Make Room For Yourself

This past week was incredibly full and asked more of me than I expected. I knew it was going to be a doozy when I saw how many different forces were converging on the calendar, but thought that I'd worked the schedule in such a way that I had more than a fighting chance to thrive, not just survive.

But as I sat with Maddie for brunch on Saturday, I was caught off guard by the wave of emotions that all of a sudden came over me. Both joyful and tearful emotions that had been held at bay by the speed of activity for the week finally made their way to my consciousness and accompanied my burger and tater tots for the rest of the meal. I was all of a sudden very aware of how full the week had been and how I hadn't given myself the space and time to own its impact on me.

Holding space for others is something that most of us are able to do with ease if we decide to. There are some people that were born holding space for others and then there are those of us that have had to learn how to do that and not just try and fix the situation. But the real Jedi-level work is being able to compassionately hold space for yourself. Last week I didn't do that. It didn't have to be a departure from all the things that were needing to be done, it just needed to be a moment of pause to collect my thoughts and feel the weight of some of the work being done, both the pride in the accomplishments and the stress of the work left to be completed.

When it comes to that kind of awareness, it is a choice you have to make for yourself. It is also something that helps to have thought about before you find yourself at the moment where you need it the most. So let's think, for you and the way that you feel awareness, which of these is the common denominator?

• People - are there certain people that bring out this kind of thinking and hold space for your to dig into it consistently?
• Place - where can you go to find that stillness and brief reprieve to catch your breath?
• Thing - is there a totem of sorts that unlocks your mind's log jam? A journal, a class, a meditation, or a song?

Awareness in the moment is incredibly challenging but it makes each moment that much more powerful to live into them fully and understand who you are in that space and time.

Brief Interaction That Left Me Thinking

At the United Nations last week, we celebrated World Ocean's Day and the global commitment to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. I had the chance to speak with Ray Dalio before he went on stage. In addition to sharing the work we are doing with OCN.AI and hearing more about his firm OceanX, he asked me, "Have you eaten anywhere great recently?" When I told him about 4 Charles, the steakhouse on my block, he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a small notebook, and wrote it down. I was struck by the fact that a man worth $19.1B was so approachable and so curious. But even more so by the feeling of respect that he gave me by taking a note from our conversation. There is a correlation between that kind of curiosity and his net worth.  

Full Circle Moment That Made Me Proud

My college roommate shot and produced wedding videos to pay his way through school. He was really good at it, but truthfully it was not the kind of work he wanted to do. I even got in on the action as his assistant cameraman for a couple of weekend weddings to make a little extra cash.

This Saturday night, his documentary about the life and story of Milli Vanilli premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was an incredible moment to witness. Paramount+ has already purchased the rights and will be bringing this amazing story to the world through their streaming platform later this year.

It was a very different weekend than when we shot wedding videos in rural Texas.

Most Important Conversation I've Heard In A Long Time

Huge thank you to Katie Shannon for sharing this with me. An even bigger thank you to her for telling me to have my notebook and a box of Kleenex handy.

"Even when the truth isn't hopeful, the telling of it is." - Andrea Gibson

Funniest Story I've Told Publicly

If you have 4 minutes, this one is a good one.

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