years to learn how much fun being single is. I had a need to be loved in a way that I thought I could only get in a serious relationship. Well let's be honest, I still have that need but it's almost as if faith in the Lord's timing has replaced the intensity of that desire. One afternoon I was at the temple and one of the workers started talking to me and telling me how beautiful I was and how my husband is a lucky man. I told her I was flattered but I wasn't married. I told her I had recently been divorced and jokingly said that I was looking for a man and thought I might run into a good one at the temple. I guess my joke wasn't that funny because she pierced me with a serious gaze and said, "Do not look for a man. Prepare yourself and he will find you. Trust in the Lord's timing." Years of my mom telling me the same thing and it didn't click til this stranger said it.
Though I don't believe that everyone needs to go through a divorce to learn these lessons, for me it was definitely a refiner's fire and one that has led me to discover things that I don't know I would have ever learned--or been humble enough to learn--had I not gone through a marriage that didn't work.
I feel like I finally have an idea of who I am. I know how to communicate. I know how I need to be loved. I know how to apologize and I know how to accept an apology. I know how to forgive. I've learned how to love myself. I've learned how to see the other person's perspective. I know it's more important what's right than who's right. I've learned that just because I do things differently, doesn't mean that my way is the right way to do things, or even that there is a right way. I know how to be independent. I know how to let go. I know how to let myself be cared for. I've learned that the only person I can change is myself. I know how to be selfless. I've learned how to love even when it's hard to. And I continue to learn how to trust in God because it is through Him all things--especially love, marriage, and happily ever afters--are possible.
I've learned that a marriage needs to be an equal partnership. Growing up Mormon can be difficult when you are surrounded by so many examples of amazing wives and mothers. I was anticipating my Florence Henderson transformation the moment after we said our "I do's," but somehow I didn't find the magic transformation potion in any of our wedding presents. We were both working and going to school full-time and as a new wife, I felt like I had to have home-cooked meals every night, a packed lunch ready to go every morning, all the laundry done, bills paid, house cleaned, grocery shopping done, homework completed, callings magnified, and be ready for some sweet married lovin' by bedtime. I had no idea how absolutely absurd and unrealistic my own expectations were. But I still attempted to do everything which made the marriage extremely unbalanced--and at no fault of his. I just signed up for every task because I had some silly image in my head that I needed to do it all. It took a good year or so to realize that it was okay to let some things on my to-do list go unchecked and it was even okay to tear that list in two and give half of it to him. He was content having much less of the perfect world that I seemed to believe marriage was supposed to be. But he was also more than willing to help me make it perfect had I just asked him. Hmm, asking for help. I won't write about that yet since I haven't quite learned that lesson.
I've learned that it's okay to be divorced. I dreaded being slapped with the d-label. Although divorcees are technically single, society is very careful to not let them stand under the same umbrella. Surveys, documents, and almost every form I've filled out asks me to check single, married, or divorced. It made me feel like such a failure. It made me feel like I just got back one of my college biology tests, one that I struggled to complete, that I thought I did okay on, only to get a big fat "F" written with red marker right there on the front page. Okay so maybe they don't really do that in college but those were the only tests I ever failed and that's the way getting those test results always made me feel. When I started to share my story, however, it was shocking to me how many impressive married couples--the "it" couples who had it all--had previously come from a divorce. It renewed my hope in finding love again and it gave me a sense of peace that it was okay to be divorced.
I've learned that it's okay to be single. One of my only complaints about going to BYU was the immense pressure I felt to get married. Among my peers I was voted the first to get hitched and secretly (okay, not so secretly) I wanted to live up to the challenge... hence one of the reasons I chose to go to the Largest Mormon Dating Pool South of Heaven. But I wish I would have taken a few years to learn how much fun being single is. I had a need to be loved in a way that I thought I could only get in a serious relationship. Well let's be honest, I still have that need but it's almost as if faith in the Lord's timing has replaced the intensity of that desire. One afternoon I was at the temple and one of the workers started talking to me and telling me how beautiful I was and how my husband is a lucky man. I told her I was flattered but I wasn't married. I told her I had recently been divorced and jokingly said that I was looking for a man and thought I might run into a good one at the temple. I guess my joke wasn't that funny because she pierced me with a serious gaze and said, "Do not look for a man. Prepare yourself and he will find you. Trust in the Lord's timing." Years of my mom telling me the same thing and it didn't click til this stranger said it.
Though I don't believe that everyone needs to go through a divorce to learn these lessons, for me it was definitely a refiner's fire and one that has led me to discover things that I don't know I would have ever learned--or been humble enough to learn--had I not gone through a marriage that didn't work.
I feel like I finally have an idea of who I am. I know how to communicate. I know how I need to be loved. I know how to apologize and I know how to accept an apology. I know how to forgive. I've learned how to love myself. I've learned how to see the other person's perspective. I know it's more important what's right than who's right. I've learned that just because I do things differently, doesn't mean that my way is the right way to do things, or even that there is a right way. I know how to be independent. I know how to let go. I know how to let myself be cared for. I've learned that the only person I can change is myself. I know how to be selfless. I've learned how to love even when it's hard to. And I continue to learn how to trust in God because it is through Him all things--especially love, marriage, and happily ever afters--are possible.
Wednesday, April 21
Things I Loved About My Marriage
If you guys can't make it, is there hope for any of us?
To many, we were the perfect couple. We were always seen together, we talked openly about how much we loved the other, we always won the newlywed games because we knew each other so well, we were never caught fighting or rolling our eyes at each other or saying anything negative about one another, and we always sat next to each other, held hands or were touching each other in some way. News of the divorce was a shock to many.
There are many reasons why our marriage failed but there were also many things that we did well. I even told our marriage counselor the day before the Decision that I didn't feel like our marriage warranted a divorce. And I know had there been kids involved or any ounce of desire on his part to work on things, we'd most likely still be together. I know it was the best decision to split but looking back, there really was a lot that worked for us. I've discovered that you can learn from both the good and the bad, and so, as odd as it may sound, here's my list of things I loved about my marriage:
1. Communication
When there was a problem, we talked about it. When someone got hurt, we discussed what happened. We talked about what we needed from each other. We talked about insecurities and fears as well as hopes and dreams. If anything, it was that we talked too much about stuff and made bigger problems out of small ones but I'm focusing on the good so I won't go there.
2. Comforting
One night when I was particularly hurt over something and I just wanted to cry myself to sleep, he just sat there and held me. Then he started talking about all of our favorite memories together like our first date and how he ended up pantsless with me wiping his butt because he had sat in Cafe Rio dressing trying to stop the truck from rolling down the hill while we were stargazing in the back. I not only stopped crying but I started to laugh again. It was perfect.
3. Physical Touch
I had never been huge into touching people or showing affection--just wasn't part of my nature. I learned to love touching, hand holding, hugging, back scratching, spooning, cuddling, playing with hair, any kind of physical touch. It was touch that bound us together even during times when we may have been somewhat emotionally distant.
4. Expectations
My cousin Julie told us that we should start each day by asking one another, "What are your expectations for today?" I can't tell you what amazing things that one sentence does. There wasn't much opportunity to let each other down or be disappointed when expectations were clear and talked about.
5. Budget-Friendly Fun
We were committed to staying out of debt and knew that in order to do so we had to limit our entertainment spending. We spent one night writing down a ton of things we could do for under $5 and put them in a jar. Each night that we had to spend together we'd draw a slip of paper and do whatever it had written on it--from dying someone's hair to playing on the merry-go-round at the park to baking someone cookies and delivering them. I never knew how much fun nearly-free could be!
6. Agreeableness
Some say that fighting in a marriage is a good way to measure how much love is present, meaning that if two people fight, they do it because they love each other. Though fighting may be indicative of strong emotions, I don't agree with the unspoken implied statement that if there isn't fighting, there isn't much love. We hardly ever fought. There were just few things we disagreed on... okay and maybe it had a teeny bit to do with him being so agreeable and me having strong opinions but still, when we would disagree, we were able to talk it out without raising our voices and there was never any name-calling. It was refreshing to have so much peace in our home.
7. Romance
Boxes of notes, flowers, mixed CD's, cards, paintings, home-cooked dinners, opening doors for each other, decorating cars, homemade gifts, adventurous dates, surprise parties... it seemed like we were always trying to one-up each other when it came to demonstrations of love. It was exhilarating.
8. Gratitude
Every once in a while we'd be cuddling and one of us would start a thankful session where we'd take turns saying what we appreciated about the other person. We'd go back and forth usually until someone fell asleep. It was so easy to forget the bad when focusing on so much good.
9. Social Hub
We made our house a home and welcomed friends and family to visit often. I love our home and what we made it represent. I love that we were known as the social glue among our married friends and that everyone could count on having a good time at our place.
10. Togetherness
If one of us signed up to clean the church, we were both there... and neither of us had to talk the other into doing it either. We wanted to be with each other. I can only think of one time he did something without me--he went snowboarding and I didn't go simply because I didn't know how to snowboard and we didn't have the money at the time for me to learn. We really liked being with each other.
11. Support
We only talked to family or close friends about relationship problems when we were looking for an outside opinion on things. We never got involved in spouse-bashing. We hardly ever said anything negative about the other person and if we ever found ourselves having to take sides between us and family/friends, we'd always back each other first.
Postscript:
Upon talking to a friend about this post he commented, "I'm not sure if I feel bad for you having gone through what you did or jealous that you experienced something that I long for." It was humbling to hear it put that way because from both perspectives I feel so blessed and indeed have learned that without the darkness I would not have been able to appreciate the light.
To many, we were the perfect couple. We were always seen together, we talked openly about how much we loved the other, we always won the newlywed games because we knew each other so well, we were never caught fighting or rolling our eyes at each other or saying anything negative about one another, and we always sat next to each other, held hands or were touching each other in some way. News of the divorce was a shock to many.
There are many reasons why our marriage failed but there were also many things that we did well. I even told our marriage counselor the day before the Decision that I didn't feel like our marriage warranted a divorce. And I know had there been kids involved or any ounce of desire on his part to work on things, we'd most likely still be together. I know it was the best decision to split but looking back, there really was a lot that worked for us. I've discovered that you can learn from both the good and the bad, and so, as odd as it may sound, here's my list of things I loved about my marriage:
1. Communication
When there was a problem, we talked about it. When someone got hurt, we discussed what happened. We talked about what we needed from each other. We talked about insecurities and fears as well as hopes and dreams. If anything, it was that we talked too much about stuff and made bigger problems out of small ones but I'm focusing on the good so I won't go there.
2. Comforting
One night when I was particularly hurt over something and I just wanted to cry myself to sleep, he just sat there and held me. Then he started talking about all of our favorite memories together like our first date and how he ended up pantsless with me wiping his butt because he had sat in Cafe Rio dressing trying to stop the truck from rolling down the hill while we were stargazing in the back. I not only stopped crying but I started to laugh again. It was perfect.
3. Physical Touch
I had never been huge into touching people or showing affection--just wasn't part of my nature. I learned to love touching, hand holding, hugging, back scratching, spooning, cuddling, playing with hair, any kind of physical touch. It was touch that bound us together even during times when we may have been somewhat emotionally distant.
4. Expectations
My cousin Julie told us that we should start each day by asking one another, "What are your expectations for today?" I can't tell you what amazing things that one sentence does. There wasn't much opportunity to let each other down or be disappointed when expectations were clear and talked about.
5. Budget-Friendly Fun
We were committed to staying out of debt and knew that in order to do so we had to limit our entertainment spending. We spent one night writing down a ton of things we could do for under $5 and put them in a jar. Each night that we had to spend together we'd draw a slip of paper and do whatever it had written on it--from dying someone's hair to playing on the merry-go-round at the park to baking someone cookies and delivering them. I never knew how much fun nearly-free could be!
6. Agreeableness
Some say that fighting in a marriage is a good way to measure how much love is present, meaning that if two people fight, they do it because they love each other. Though fighting may be indicative of strong emotions, I don't agree with the unspoken implied statement that if there isn't fighting, there isn't much love. We hardly ever fought. There were just few things we disagreed on... okay and maybe it had a teeny bit to do with him being so agreeable and me having strong opinions but still, when we would disagree, we were able to talk it out without raising our voices and there was never any name-calling. It was refreshing to have so much peace in our home.
7. Romance
Boxes of notes, flowers, mixed CD's, cards, paintings, home-cooked dinners, opening doors for each other, decorating cars, homemade gifts, adventurous dates, surprise parties... it seemed like we were always trying to one-up each other when it came to demonstrations of love. It was exhilarating.
8. Gratitude
Every once in a while we'd be cuddling and one of us would start a thankful session where we'd take turns saying what we appreciated about the other person. We'd go back and forth usually until someone fell asleep. It was so easy to forget the bad when focusing on so much good.
9. Social Hub
We made our house a home and welcomed friends and family to visit often. I love our home and what we made it represent. I love that we were known as the social glue among our married friends and that everyone could count on having a good time at our place.
10. Togetherness
If one of us signed up to clean the church, we were both there... and neither of us had to talk the other into doing it either. We wanted to be with each other. I can only think of one time he did something without me--he went snowboarding and I didn't go simply because I didn't know how to snowboard and we didn't have the money at the time for me to learn. We really liked being with each other.
11. Support
We only talked to family or close friends about relationship problems when we were looking for an outside opinion on things. We never got involved in spouse-bashing. We hardly ever said anything negative about the other person and if we ever found ourselves having to take sides between us and family/friends, we'd always back each other first.
Postscript:
Upon talking to a friend about this post he commented, "I'm not sure if I feel bad for you having gone through what you did or jealous that you experienced something that I long for." It was humbling to hear it put that way because from both perspectives I feel so blessed and indeed have learned that without the darkness I would not have been able to appreciate the light.
Monday, April 19
High on Love
I haven't learned how to explain this well in a way people understand. They seem confused when I tell them that my divorce was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. It was. I had countless, COUNTLESS tender mercies and miracles graciously given to me.
I think most of us are guilty from time to time questioning, "Why me?" when experiencing hardships but I didn't consider what I was going through hard at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And yet I still found myself questioning, why me? Why was my experience so seemingly easy when it seemed like so many other much better people suffer the consequences for so much longer? I felt guilty for feeling so happy. I was embarrassed to talk to people who I knew had had tougher experiences. I even went to our marriage counselor asking him what was wrong with me, why hadn't this process been harder, was there something I was missing? He told me that there are quite a few who feel similarly, like a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
For me it wasn't really like a weight had been lifted. It was more like a weight had been lifted and I had been shot up 10,000 feet into the air and now was walking on clouds. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is a divorce out there that can be called easy or consequence-less. There have been many painful moments and hard lessons to learn that I continue to experience because of the divorce. But during this time, I had never before felt closer to God or more secure in my relationship with him. I felt protected. I felt strengthened. I felt like he had picked me up off the downtrodden thorn-and-thistle-filled earth, cradled me in his arms and was holding me like a baby.
When life feels that good especially when you're expecting the complete opposite, it's hard not to expect things to quickly take a downturn. But I soon forced myself to stop anticipating the hard parts, the consequences that would certainly start to show face, and the grieving process to begin and to just freely receive all the blessings I was getting.
The lesson:
It hit me as I was brushing my teeth one morning. You would've laughed had you walked by my bathroom seeing my mouth full of toothpaste foam with a huge smile and tears streaming down my face.
Some time ago I had erroneously learned that love was something you needed to work for. Something as good as real love could not possibly come without a whole lotta effort. I had also learned that life was given to us to learn and grow and I found that the majority of my growth happened during difficult times. So I liked difficult times because I knew they would most likely make a better person out of me. But that morning brushing my teeth thinking about all the love I had felt over the previous 6 months, I realized that Heavenly Father was teaching me a couple more things:
1. Life is not only about learning but also about loving--both in the giving and receiving of it. I didn't need to constantly struggle in order to feel like I was living.
2. I didn't have to work for love. I didn't have to prove to be someone strong or smart or beautiful or exactly obedient in order to earn love. That this love I had been feeling wasn't a temporary benefit from being faithful or serving a mission or from any other spiritual achievement. This was His unconditional, LASTING love--free of charge. A love that existed before I could even walk or talk and a love that has always been there, waiting for me to accept it.
I know many people have given me unconditional love but until this point, I don't think I had ever learned to receive it as freely as it had been given to me. The lesson couldn't have come at a more perfect time as I stumbled wandering trying to regain my footing, needing to hold onto something steady like the absolute love from a perfect parent.
I think most of us are guilty from time to time questioning, "Why me?" when experiencing hardships but I didn't consider what I was going through hard at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And yet I still found myself questioning, why me? Why was my experience so seemingly easy when it seemed like so many other much better people suffer the consequences for so much longer? I felt guilty for feeling so happy. I was embarrassed to talk to people who I knew had had tougher experiences. I even went to our marriage counselor asking him what was wrong with me, why hadn't this process been harder, was there something I was missing? He told me that there are quite a few who feel similarly, like a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
For me it wasn't really like a weight had been lifted. It was more like a weight had been lifted and I had been shot up 10,000 feet into the air and now was walking on clouds. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is a divorce out there that can be called easy or consequence-less. There have been many painful moments and hard lessons to learn that I continue to experience because of the divorce. But during this time, I had never before felt closer to God or more secure in my relationship with him. I felt protected. I felt strengthened. I felt like he had picked me up off the downtrodden thorn-and-thistle-filled earth, cradled me in his arms and was holding me like a baby.
When life feels that good especially when you're expecting the complete opposite, it's hard not to expect things to quickly take a downturn. But I soon forced myself to stop anticipating the hard parts, the consequences that would certainly start to show face, and the grieving process to begin and to just freely receive all the blessings I was getting.
The lesson:
It hit me as I was brushing my teeth one morning. You would've laughed had you walked by my bathroom seeing my mouth full of toothpaste foam with a huge smile and tears streaming down my face.
Some time ago I had erroneously learned that love was something you needed to work for. Something as good as real love could not possibly come without a whole lotta effort. I had also learned that life was given to us to learn and grow and I found that the majority of my growth happened during difficult times. So I liked difficult times because I knew they would most likely make a better person out of me. But that morning brushing my teeth thinking about all the love I had felt over the previous 6 months, I realized that Heavenly Father was teaching me a couple more things:
1. Life is not only about learning but also about loving--both in the giving and receiving of it. I didn't need to constantly struggle in order to feel like I was living.
2. I didn't have to work for love. I didn't have to prove to be someone strong or smart or beautiful or exactly obedient in order to earn love. That this love I had been feeling wasn't a temporary benefit from being faithful or serving a mission or from any other spiritual achievement. This was His unconditional, LASTING love--free of charge. A love that existed before I could even walk or talk and a love that has always been there, waiting for me to accept it.
I know many people have given me unconditional love but until this point, I don't think I had ever learned to receive it as freely as it had been given to me. The lesson couldn't have come at a more perfect time as I stumbled wandering trying to regain my footing, needing to hold onto something steady like the absolute love from a perfect parent.
Wednesday, April 14
Part Two: Inspiration for the Place Between
Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go.
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
We are extending our arms around you during this tough time as I know many arms are holding you up also. Know that we send all our love and our prayers for you that you will pull through this. Let your family and friends keep you busy and share their concern and love for you. You are a strong woman. You are a capable woman. But you are also a soft, tenderhearted woman who needs love in her life and I know in time you will find it again.
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do. He reveals to you who He is.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses... for when I am weak, then am I strong.
When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and we take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen--there will be something solid to stand on, or we will be taught to fly.
As you wage your personal wars, part of the strength to 'hang in there' comes from some glimpse, however faint and fleeting, of what victory can be. If your eyes are always on your shoelaces, if all you can see is this disappointment or that dilemma, then it really is quite easy to throw in the towel and stop the fight. But what if it is the fight of your life? Or more precisely what is it is the fight for your life, and your eternal life at that? What if beyond this disappointment of that dilemma you really can see and hope for all the best and right things that God has to offer. Oh, it may be blurred a bit by the perspiration that keeps running river-like into your eyes; but faintly, dimly, and ever so far away you can see the object of it all. And you say it is worth it, you do want it, you will fight on. Like Coriantumr, you will lean upon your sword to rest a while, then rise to fight again.
Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
Helen Keller
We are extending our arms around you during this tough time as I know many arms are holding you up also. Know that we send all our love and our prayers for you that you will pull through this. Let your family and friends keep you busy and share their concern and love for you. You are a strong woman. You are a capable woman. But you are also a soft, tenderhearted woman who needs love in her life and I know in time you will find it again.
Candy
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do. He reveals to you who He is.
Oswald Chambers
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses... for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10
When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and we take a step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen--there will be something solid to stand on, or we will be taught to fly.
Martin Edges
Thou art never at any time nearer to God than when under tribulation, which he permits for the purification and beautifying of the soul. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."
Helen Keller
Molinos
As you wage your personal wars, part of the strength to 'hang in there' comes from some glimpse, however faint and fleeting, of what victory can be. If your eyes are always on your shoelaces, if all you can see is this disappointment or that dilemma, then it really is quite easy to throw in the towel and stop the fight. But what if it is the fight of your life? Or more precisely what is it is the fight for your life, and your eternal life at that? What if beyond this disappointment of that dilemma you really can see and hope for all the best and right things that God has to offer. Oh, it may be blurred a bit by the perspiration that keeps running river-like into your eyes; but faintly, dimly, and ever so far away you can see the object of it all. And you say it is worth it, you do want it, you will fight on. Like Coriantumr, you will lean upon your sword to rest a while, then rise to fight again.
Jeffrey R. Holland
Life does not accommodate you, it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container or else there would be no fruition.
Florida Scott Maxwell
Tuesday, April 13
Part One: Inspiration for The Place Between
I am a quote junkie. I don't know what it is about words but I've always been fond of them. The following are quotes and letters people sent me while I gathered strength, hope, and courage:
You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.
The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.
You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.
Mary Tyler Moore
From someone who has been there before, I probably know a little of what you're going through. And I know it literally feels like hell. I'm sure there have been lots of tears, and there will be more to come--believe me. At random times, too. BUT, it gets better. A lot better. It will take some time, but I think you'll find that once you reach a certain point, each day is better than the next and you'll emerge a new person. So hang in there.
Ryan
It's not so much that we're afraid to change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear. It's like being in between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to."
Marilyn Fergeson
Sorrows are our best educators. A person can see further through a tear than a telescope. If you train yourself to rejoice in suffering, if you think that everything is done by God for one's own betterment and uplift, if you welcome pain as a messenger of God to make you remember Him...then pain will not be pain anymore.
Sivanda
Abraham Lincoln
Ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in how own hands and prepared for you; and ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along... I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left... and mine angels shall be round about you, to bear you up... The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.
Doctrine & Covenants 78:17-18, 84:88, 78:18
People who pray for miracles usually don't get miracles any more than children who pray for bicycles, good grades, or boyfriends get them as a result of praying. But people who pray for courage, for strength to bear the unbearable, for the grace to remember what they have left instead of what they have lost, very often find their prayers answered. They discover that they have more strength, more courage than they ever knew themselves to have.
Rabbi Harold S. Kushner
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Monday, April 12
Unplanning Life Update
So I just got back from a very unplanned trip and had the time of my life. It's Friday, 2pm, I'm at our Friday Lunch Bunch and a friend proposes the idea of waking up tomorrow morning in California. So I say, why not?
So we hit the road at 5pm and drive out to Sacramento and now I have a few more things to add to my list:
56. Gambled at every stop with a casino in Nevada along I-80 making an 8-hour trip a 10.5-hour trip.
57. Over-corrected, spun out, and hit the center guard rail head on going 65mph flipping my car around to face the opposite direction with 2 semis headed right toward me... and didn't die or total my car.
58. Went to Ghirardelli Square (how many times have I been to San Francisco and never been there??)
59. Ordered my very first meal with fish in it - supposedly the best clam chowder in San Francisco
60. Flipped a coin to see about getting married in Reno and being in love in Wendover - turns out I am in love, just not enough to get married.
61. SAW WICKED!!!!
So we hit the road at 5pm and drive out to Sacramento and now I have a few more things to add to my list:
56. Gambled at every stop with a casino in Nevada along I-80 making an 8-hour trip a 10.5-hour trip.
57. Over-corrected, spun out, and hit the center guard rail head on going 65mph flipping my car around to face the opposite direction with 2 semis headed right toward me... and didn't die or total my car.
58. Went to Ghirardelli Square (how many times have I been to San Francisco and never been there??)
59. Ordered my very first meal with fish in it - supposedly the best clam chowder in San Francisco
60. Flipped a coin to see about getting married in Reno and being in love in Wendover - turns out I am in love, just not enough to get married.
61. SAW WICKED!!!!
Thursday, April 8
Unplanning Life
I used to plan my life. I can't tell you how many times the Big Guy has tried to teach me to stop spending so much time planning and start living. Side note - there are only two types of references to "plan" in all of the Good Books: God's plan and the evil, secret, cunning plans of really bad people. So what do we learn from that? Leave it to God to plan - he's better at it anyway.
So I decided this was my year to stop being so anal. I wasn't going to let an opportunity to make some memories pass me by. I wasn't going to worry about if I had money or time or if I really should stay home and clean my room or put away Christmas decorations - I've decided to leave that for April's spring cleaning.
Living my life this way led me to experience so many things I had never done and has contributed to one of the best years I've ever had. Here is a list of 55 firsts I had in the past year:
So I decided this was my year to stop being so anal. I wasn't going to let an opportunity to make some memories pass me by. I wasn't going to worry about if I had money or time or if I really should stay home and clean my room or put away Christmas decorations - I've decided to leave that for April's spring cleaning.
Living my life this way led me to experience so many things I had never done and has contributed to one of the best years I've ever had. Here is a list of 55 firsts I had in the past year:
- Saw Broadway's The Lion King - thanks, Mom!
- Learned to Zumba - loved watching the men stop their weightlifting routines to stare at all the women swinging their hips and shaking their bon-bons
- Went to Moab
- Hiked to Delicate Arch - one of the most breathtaking sites I've ever seen
- Rafted down the Red River - took on a huge rock, the raft went up 90 degrees and flipped most of us off the raft
- Got internet on my phone - though I still wouldn't have it if I were paying for it
- Went to a piano bar and danced on a piano
- Wakeboard - DONE! 6/14/10
- Go on a cruise - Scheduled to the Caribbean 1/16/11
- Go to Hawaii
- Get scuba certified and go scuba diving (in process...)
- See Wicked - DONE! 4/10/10
- Run a 5k in an organized race - 1/2 marathon in September
- Complete 90 days of P90x (done 12 days...)
- Join a book club (start on Monday!!)
- Go to Lake Powell - DONE! 5/30/10
- Go to Italy - though I'd settle for Colorado or Seattle until I save enough $ - Did Colorado and Seattle 5/10, 8/10
Monday, April 5
Thank You, Facebook
The absolute worst part of the whole transition was reinventing my social circle. I had spent the last three years developing awesome friendships with married folks. I don't have much family out here so they became my backbone. They were what helped my body get out of bed. They were so good at it in fact, I was ready to move out of Married-Single Limboland within a matter of weeks.
But where to begin? It was like being the new kid all over again. But this time, I felt more alone than ever. I was one of the last of my single friends to get married so there was hardly anyone I knew that I could call up and go to the movies or lunch or church with. Again, tons of offers from married friends but now our lives were so different. They began talking about their babies and husbands and I had nothing to add or talk about--I mean, besides standing in line at the Social Security Office to get my name changed, calling the bank to change accounts, packing up the rest of the stuff he left, taking down once-beautiful wedding pictures and throwing out old love letters and other mementos--stuff I'm sure woulda been GREAT conversation starters!
So, I spent a lot of those first few transition nights alone. Facebook became my best friend. It had open doors 24/7 and lots of people inside. And I didn't even have to feel alone because no one had to know that I was even there. I could handle sitting on my couch at home by myself but feeling alone in public is one of the worst things the human body can experience in my opinion.
Facebook let me say what I wanted to. It didn't have any expectations of me. It didn't need me to entertain it or carry on a conversation. I didn't have to smile when I saw it. It didn't need me to be interested in wanting to know about its life or what it did for a living or where it was from. Not that I was against doing that kind of stuff with real people it's just that that takes effort, energy, and COURAGE--things I wasn't sure I had back yet.
Facebook made me laugh at funny things people would say. I could comment or, requiring even less, "like" something someone would say and that was that. Not much energy or effort expended there yet it filled my need for laughter and to connect with something.
Facebook also let me stalk profiles of people my married friends wanted to set me up with--a whole new modern-day dating technique that I would soon learn is the norm in today's Singledom. It was the stepping stone to putting myself out there again. I learned how to flirt again through Facebook's chat. I reconnected with single friends and former crushes. I learned how to tell my story to strangers. I was able to stay updated and keep in touch with my married friends yet without having to feel so awkward about being with them as the 3rd, 5th, or 7th wheel.
As I slowly regained my social energy and began meeting people, I soon found myself adding some of the most awesome people I've ever met. People who make me laugh yet don't need me to entertain them. People who let me say what I want. People who only expect nothing more than for me to be willing to have a good time. People who want me around and who will also be there when I need a shoulder to cry on.
I admit, I probably don't need to use Facebook now as much as I actually do (understatement of the year) but it has certainly been there for me when I needed it.
Thank you, Facebook.
But where to begin? It was like being the new kid all over again. But this time, I felt more alone than ever. I was one of the last of my single friends to get married so there was hardly anyone I knew that I could call up and go to the movies or lunch or church with. Again, tons of offers from married friends but now our lives were so different. They began talking about their babies and husbands and I had nothing to add or talk about--I mean, besides standing in line at the Social Security Office to get my name changed, calling the bank to change accounts, packing up the rest of the stuff he left, taking down once-beautiful wedding pictures and throwing out old love letters and other mementos--stuff I'm sure woulda been GREAT conversation starters!
So, I spent a lot of those first few transition nights alone. Facebook became my best friend. It had open doors 24/7 and lots of people inside. And I didn't even have to feel alone because no one had to know that I was even there. I could handle sitting on my couch at home by myself but feeling alone in public is one of the worst things the human body can experience in my opinion.
Facebook let me say what I wanted to. It didn't have any expectations of me. It didn't need me to entertain it or carry on a conversation. I didn't have to smile when I saw it. It didn't need me to be interested in wanting to know about its life or what it did for a living or where it was from. Not that I was against doing that kind of stuff with real people it's just that that takes effort, energy, and COURAGE--things I wasn't sure I had back yet.
Facebook made me laugh at funny things people would say. I could comment or, requiring even less, "like" something someone would say and that was that. Not much energy or effort expended there yet it filled my need for laughter and to connect with something.
Facebook also let me stalk profiles of people my married friends wanted to set me up with--a whole new modern-day dating technique that I would soon learn is the norm in today's Singledom. It was the stepping stone to putting myself out there again. I learned how to flirt again through Facebook's chat. I reconnected with single friends and former crushes. I learned how to tell my story to strangers. I was able to stay updated and keep in touch with my married friends yet without having to feel so awkward about being with them as the 3rd, 5th, or 7th wheel.
As I slowly regained my social energy and began meeting people, I soon found myself adding some of the most awesome people I've ever met. People who make me laugh yet don't need me to entertain them. People who let me say what I want. People who only expect nothing more than for me to be willing to have a good time. People who want me around and who will also be there when I need a shoulder to cry on.
I admit, I probably don't need to use Facebook now as much as I actually do (understatement of the year) but it has certainly been there for me when I needed it.
Thank you, Facebook.
Friday, April 2
Stick-to-it-iveness
I hated fifth grade.
After earning high test scores, I was accepted into the Gifted and Talented Education program. In my little egocentric 9-year-old world, I felt like a million bucks--neither of my older brothers had been accepted or any of my friends. I felt special. I felt like being smart was my talent and now I had proof! I was certainly going to gain a lot from this experience even if it meant going to another school.
Not once was I worried about feeling stupid in a class full of super smart kids or feeling like a nerd at this new school knowing that the rest of the normal kids knew we were the "GATE Geeks." At recess watching hundreds of other children playing dodgeball and Chinese jumprope and four-square, I didn't realize how lonely not only being the new kid but the smart new kid would be. Not once did I think about missing my friends that I would leave at Crestmont Elementary. Or the amazing teachers I had loved so much. I didn't think about how lame it would be to NOT learn normal subjects like math, science, and reading, but to spend nearly all day every day learning about stupid spaceships and NASA.
I felt all those things.
I came home from school crying many days begging my parents to let me go back to Crestmont. I remember one day in particular crying on the stairs by the front door once again trying to negotiate with my mom. She held me and let me cry. She didn't try and stop my tears nor did she say silly things like, "It will get better" or, "It's not as hard as you think," or even, "Let's focus on the good stuff." She didn't offer to see what she could do about transferring schools or doing anything else I had wanted her to do. All I remember her saying as she held me is this: You committed to going to GATE so let's stick it out for this year. At the end of the year you can make the decision on whether to continue or go back to Crestmont.
I should've hated her for that, especially because waiting til the end of the school year for a fifth grader is like licking to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie pop. But her calming voice, her embrace, and her love comforted me for the moment. She did all she could the remainder of the year to help ease the pain I felt. She went on class field trips, she volunteered herself to create and head up a huge musical production that only our class performed for the rest of the school (which in turn made me one of the most popular girls in my class because, who wouldn't love my mom?), she sent me to school with love notes in my lunchbox and made 5th grade much more manageable.
I didn't recognize all the lessons I learned that year from her actions until 20 years later. It finally hit me in all its profoundness a few days after I made the decision to get a divorce. The messages I received from friends and family who had heard of my decision were echos of what my mom gave her 10-year old daughter that day on the stairway. Nobody took away from the pain I was feeling. No one tried to protect me from it, though many wished they could. But they made it much more manageable with their open arms and unconditional love. It was surprisingly reassuring to receive validation that this was going to be hard. Maybe because I knew what a great support system I had--that I knew I wouldn't be alone. People immediately stepped in with notes and plates of cookies and visits and phone calls and text messages. They listened and they let me cry. Many even cried with me.
It certainly is ironic that I would recall a lesson of learning stick-to-it-iveness at a time when I was ending something, moreover something sacred like a marriage. I had felt so guilty about even considering divorce that I tried to avoid all talk of it. I had a very spiritual experience a few days before I made the decision to get divorced wherein I learned that I indeed had given my marriage everything I had. There were a lot of times I came home crying not knowing what to do but because of the character my mom helped me develop, I stuck to it, trying everything I knew how to make it more manageable. But it was the end of the year and it was time for me to make a decision.
I am beyond grateful for the many lessons I have learned from both my marriage and my divorce. I am even more grateful for earthly parents who taught me the harder lessons--the ones that would require a lot more pain and suffering but would bring the most joy in the end.
After earning high test scores, I was accepted into the Gifted and Talented Education program. In my little egocentric 9-year-old world, I felt like a million bucks--neither of my older brothers had been accepted or any of my friends. I felt special. I felt like being smart was my talent and now I had proof! I was certainly going to gain a lot from this experience even if it meant going to another school.
Not once was I worried about feeling stupid in a class full of super smart kids or feeling like a nerd at this new school knowing that the rest of the normal kids knew we were the "GATE Geeks." At recess watching hundreds of other children playing dodgeball and Chinese jumprope and four-square, I didn't realize how lonely not only being the new kid but the smart new kid would be. Not once did I think about missing my friends that I would leave at Crestmont Elementary. Or the amazing teachers I had loved so much. I didn't think about how lame it would be to NOT learn normal subjects like math, science, and reading, but to spend nearly all day every day learning about stupid spaceships and NASA.
I felt all those things.
I came home from school crying many days begging my parents to let me go back to Crestmont. I remember one day in particular crying on the stairs by the front door once again trying to negotiate with my mom. She held me and let me cry. She didn't try and stop my tears nor did she say silly things like, "It will get better" or, "It's not as hard as you think," or even, "Let's focus on the good stuff." She didn't offer to see what she could do about transferring schools or doing anything else I had wanted her to do. All I remember her saying as she held me is this: You committed to going to GATE so let's stick it out for this year. At the end of the year you can make the decision on whether to continue or go back to Crestmont.
I should've hated her for that, especially because waiting til the end of the school year for a fifth grader is like licking to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie pop. But her calming voice, her embrace, and her love comforted me for the moment. She did all she could the remainder of the year to help ease the pain I felt. She went on class field trips, she volunteered herself to create and head up a huge musical production that only our class performed for the rest of the school (which in turn made me one of the most popular girls in my class because, who wouldn't love my mom?), she sent me to school with love notes in my lunchbox and made 5th grade much more manageable.
I didn't recognize all the lessons I learned that year from her actions until 20 years later. It finally hit me in all its profoundness a few days after I made the decision to get a divorce. The messages I received from friends and family who had heard of my decision were echos of what my mom gave her 10-year old daughter that day on the stairway. Nobody took away from the pain I was feeling. No one tried to protect me from it, though many wished they could. But they made it much more manageable with their open arms and unconditional love. It was surprisingly reassuring to receive validation that this was going to be hard. Maybe because I knew what a great support system I had--that I knew I wouldn't be alone. People immediately stepped in with notes and plates of cookies and visits and phone calls and text messages. They listened and they let me cry. Many even cried with me.
It certainly is ironic that I would recall a lesson of learning stick-to-it-iveness at a time when I was ending something, moreover something sacred like a marriage. I had felt so guilty about even considering divorce that I tried to avoid all talk of it. I had a very spiritual experience a few days before I made the decision to get divorced wherein I learned that I indeed had given my marriage everything I had. There were a lot of times I came home crying not knowing what to do but because of the character my mom helped me develop, I stuck to it, trying everything I knew how to make it more manageable. But it was the end of the year and it was time for me to make a decision.
I am beyond grateful for the many lessons I have learned from both my marriage and my divorce. I am even more grateful for earthly parents who taught me the harder lessons--the ones that would require a lot more pain and suffering but would bring the most joy in the end.
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