Because it’s Friday AGAIN. And because traditions are important. In which I cover the good stuff and the hard stuff in my week, trying for the non-preachy, non-annoying side of self-reflection.
And you get to join in if you feel like it.
Oh, yet again one of those weeks when the hard is the good and the good is the hard.
The four days I spent in Austin at SXSW were the most fun ever. Delicious, heartwarming, insanely goofy fun. And also gah! Challenging and super-hard.
Not to mention that I’ve spent every minute since then in full-on recovery mode. But I don’t want to talk about that.
Actually, it’s quite possible that all sorts of things happened this week, but they were all zapped out of my brain as a result of the crazed revelry boring conference. This is going to be the most boring Friday Chicken that ever was.
The hard stuff
SXSW.
I’d been kind of worried about getting roped into a bunch of stuff I wouldn’t want to do. You know, what with a gazillion people being there, and everyone wanting to meet up.
So I was all ready to say no when necessary and generally do what I needed to do to take care of myself.
But of course I totally didn’t count on the fact that there would be all sorts of tempting and wonderful things that I would want to do.
Turns out it’s way harder to say no when it’s stuff you really do want to do.
So it was exhausting and hectic and crazy … and I didn’t get to do things like sleep. Or yoga. Or sleep. Yes, sleep deserves to be mentioned twice.
Speaking of conferences…
I don’t like them.
Yes, I may be to pass as an adult — but am still not enough of one to ever want to hang out in a convention center again. Just not cut out for wearing badges, riding escalators, or shaking hands with people.
Blechh.
Also, Selma doesn’t like crowds. Or duck fetishists, of which there are an astonishing number.
Routines interrupted.
What with all the staying up until dark-thirty every night of the conference, and the general decadence and carousing, all my normal little structured, ritualized routine-ey things got thrown out of whack.
Very distressing.
And then you have to do that much more work to reinstate the structures that are supposed to support you.
Grumble grumble.
Piles of work!
The behind-ness: it is not pretty.
Doing my best to take it in stride and not get too overwhelmed, but definitely feeling the urge to crawl into bed and ignore it all.
The good stuff
SXSW!!!!!
I really can’t do justice to how epic it was. No amount of exclamation points can do that.
Getting to hang out with all of my favorite people — in “real life” — is absolutely the best thing that’s happened to me all year.
There was much collapsing in giggles, generating of goofy business propositions, and eating of melted cheese. Sometimes all three at the same time.
It turns out that my friends really are that great. Getting them all together in one room? Could not be more perfect.
Selma had a blast. As did my gentleman friend. And, amazingly, nothing in my business went kablooey while I was gone.
Friends: I like them.
Breaking bread with people you like … pretty darn great.
So having everyone I like all appear at the same random, spontaneous party (thanks, Sarah!) was the happiest of happy accidents.
Yes, we did all converge on the same city at the same time, but to have it all come together like that — so perfectly — was like a big crazy happiness infusion.
It takes a village.
So I still don’t have the use of my hands. And I can’t even tell you how many kindhearted people came together to make that not be an issue.
Most of the time I was glued to Naomi at the hip. So that was handy.
Though the rest of the time, I had friends (and the occasional total stranger) write text-messages, send Twitter updates, and look up phone numbers for me. It was brilliant. I barely felt incompetent at all.
Back in Portland!
People in Austin will go out of their way to tell you how much Austin is supposedly like Portland. It’s not.
Not that Austin wasn’t lovely, because it was. But getting back home was the best.
Ez lives here!
My not-a-kid-anymore brother is still living with us. And I’m still overjoyed about it. Especially now that’s he’s learned to make pasta from scratch.
Also he cooked and cleaned and kept house while Selma, Stu, my gentleman friend and I were in Austin.
That’s it for me …
And yes yes yes, of course you can join in my Friday ritual right here in the comments bit if you feel like it.
Yeah? Anything hard and/or good happen in your week?
And, as always, have a glorrrrrrrrrrrrious weekend. And a happy week to come.
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“duck fetishists” – Smokey (my owner-cat) and I would like to join that club!
The good:
* Mrs Nath got her visa approval and booked her flights – she comes home to me in 4 days!
* I wrote some kickass code. Some of it even makes sense
* I made lovely beef pot roast in the slow cooker. Total cost ~ £3.50
The hard:
* Outside is scary. Nuff said.
* Spring cleaning takes energy
The bad:
* Hip and back are playing up again. Ouchies.
* Want to be able to work. To share my thing with my special people. Body is not cooperating with that. Still, doing a little better than a few months ago.
The good:
Feeling like I can rely on myself.
Buying a new (to me) car.
The hard:
Been sick this week.
Still missing my husband.
Thanks for being here.
Hi Sweetie,
Glad to hear that you had so much fun with your friends in real life at SXSW! And yes….. conferences, overwhelm, NAMETAGS, lanyards, no sleep, bad food, ruined routines, no sleep……. AAARGHHH…… I am always intrigued by the idea of conferences….. but very rarely go and only if the people attending are really, really special…. which it sounds like this one was!
So sorry to hear that the pain is still hanging around. You are definitely on the list of people who I send energy, love and glitter magic to on a daily basis!
And yes… saying no to what you actually DO want…. that is a much bigger challenge. I have a VERY hard time with that one!!
Hope you get lots and lots of sleep and glorious naps now that you’re back home at Hoppy House.
Love and hugs,
Chris
chris zydels last blog post..CATASTROPHES R ( NO LONGER) US
The Hard: Couldn’t adequately express to a physician my frustration at the handling of and communication around some test results (despite or maybe because of the fact that she’s a great doctor and I’m happy to have her) resulting in very high levels of (unnecessary) fear and frustration. Breathe, think, speak. Ask for a few minutes to process if I need it.
The Bad: General emotional upheaval on a topic which Do Not Think About Unless Forced due to the above (the POINT of the above, perhaps?).
The very, very GOOD: Speaking my feelings to my peeps on the topic – even in the case of some very base level philosophical/spiritual differences – without feeling bad or guilty or cringing. It’s not an attack on someone’s perspective because my own is different (of course). But letting go of how they may feel about that and get the words out anyway (and laughing as I write this & realize what a no-brainer that is since it pertains to my own health and doesn’t actually have a thing to do with anyone else except for their emotional attachment to me) – that was seriously awesome. Yay! And of course, the amazing support of those people. And reading about your own and others’ processes through these mental/emotional hurdles, which helps tremendously. So, THANKS!
The good: the trees are starting to bloom, Ben took all 5 of his graduation tests this week, I reorganized my yarn bins by color and got a sticker almost every day for working out, having a fridge stuffed to overflowing with salad and vegan leftovers 🙂
The bad: having to get up at 6:30 every morning to take Ben to his graduation tests; Marty getting an interview with WalMart and only being offered 30 cents above minimum wage and then threatened with being ineligible to be hired if he turned them down (he turned them down with a smile on his face and a song in his heart); having fried brain and needing a vacation
The good really did outweigh the bad this week, but I am looking forward to sleeping in tomrorow! 🙂
I got to go to Austin once for a Stevie Nicks concert, I really liked how hilly it was, compared to Bryan/College Station where I was living at the time. Austin reminds me a lot of here in the landscape sense, and we are trying to grow our culture. Maybe one day 🙂 So glad you had a great time!
Andis last blog post..FAQ
The bad:
A bit of excitement over a dead digital camera and some surprisingly lousy customer service, but it all worked out for the best in the end.
The good:
I got interviewed for a segment on NPR yesterday. I talked about doing taxes on your computer for “All Tech Considered”. (It should air in a couple weeks.)
I painted a lot this week.
The sun is shining and life is good.
I wish health and happiness for everyone!
Barbara J Carters last blog post..New Painting: “Dots 3″
Oh, the interrupted routines… I could have written that down as the “hard” pretty much every week for the past several months (actually, I’ll have to do so for the few coming months as well), so I totally understand what you mean there. Also hard: I’m involved in my gentleman friend’s business, and we’re having to deal with very frustrating stuff these days, with some more added during this past week. Enough already.
As for the good: the frustrating stuff is a great push to get really really creative rethinking my boyfriend’s business in order to take it closer to what we really want it to be.
And the very very good: doing Shiva Nata every day. I love it! No epiphanies yet, but there is a general kind of “feeling better” thing going on, and also feeling a tiny bit closer to being able to get back to working on doing the thing that I want to do and making my ideas matter. Yay!
Welcome back Havi! Glad you had a good trip, even though it included uncomfortable moments of various sorts.
My week?
The Hard:
Two nightmares involving men with guns pointed at me, VERY disconcerting. At least it was only in my sleep.
Slow days at the day job, yarn is one of those things people are willing to forgo when things get tight. It’s my main source of income right now, but it’s my boss’s entire livelihood, so I feel for her even more.
Not exercising, not eating right, not meditating, not writing as much as I’d like.
The Good:
Spending time getting my home space organized so that it’s more conducive to work.
Taking the leap into Twitter, or maybe more like the tiptoe.
Beginning to reread a manuscript.
Scheduling interviews for two article assignments.
Thanks for the space!
the bad money issues feeling lonely waking up in early hours gloom (and no chocolate in the house !)
the good spring ! reaching out to people and having kindness and comfort as response
I’ve been going through this whole “ta-dah! here’s your life in the future and it’s going to be great” thing. Some might call it optimism, but I like the longer version better.
I’ve also been dealing with some “[you got the answer wrong on a game show noise]! life’s sucky right now and who knows how long that will last” things. Some might call it pessimism, but the longer version is more descriptive.
Terry Heaths last blog post..On Being Lord High Everything Else
The Good:
Recession, schmession, I just landed a cool new client. My projects tend to run for months, so two or three clients make a year. This is badd with two D’s. Go me.
Also, my drsweetie has been feeling extra-super-affectionate lately. This is special because dr is not the most consistent person I know. Just saying.
The Hard:
Not enough sleep. Behind on the blogging. Too much to do in general. The usual. Not enough @havi on Twitter is an enormous problem.
Mark W. “Extra Crispy” Schumanns last blog post..MarkWSchumann: @MarkHeartofBiz <Sometimes business success is… years sometimes, so people can cozy up.> My fave project was in sales cycle for 9 yrs.
My week (and I’m including the full 7 days back to last Sunday and then adding the Friday and Saturday as a bonus) were complete overwhelm for me too.
The good, no, make that great:
I got to meet Havi, IttyBiz, charming Gentleman Friend, and some other swell people I “know” from Twitter. This was exciting in a fun, scary way.
During the Interactive portion of SXSW, all I talked to were super-smart, go-getting people who are excited about what they do and optimistic and creative and wild about technology and social media and a bunch of stuff I don’t understand.
The bad:
I felt like a total idiot for 4 solid days.
Since I didn’t go to the SXSW Interactive conference “officially,” I couldn’t get into many of the cool things that people were doing and certainly didn’t get to have any of the random, bump-into-people-in-the-halls encounters that EVERYONE ON EARTH had.
I got to feel a lot of back-in-junior-high feelings. Ick.
Also, the weather sucked.
But, wait, there’s more:
After SXSW Interactive, I planned to stay for the Music conference, which is madness made real, music from every nook and cranny.
The weather turned gorgeous and I was really pumped to discover some great bands.
The BAD:
I went to a seminar about the music business. Bottom Line: Not much to get excited about, world is turned topsy-turvy, only way to make money is to go to people’s homes and look under the sofa cushions when they leave the room.
Nobody talked about playing music because music is what musicians should love to do best, no matter what.
I don’t play music to make money. But I was still depressed because nobody on the streets seemed happy to be there.
Thought about that, if everybody was going to be sad and frustrated, I might as well go home. Almost did.
The Good:
Then Twitter saved me, as it often does. Not wanting to fight the crowds and scramble for parking, but wanting to hear at least a little music before I left, Opal Divine’s restaurant Twittered that they were having bands all day.
I checked it out, easy parking, food, deck, sunshine.
Walked in, wonderful music playing. Next up, another great band. Then another.
And that’s when I realized the power of music, how music lifts you up and how people will play music and listen to music no matter what, and that people will put money in the tip jar for musicians and they will buy over-priced CDs for a chance to sit in the sunshine and have the beauty of life restored.
Love this plaoe! This is one blog I never miss and I read everyone’s Friday check ins. With many of these, I find myself nodding myself and feeling like I can see where you’re coming from. Havi – hugs to you!
The hard:
-I’ve had what looks like an inner ear infection for three weeks that is still going on.
-Frustration with health care providers. Someone said above that it’s especially hard when they felt like they have a good relationship and are still not clear what’s going on which makes them uneasy. Ditto.
-In particular, wanting some answers to some very important questions with these providers and them not having time to explain it to me slowly enough so I can get it. My usual trick of hanging around the office til they’re available is not working – as they’re not available even after a healthy wait.
-Making another appointment to talk with the doc about things only to have the receptionist call and leave a message saying the doctor wasn’t available at that time and we’d have to reschedule sometime next week. I REALLY didn’t like that.
-One of my main providers going to Italy for 3 weeks and though I called him, he returned my call mid-flight and I missed it. Another piece of information that is important to me that I have no access to.
The Good:
-Realizing that the fact that these provider’s aren’t available in one sense or the other doesn’t mean that I can’t find peace inside myself and answer my own questions
-A growing sense of autonomy that I am the one best able to understand what’s going on with me and deal with it
-Surprising support from my step-mother with the process
-My friend Kathy reminding me “you are never alone” – that’s been really helpful
-GirlPie naming my e-book: Patient Power: Getting the HealthCare You Deserve.
-A wonderful conversation with Sarah Lacey via email and discovering her blog. http://www.smlacyart.com/blog
-Figuring out another worksheet for my E-Book in the shower this morning
-Walking 3-5 miles a day with my walking DVD’s which makes me feel better.
Thanks for listening.
Thanks for listening.
@Marie, sing it, sistah. And don’t worry, you would still have felt like an idiot if you had a badge. Or maybe not, but I did 9/10 of the time, so I don’t think the badge had any superpowers whatsoever. (p.s. I think the folks giving the music biz seminar were, uh (trying to think of another word for idiot) not seeing the whole picture. Yes it’s all mixed up and scary, but you nailed it, when you make people feel that great, there are ways to get your own $ needs met too.)
It was really splendid to meet Havi face to face at last, though! And many other amazing folks like Naomi and Pace & Kyeli and Nathan and Charlie Gilkey and Pam Slim and oh, I had better stop because I am going to forget people which would be bad. (Jonathan Fields! Jeff Moriarty! OK, no, really, stop it right now. The wise and delightful Gentleman Friend! Stop stop stop.)
Bad:
The usual conference insecurity (which I can usually handle) made more difficult by getting strep AGAIN in the middle of it. So I was insecure *and* exhausted. Yay.
Uncertainty over my new biz is having an annoying tendency to wake me up at 5 every couple of days with a whomping anxiety attack.
Good:
Pink hair! Meeting many excellent wonderful people (and seeing some old pals) at SXSW!
Also, freedom! I wake up and I have a whole day to do things that make my business strong, and I actually do them. Getting tons and tons of stuff done, and I’m really excited about the projects in the work.
Also, the anxiety attacks get me (once I’m actually awake and thinking clearly) brainstorming cool new projects, new avenues to explore, new angles to pursue.
Also, Havi’s destuckification recordings, which let me get back to sleep when I get the 5am crazies. Bless you, sweetie. I feel like I should get one as a present for every business owner I know.
Sonia Simones last blog post..Obey Me or Fail
You guys! I love coming here and reading about everyone’s hard and good bits to their week.
@Marie: I’m with Sonia, the badge makes my skin look all sallow. Plus every time I was in the actual general area where the conference was taking place I felt completely crappy and just tried not to cry. So no brilliant conversations there! Also: music is wonderful! We will always need music.
@Sonia: The pink hair is totally hot.
@Char: Wow. What a week … good for you for figuring out what you need.
@Barbara: Woooo! NPR! That’s fantastic.
@Nathan: She got her visa! That is good news indeed.
I second everyone who said stuff about spring. I am most enthused.
Hugs all around for the hard, and I’m happy for the good, and I love that you guys share the Friday Chicken with me. This is the best thing ever.
I’m two days behind, but I love this ritual, so here goes anyway.
The hard:
– I fell on my ass in yoga on Friday morning. We were supposed to do this thing that my body just refused to do, and the instructor was trying to help me modify, and I just toppled over. I didn’t hurt myself, but I was embarrassed. And then there was more embarrassment, since I lost my sense of humor about such things and started to cry. I hate that stupid hardwired frustration reaction.
– I just realized how much organizing I have to undertake before I can even think about doing my taxes. I was a very, very bad person this past year and let my system fall apart because I thought I was too busy, and now it’s going to come back and bite me.
The good:
– One of the first few things that occurred to me after I fell on my ass is that I need to have a conversation a la Havi with that stupid hardwired frustration reaction and get it to go away or at least settle down.
– I just got home from a great gathering of some of the members of our Cleveland Handmade team, and we were able to brainstorm some good ideas to support each other and the team as a whole.
– I saw my first crocus this week. (And some critter ate it almost immediately. C’est la vie.)
Lori Paximadiss last blog post..seasons