Keep It Moving

Yesterday I was walking through Chinatown and out of nowhere, a woman kicked me on the street. I was walking to dinner, scrolling through Spotify, not really paying attention - and just as it was about to happen I could sense someone getting closer to me, but in the two seconds it took me to look up and notice what was happening, she had fully kicked me in the leg. Like, a total boot-to-thigh kick. It was so startling. I looked at her with alarm as she was screaming at me - telling me that she was going to “take me to court”.

What?! I was so confused, looking around to passers by on the street with a look of “is this really happening?” splattered across my face - and then wondering if I had accidentally done something wrong.

It all happened so fast, and my instinct was to keep moving forward and just get where I was going. The woman kept screaming at me, but she was going the other direction, and after getting a block or so away and making sure she wasn’t following me, I paused on a corner and caught my breath. What the fuck? 

It seems like the past few weeks have been nothing but WTF moments. And because I believe so deeply in the law of attraction, it’s hard not to ask myself in those moments how I’m attracting this sort of energy.

But after this experience, I had to surrender to the fact that that had nothing to do with me. That woman was angry an unstable - probably for her own WTF moments that are much more complicated than mine. I just read The Four Agreements and its second rule echoed in my head as I kept walking through Chinatown … you can’t take anything personally. This is hard to put into practice, but as I was walking off this bizarre interaction - I felt the wisdom of it. Her anger had nothing to do with me - not personally. I just happened to be an outlet for her frustration.

As humans we want an explanation for everything - I am always trying to apply logic to shitty situations - but sometimes, there isn't an explanation. I could have spent the night wondering what I’d done to attract that woman’s anger - and created a whole story about it. I could have created a story about how the kick was punishment for not being as far along with The Brightside planning and progress as I want to be, or about how I need to pay more attention on the street (okay, that actually is a lesson), or how this was the universe laughing at me. But honestly, I think this was just a true example that sometimes you get kicked down - literally - and you just have to keep moving.

I've been getting more and more into tapping lately (basically somatic healing, great episode of Almost 30 about it here) - and I did a session this morning that was all about centering yourself and focusing on what's going well, not what's going wrong. I am the first to admit that I tend to put a microscopic focus on the areas of my life that aren't "perfect" and often get really hard on myself for not being where I think I should be. But this tapping work helps validate that of course not everything is perfect - of course life is going to kick you down sometimes - but you still have the power to move forward and choose your response. And if that ain't Brightsiding... I don't know what is.

So here I am, on a Friday, moving along. I've just got some quick Brightside updates for you today - hope you enjoy. And I hope no one kicks you on the street this weekend, lol.

Let's get into it!

Brightsiding Updates

The last time I checked in here, I was talking about the power of struggle. I re-read it this morning as I was writing today's sanity check and it felt strangely on-the-nose. In the time since I sent that out, I had a very eventful end of March and April - I took a solo trip to Miami which was a blast, and then I just got back from a trip to London with Kim a few days ago (thank you to everyone who shared recos! I'm going to put together a list of the spots we hit).

Otherwise, this is what I've been up to:

I've been writing a ton. Since January, I've written almost 50,000 words. I've been playing around with all sorts of things - fiction, personal storytelling, Justin-Bieber POVs, you name it. It's been extremely fun and now I'm organizing my content and figuring out what I want to share out with the world and where. It's been so empowering to build this habit and slip into more confidence calling myself a writer. Some of the things I've written ... are really freakin' good!

I've also been working on a business plan for The Brightside that I'm beyond giddy about. It's evolving, but my vision for where I want to take this is more crystalized than ever and I'm excited to share more ... soon. My goal is to take the #brightsiding workshop I created for Alphabet's Mental Health conference a few years ago on the road - so if your team or anyone you know could use a vulnerable communication workshop, please drop me a note and I'd love to share more about what I'm offering.

All in all - I've got a lot cooking, and I'm feeling excited and ready to dig my heels in and make some magic happen. I've been working hard on building some strong habits (morning routines! night routines!) and ... things don't always feel easy, but I'm trying to focus on what's flowing and not get too bogged down by the work ahead.

Excited to share more soon ... :)

Sending everyone love heading into the weekend.