Skip to main content

This week's thank you: inspiring mind



I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says, "Write a Thank You Note".

I have a friend I met in college. We worked the box office at a movie theater together. We bonded over 80s music and Harry Potter. She was always creative. She could paint. She knew how to work a sewing machine, which was -- and still is -- completely foreign to me. She made her own Halloween costumes. But always side projects. She went to school to be a nutritionist, then worked as a personal trainer and then in a hospital before becoming a stay-at-home-mom, which is what she enjoys the most. In this role, I've seen her decorate nurseries and create intricately designed birthday cakes.

A few years ago she asked me to take a look at a draft of a children's story she'd written and was thinking of entering into a contest. It was a beautiful piece about a child's first plane ride. I recently had lunch with her and she has another story that she's working on. She's thinking of joining a writer's circle for feedback. And she's terrified.

She recognizes that she needs this push.  I think she told me because saying things out loud have a way of making them more real. And also so I will ask about it next time I see her.

I love her for this. I love people who have an idea inside them but they aren't sure how to make it come to life. I love seeing that excitement. That petrified joy of doing something they love and hoping someone else loves it, too.

And she shared that with me. It was a reminder for me to keep searching for that passion. That petrified joy.

And that's why I wanted to thank her.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Can I say again how much I love reading your posts? I get lots of ideas for better ways ot interact with people at work. Thanks.

Popular posts from this blog

Unchosen: The Graduation Invite

Sometimes I'm really bad at predicting which design a customer is going to choose. And that leaves me with some of my favorite designs unclaimed. I'm going to start highlighting some unclaimed designs here in the blog, as well as some of my favorite designs that were chosen. I'm pretty proud of my concoctions, and I want to show them off! I've been doing a lot of invitations lately, and they are a lot of fun. I'm sticking to the small, intimate parties (no Bridezillas here, please) like bachelorette and graduation parties. My customers have great ideas for themed parties and you just can't find invitations at Target for the "She Got Knocked Up" baby shower. Okay, I haven't done that one yet, but I bet it would be a blast! This unchosen design came from a recent graduation party invitation. The soon-to-be alma mater's colors were green and gold, and the graduate is a big fan of pink. That's where the color scheme came from. Because it was a ...

This week's thank you: The person who makes time

Time by Stefanos Papachristou on Flickr CC BY NC I used to work at a bank where birthday and work anniversary notes from executives were part of the company culture. Even with about 350 people on staff, the executives made a point to know everyone who worked there. During my seven years at the company, I did informational interviews like mad. At least once a month, I picked up the tab for lunch to learn from someone I admired. Pretty much every executive at that organization made time for me at least once. I'm sure they weren't in it for the free lunch. These informational interviews provided me insight into everything from identifying skill sets to working to get myself into the right place at the right time. I've done a few interviews periodically since leaving that company with other people but short of an occasional LinkedIn update, I had lost touch with those executives. During the holiday rush, I ran into one of them at Target. That casual "hello" i...

This week's Thank You: The door closer

I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30am. The reminder says "Write a Thank You Note". I work in a large building, housing several hundred employees during our peak rush season. A large portion of the building is our warehouse, with conveyor belts whirring and totes strolling their merry way to the shipping stations. Within this large building, I work in an open configuration of desks and cubes in a fairly quiet area. Fairly quiet, that is, when the door to the room is closed. That door maintains the balance between concentration-enhancing white noise and a cacophony of heavy steps on concrete, snippets of conversation and the buzz of machinery. Maybe because my desk is closest to that door, or perhaps because I have the concentration of a gnat while I'm procrastinating, but my productivity drops to sloth-like levels when the door is left open by unaware (or less distraction-prone) co-workers. Many times have I looked at the door left ajar, will...