hi & imissedyou

Spent last week with my grandparents in Kentucky. It was a nice break from it all, even though technically I still worked 3 days while we were there. 

I came down with a cold. In August. Problems with this: a. It's August b. I don't get sick. I'm going to blame the flight and its recycled, germ-infested air. 

Now it's deadline week. I still have quite a bit of writing to do. I've been getting some negative feedback lately from one client, which is kind of a bummer. I think the crux of the matter is they don't really know what they want, which makes it hard for me to give them what they want. Conflicting ideas, contradicting opinions, everyone wants a piece of the pie, but they can't decide which pie to slice. 

Yesterday, I got one particularly disheartening email. Disclaimer: I'm overly sensitive. And when it comes to my writing, I sometimes take feedback too personally. From anonymous blog comments "You don't like raisins but you like genetically modified ingredients?" (response: yes, as long as they're not genetically modified raisins) to the red-lettered scribbles my college professors occasionally littered my papers with... I get this self-righteous, pompous "I'm and artist" attitude. Yes, maybe I am "an artist" (though doubtful) but they're paying my bills. 

Anyways, I digress. I got that email and felt hot tears burning my eyes. Which is especially dumb, because I was at the gym. I had one other email at the time, and decided to read it to try to quickly distract myself from the impending doom that is my life. It was a blog comment, from my mom,* that simply said, "Lovely..." One word, simple but remarkably reassuring. I don't know what it is about that woman, but she always knows how to put me in my place. At 15 "putting me in my place" was something quite different, but that's another blog post entirely. 

So here's the thing, the lesson I learned in all this, just do your best. Your absolute best. If I continually put out the best product I can, work that I'm proud of, content I find compelling... then I won't be disappointed. There's a Dita Von Teese quote I've been seeing around lately, and it rings true. Not that I always take advice from burlesque dancers, but this time it works...

And additional encouragement, in the form of an early birthday present from my sweet cousin. Chocolate (of course) and a little notebook (for brilliant ideas) I love the Emily Dickinson quote on the front. 

[Dwell in possibility.]

*aka my most faithful follower. If that doesn't make me a complete loser I don't know what does.