“These are my top ten things that are helping me get through the pandemic,” said the psychologist/writer on Good Morning America.
Really?
Enough already. Pandemic or no pandemic, this is your life. Get on with it! I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really bored with the, “Every day is like yesterday” conversations.
So??? Make it different! It’s all up to you.
Stanley Tucci was a welcome arrival into the programming schedule, right? And we love him and the series on CNN, but let’s be honest, how long can you watch someone say the food is amazing, when YOU CAN’T TASTE THE FOOD? It’s great for Stanley but it only fills you up for so long. It’s time, once again as always, to create your own something.
I have wonderful friends who decided to reinvent, repaint and replant their back yard/pool environment. Nice! My one-of-a-kind sister has decided to revisit watercolor painting, which she happens to have a certain flair for. Of course, she fits this in between Zumba and rehearsing with her a cappella girl group. My friends and my sister would have done these things, pandemic or not, because that’s what they do. That’s who they are. And, as for me right now, well, the Muse and I are writing another book.
Am I saying this as a challenge? Possibly.
Everyone has a book inside them. Do it! And if you’re not comfortable writing, then walk around with a recorder app and just talk. You’ll be amazed. Promise. And if you need proof, check out Auntie Mame, Act 3, when Mame starts dictating her life story and it’s wonderful and magic and so are you and so are we all!
Then share it. In an e mail. In a blog. In book form. Any way you can. Because the more advanced our communications technology becomes, the more invisible we all become individually and that’s a shame. Bottom line, I WANT YOUR STORY! The world needs your story! And I hope you want mine, too, because it’s pretty good.
First question: Will it get published? Answer: Probably not. The world changed. We don’t publish anymore, unless we’re already famous.
Second question: Then, why should I share my story? Answer: Because, IT’S YOUR STORY, and trust me on this, because I’ve lived a life kind of out there, you NEVER KNOW WHO YOU’RE TOUCHING! Truth.
So, touch me, please. And share your story. How did you get to who you are? And how do you fill your days now, when the news tells us we’re Woe-is-me-sequestered. But if I’m thinking of literally every interesting person I know, they’re thinking, “Wow. Break time. I get to be me and do fill-in-the-blank with no interruptions!”
See, I worry that, at the end of this cycle, when everyone throws their doors open and rushes outside again, that they’re setting themselves up for a big let down...like New Year’s day, when you wake up, and well, there you are. The time to start living is literally every day because you may get hit by a truck, or you may fall out of a window, or you may have your life interrupted by a pandemic...you never can tell.
So, do it. Do it big! And put it out there! And share the wonder that is you!
Thank you, in advance.
You are the best you there is.
– Shirley Sloan
ps. And do yourself a favor – search Auntie Mame and feel amazingly wonderful about everything. And THAT’s 63 years ago! Think about it.
Your blog posts set off a wonderful new burst of energy and positivity and motivation each and every time they arrive in my mailbox. Never stop, my friend. As for writing a book, I took your advice even before you gave it. (How does that work?) And since you said put it out there ... and I'm in the middle of my Shameless Virtual Self-Promotional Book Tour™ ... my book is out this Friday.
I was going to end with "hope all is well," but I can see that it is. And that makes me smile.