Before I sit down to work on all sorts of good things for the day (mostly eight hours of pretending that what other people on Facebook are doing isn’t that cool. Anyone can ‘scale’ Mount Kilimanjaro, Bill, sheesh.), I make a cup of tea. It goes in my awesome Unleash Jacksonville mug, made for me by Allie Cheatum at The Apothecary Bee. Her stuff was featured last year in our FRESH issue, (“Fresh Finds,” page 32). That there writing on the mug is actually her handwriting! Some people just ooze cool talent, eh? (Some people ooze other things … different post, different time.)
The other side of my mug says I’m the mother effing BOSS. Aww
ww hell yahhhh, I am! When I glance over at it sittin’ pretty on my desk, I feel so many feels. Pride. Freedom. Happiness. Fear.
I’m the boss? Heart palpitations. Heart palpitations! … no one else is steering this boat? … I look over my left shoulder, then my right … then the left again—I don’t know how to steer a freaking boat! This thing looked so pretty and easy to navigate when I was standing over there—on shore—I wanted nothing more than to get in and GO! But … how do you make it go? Is there a key? Can I get some extra paddles and a team of hot strong men, please?
(I did specify hot, right? Lest there be any confusion.)
I do keep having my tea in this mug even though it can scare me some days. Once I calm down the freak, I realize this is actually what I want—to be the mother effing boss of my time. I am creating a life that I feel good about—promoting local businesses, helping my community, helping animals, and educating other people on how to help animals. Guess what! There are many times I don’t know what to do, and in those times I think, WWJD. (Wow! Wow! Just Drink. Beer makes everything clear—hot entrepreneurial tip right there, your welcome. Also, entrepreneurial is really hard to spell, don’t try that one on your own.)
I want to tell you something. Lean in close. Closer, damn it, I have an Alexa. I’ve had a secret fetish for a long time. (Shhhhh, be cool, man—and don’t tell my mom.) I get off on hearing about people who love their jobs. It nearly draws me to tears when I’m talking to someone and they lighten and brighten as they describe what they do. (How weird, right? I’m a disgusting deviant.) I absolutely love it … it makes me happy when others are happy (with their jobs. I have intense rage when people are fulfilled in their personal lives—why so many freaking photos of Kilimanjaro, Bill). I’ve been working since I was 12 years old (9, if you count picking stones from fields for farmers for 50 cents an hour in the hot Wisconsin sun—is it too late to call child services on that?). I have never loved what I do for the majority of the day. And it was nobody’s fault but my own. I didn’t make it happen.
So! I was very honored last week when a friend told me he used Unleash as an example during a high school career day talk. Brian told the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed (and also the slumped-over and disengaged) teenagers to follow their passions and do something that makes them happy. I was told he held up our latest issue and told them how I came to start the magazine and about my love of animals, photography, and writing. (I’m glad he didn’t tell them that after every issue goes to press I say, this is the last one!, or that I have to pass up the expensive cheese at the grocery store, or that I say, what am I doing with my life!, at least three times a week—it isn’t all orchids and expensive delicious cheeses, kids.) You still gotta work. You maybe gotta be frugal for a long time. You gotta find your tribe and your groove and your flow. You have to do it. (Next time I talk to you, I want to hear about how much you love what you do.)
Most of all, you need to find a good mug—don’t miss this very important step in making a life that doesn’t dim your beautiful mother effing spirit. Get a mug that reminds you of who you are, let it remind you how strong you are, let it scare you a little—and drink a lot of tea (or whatever) out of it.
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