You know what's been absolutely, incredibly VITAL for me this year? 

I mean a go-to, a must-have, a flat-out NECESSITY?

 

The shrug. That's right — the quick shoulder lift, the one that says, 

“Eh, it's all good” — that shrug.

 

No joke, that shrug has saved my life this year.

 

Because most of the time (meh, probably all of the time), I was someone who took things seriously. I took my work seriously. I took the challenge of balancing work and family very seriously. And I took comments about my skills, my professionalism, my ability to handle it all…  deathly seriously.

 

Then some magic stuff happened — mostly, I learned that trying to do all-the-things is both impossible AND pretty freaking miserable — but also, that not everyone's opinion deserves to be turned to full volume. 

And in that learning space, I started to understand...

 

 

 

It’s been really freeing to learn a new side of the age-old “don’t take yourself so seriously.” There was a time when that felt like an insult — like someone telling me not to have such serious ambitions.

 

But these days, I hear it as a “yes, and." As in, I can hold high standards and let go of outcomes. I can be steady and wildly, wildly ambitious.

 

Which frees me up to do a lot of incredible things.

 

If it's not that serious, I can laugh. 

When I laugh, I'm not laughing at myself, I'm just laughing at life. Looking at that challenge with a grin and saying, Well, hey there, challenge! You're tough! Then I'm still smiling as I think, Let's see what we can do. Shrug.

 

Like, Wow, that's something… but it doesn't have to be everything. Whether it's bad news from a client or a lackluster response to a new social media series — I can accept the data without beating myself up over it. Because, hey, at the end of the day — no matter what — my kids will still love me and my friends will still accept my insane voice memos. 

So do I have to overreact today? Shrug.

 

Like when someone in my social media comments thinks I'm cringe. Or an audience member leaves feedback saying, “Her outfit was a lot.” Shrug. 

Is there anything I have to jump up and defend? I mean, I am cringe! I get super nerdy into the things I care about. And my pink dress with shiny silver sneakers is a lot! (A lot of awesome, that is.) But I actually don't need permission to wear it. So, you guessed it — Shrug.

 

In this season, we're just not giving energy to the things that don't deserve it. And we're unapologetic about it, because we deserve better. Shrug.

I spend hours at the pottery studio making messes, mistakes, and masterpieces — often simultaneously! 

 

Don’t get too attached to a piece until it’s safely home. 

 

So many things can go wrong during the pottery process — some can be the potter’s fault, while others are the fickle nature of forming clay and then firing it to thousands of degrees in the kiln.

 

 

When I first started, I was intent on becoming proficient as quickly as possible. Instead, I made lots (and lots and lots) of mistakes. You might think that sounds really frustrating. And at times it can be. But, I have thoroughly embraced the mistakes as part of my learning process. Each failure has gifted me with new information. It would be easy to give up because it is hard! 

 

Way to take 3 minutes for a pause. You rock!