What If This Summer Is Amazing?
Four weeks ago I broke and dislocated my toe. Not stubbed it. Not bruised it. Badly. How badly, you might ask? The kind of bad where you look at your foot and immediately know: "Oh. That's not supposed to look like that." At first, I thought I had one problem….It turns out, I had two. Because my husband took one look at my foot...and promptly passed the F&CK out. Which is honestly a wild thing to witness while you're in excruciating pain. There I was trying to formulate a plan. "Okay. Can't walk. Need to get to the hospital." Then suddenly: "Oh sh!t. My ride to the hospital is UNCONSCIOUS!" So… I ended up having to go to the ER in an ambulance while the paramedics also made sure we didn't need a second ambulance for Chris. Marriage is really about being there for each other. In sickness, health, broken bones. And apparently…in passing out. The incident was four weeks ago. I still can't run. I still can't drive. I still can't walk the dogs. I still can't work out. Which, it turns out, is a problem because those things aren't just things I do. They're how I process life. They're my energy outlets. They're my anxiety outlets. They're how I reset. My therapist said something I initially did not want to hear. "You need to find things that fulfill you while you're healing." I immediately hated this advice, Because I don't want new things. I want my old things. I want my morning run. I want long walks with Maddie and Bentley. I want to be able to drive. I want to wear a shoe on my right foot. I want my normal life back. But since none of that was happening… I started spending more time in the garden. And friends… ...things escalated. Because of the amazing raised garden bed system Chris and I built in May, I have never had so much arugula in my life. I have enough basil to open a small Italian restaurant. The lavender has become a full-time employee. I don't even know who I am anymore. I have become someone who says things like: "Let's just whip up another batch of lavender honey simple syrup!" At this point, my therapist should probably know she accidentally created a homesteader. In the last month I have made:
Honestly, I'm one mason jar away from selling things at the local farmer's market. Welcome to The This Sh!t Works Kitchen, Y'all. I'm kidding… BUT, somewhere between the herb salt and the simple syrup, I realized something. I love creating. Making. Experimenting. Learning. Turning one thing into another thing. Sometimes that's a keynote. Sometimes it's a book. And apparently this summer… it's turning my garden into something that feeds me in more ways than one. I don't know how much longer this toe will keep me sidelined. But I do know this: Sometimes life takes away the things that define your days so you can discover something new that might belong in them too. Also, if anyone needs basil, please let me know. This sh!t is getting out of hand. Cheers,
P.S. If you like my work and want to support it, here are 3 ways! 1) Forward this newsletter to a friend and let them know they can subscribe here. 2) Buy my book 3) Bring me into your company to speak. (Either in person or virtual.) |
