It’s Not a Sprint or a Marathon: PYL In-Flight (Dec 2, 2020)
Welcome Back My Restless Passengers:
It had been a few weeks since I’d been to the beach in Half Moon Bay. Client work and family affairs have been occupying my attention and I couldn’t justify taking the 3 hours to make the 30 minute drive to get breakfast at The Press and then walk on the beach for an hour. As much as my brain and body needed it, I had to get other shit done.
I am hoping that my husband and I can add this back into our weekly schedule because I realized during a call yesterday that what we thought was a sprint back in March turned into a marathon and now we are doing the 100 miler that none of us have trained for. Every day I catch myself questionning the surreal nature of our experience right now. And we all know it’s going to get worse before it gets better and I can’t even imagine what that looks like. I already don’t go out very much and I see very few people.
I need my tennis. I need to get to the beach to go for walks and clear my head. I need my Whiskey Wednesdays with our neighbors (late night socializing outside around our firepit…socially distanced of course).
I don’t go shopping; my husband Zeke does all of that. We don’t eat out…we order in from local restaurants. While the 10 PM to 5 AM California curfew doesn’t really affect my behavior, it feels oppressive. I don’t like others to put constraints on me when I am perfectly capable of doing the right thing without having it be legislated.
Unfortunately, others don’t have the same approach and so we are going to be dealing with a post Thanksgiving spike and then a post Christmas spike and then a post New Year’s spike. This means we are most likely in for some really shitty times between now and March. We are screwing our healthcare workers, our economy, our essential workers, our kids, our parents, and ourselves by not taking this more seriously.
So what do we do? We keep wearing our masks (did you read mine in the main picture above?…it’s one of my favorites and my mom made me these lovely holiday masks…she’s so clever). We keep washing our hands. We keep our distance. We avoid large gatherings. And we find ways to stay healthy and sane.
For me, it’s virtual coworking on Clubhouse, tennis, walks on the beach with Zeke, Christmas movies with Rei, regular touch-bases with friends, and my daily tasks that anchor me as everything goes sideways in the world. I’ll be doing a YouTube video on ‘a day in my life’ sometime soon and I’ll share more about what I do.
Speaking of videos, I’ve decided to launch a TikTok channel focused on inspiring women to design and live a life of their own creation with an empahsis on midlife and GenX women.
If you haven’t discovered TikTok, you are missing out. There’s something for everyone. I love #cocktailtiktok, #cookingtiktok, #genxtiktok, and some of the political and social justice content.
I am working on what my schtick will be. Nick Cho who I met on Clubhouse is the Korean Dad and has millions of followers. I am thinking of retaining my tiara wearing, champagne drinking troublemaker moniker and doing a ‘did you know’ kind of video. Maybe something along the lines of
- Why didn’t my mom ever tell me that…
- No one ever told me that…
I am still working on it. What do you think? Any other suggestions?
And yes, I will wear a tiara, have a glass of champagne, and maybe throw some glitter around.
It’s worth experimenting with and if it fails, well, failure is my second favorite F word after all.
YouTube: How I Sonder
You’ve all heard me talk about or write about my Silk + Sonder planner which I love so much that I’ve gifted some subscriptions to friends and have created a private Sonder Circle. Silk + Sonder is doing a series on How I Sonder so I created a YouTube video on How I Sonder. Check out yesterday’s video to learn more. They are running a special this holiday season. Use the promo code HOLIDAY20 and get 20% of a 3+ month subscription.
YouTube: Recording a Video After Taking a Bong Hit
Oh the things that get people excited on YouTube…midlife women smoking pot and having a conversation with their 19 year old sons. If you missed it, here’s the link to Satruday’s video. We had a pretty serious conversation about what’s going on with Adam at SDSU and why he is transferring to another school (hopefully for the spring semester).
What’s my challenge for you today? Remember that we are in this for a while longer so give yourself some space. Enjoy the holiday season. Focus on your own mental health. When planning 2021, allow for some recovery time.
With much love and gratitude,
Terri
P.S. Take the controls and be the pilot in your own life. It’s a beautiful day to fly, and you are cleared for takeoff.
Song: The Distance by Cake
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