Hello world - Intro
Hello world. I’m a bit like a 75-year-old woman in a 30-something year old’s body. I knit. I own all seasons of The Brady Bunch. I have a notable record collection. I watch lots of movies made before 1960. I know far more about Gene Kelly than Chris Hemsworth. And I hide from social media. In an ironic twist of fate, I write this to initiate my jump into the 21st century head first. I attempt to carve out my own corner in the world of social media beginning now.
Life has taken me on a tortuous journey for the past eight years. In recent layoffs at my Fortune 50 employer I could choose to re-locate within the company or take my severance and run. I chose to run. Not at all because I hated my corporate career. Instead, because I chose to pursue a path prompted and encouraged by many strong voices in my life. My road has diverged from corporate America to pursue a career as a speaker and writer.
About what shall I speak and write? Growing grace and grit through limits.
The “what” of my new career is about how I and others grow through events that force us to the edge of ourselves. The kinds of events that put us in a corner of which the only way out is up or down. Many nights, many days, many months I wanted to give up in the fight to rise. And I did. Many times over I gave up. But the battles do not individually define the winner of the war. And in my war to rise, I rose.
I learned countless lessons that have permanently changed the way I see the world and the mommy my children get to experience. See, there were a few years that I collected my thoughts for a memoir for my kids. There were a few years I prayed for their future mommy. There were a few years I purchased nothing for myself beyond healthcare, not even socks, so that fewer goods would have to be sifted and divested once I was gone. There were a few years where my husband made plans for what he would do with the house, with our cars, with his career, and with our schedule to create the best space for he and our boys to grieve. Miraculously all of those plans fell apart.
Over time I’ll share my views on growing in grace and grit based on my experiences, recounting ways I succeeded and failed to the end of growth. For the next couple of months I will unfold an account of the events of these eight years. I will interject a few posts along the way that resemble my ongoing voice because the story of events is long. You and I both need space to breathe as it unfolds.
My voice will raise with rally cries for your own successes and failures that result in your growth. Whether you’ve made plans for your own passing or the hardest challenge you’ve known feels trivial to you compared to the people around you, if you have a will to learn and grow and curiosity to hear about my crazy story then join me. There would be no greater honor to my dark days than to know they have returned bigger good in the world I still get to enjoy. I hope to hear from you as you hear from me. Life is full of crazy; let’s unravel it together to build something greater in its place. Come, it’ll be fun.
blessings,
