Since restrictions are slowly, systematically lifting in Australia three weeks ago, I have received exactly three massages. Yes, nearly a massage a week. Spoiled. Spoiled. Spoiled. And 100% okay with it. This past Sunday, when Hymy was working on my lower back and butt, she noticed something, something that I had never really paid attention to... As a former Pilates instructor, I know you’ve got a lot of muscles in your butt. You’ve got the big bad boys that everyone knows about - gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. But then, underneath those, there are five other smaller muscles, like your piriformis, and obturator externus, and other funny-sounding Latin ones that make you sound like a smarty-pants when you say them. It’s these smaller, lesser-known muscles that sometimes get so tense you don’t even notice them anymore... ...Until you do
THIS is the key. 🔑
This isn’t just happening in America. This is a Civil Rights movement around the world. We popped up to Brisbane this weekend to visit our friends for wine-tasting and light tourism. (COVID restrictions have significantly been lifting in Australia - no one wears masks, nor have they ever, and now, you can eat at restaurants with less than 10 people, as well as host gatherings in your home with ten or fewer people. Only 100 deaths in the total country of 24 million people. They’re doing something right!0) As we were on the train, I heard three kids (I say kids, but they were in their twenties), talking about supporting the protest. “Protest,” I thought. And that’s when I heard them say they were going to support black lives matter. When we arrived in Brisbane I cannot tell you how pleased I was to experience the vibes of people awakening and standing for black lives matter together. We walked down streets holding the Aboriginal flag, with signs declaring “Black Lives Matter” and “Freedom and Equality for ALL”
A Pattern Interrupt for Humanity
I wish I could say that I had the words these past few weeks. A shift has been needed in the world and in ourselves.
COVID gave us an opportunity to reflect on what’s most important to us. For some, it gave us a chance to align and reconnect with our families. For others, it brought into stark contrast our own escapist tactics and feelings that have been repressed or suppressed, waiting to be released “when the kids graduate.”
For some, it gave us a swift kick in the pants to pivot, realign our businesses, shift into miraculous overdrive with our productivity and creativity. And my revolutionaries - Meredith, Stuart, Kala - holy moly how proud I am of you for how you have pivoted and adapted your businesses and entire industries!!!
For others, it realigned TF out of us, to what we want, and to what the future holds for us and our industries. Is it even a business you want to be in? Is it even an industry that’s going to be around in five to ten years?
For myself, these past two months have connected me deeper into my spirituality and my relationship with God. It’s made my life a miracle - living in a land surrounded by surf and butterflies. It’s also brought into a crude light some darker patterns that needed to heal for me.
Choose Joy and Give ZERO Trash Trucks About It
Declan‘s “trucks” really sounds it’s rhyming f-bomb. Thing is, trash trucks are currently his favorite thing on the planet. Every morning at our place in the Gold Coast we have at least three to six pass-and-collects by our giant floor to ceiling windows...beginning at 6:14 AM. And while the windows provide a world-class surround-sound experience earlier than I would like at that moment (I’m still in my quiet-hours of morning routine + getting stuff done), Declan is ecstatic, enraptured in over-the-moon jubilation over these waste vehicles. I mean, picture Mick Jagger or Tony Robbins or Lady Gaga style fandom, and that is my son - a garbage truck groupie. Unapologetic for his unabashed love of waste receptacle vehicles. And the joy he experiences...EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING....is the BEST cup of Decky you could ever have.
Rising Above the Noise of Fear: How to Handle the Haters, Dislikers, and People Who Disagree with Your Message
I lost a friend to COVID. Don’t worry she’s still alive, she didn’t have COVID...she was plagued like many, with fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of a different opinion about fear. Fear of being wrong about fear. Fear of fear. I lost her because she no longer wanted to be my friend. It still hurts sometimes. Fear always does. Deep down, I’m sure there’s still that little five-year-old girl in me who’s begging to be liked, praying that someone will just love her, notice her, accept her for who she is. I didn’t want to share this. I felt embarrassed. Marred - like you would think that I’m a bad person for admitting that someone out there in the ether didn’t like me or what I put out there on the interwebs. Ashamed, questioning? Should I feel bad? Should I not have shared what was on my heart and soul about how I saw people treating other people - using a pandemic to shame, blame, vilify, and divide people who have a different opinion, different data sources, different discoveries, different solutions?
Have the Courage to Feel Joy in Times of Fear
Who says you HAVE to feel fear right now? (And, BTW, why are you listening to them?) This isn't about the realness COVID as a disease, or that many people are losing their jobs, have lost their businesses, or that we’re in the middle of the greatest economic recession of all time, or the new hardships we’re all facing to varying degrees with #quarantinelife. This is about QUESTIONING what you're being told to FEEL in the midst of hardship. Who says you're "SUPPOSED" to feel panic? Who says you "SHOULD" feel fear? YOU FEEL WHAT YOU FREAKING FEEL. Why can’t you feel joy, love, and a deeper connection to your family right now? Who says you can’t be excited about the transformation going on both in your life and in the lives of everyone around the world? Why can’t you feel gratitude for this time of hibernation from the busy and allow yourself to create?? Who says you can't feel excited for this time of innovation and pivoting in your business? Why can’t you feel grateful for this time of worldwide service to the health of others? And, yes, I get certain life circumstances don’t always make it easy to reach for joy and faith and courage.
The Power of Your Queen Team Business Rhapsody
One of my favorite bands of all time is Queen. When we temporarily relocated to Australia, Spike bought me a Freddy Mercury Funko doll (you know those tiny-body, giant-headed, fits in the palm of your hand toys) for my “office” area. Maybe it was the sunny-still vibe of another day in Queensland, or the butterflies flying past my windows, or my run past the building named “Rhapsody” in Surfer’s Paradise that morning, but in a moment of deep introspection, I spoke to my Freddy Funko. Look, I owned my crazy a long time ago, so this is not too out of the ordinary. I was looking for a connection. I believe everything happens FOR a reason, for our greater learning, growth, and evolution. So all of these things, all of these signs, I just could not ignore. “What is it about Freddy Mercury? About Queen? About Rhapsody?” I mused.
Surrender the Form
On the flight over to Australia, I got MY fill of Marvel movies. International flights used to be my jam. Strapped in a seat, I’d get so much work done. Laser focus, baby! That was before Declan. When we took our first trip overseas to Australia, that was a 16-hour lesson for me in surrendering to what was. Declan was one at the time. I was squished into the middle seat between Spike and a large Samoan man, holding my overly exhausted baby boy, who then proceeded to nurse...for the WHOLE flight. Yeah. That was rough. I learned to surrender the form of how I traveled and the expectation to be able to get ANYTHING done while on a plane with a child...other than taking care of my kid.