Today was the first day in months that I woke up and have nothing on my calendar except to write a blog post. In fact when I click on this holiday week, I see lots of empty white space. The reset began officially last week and started with a haircut, healthy eating and using my three questions to make decisions about how I would use my time and attend to the email that floods my box.  I graded papers and met with students which grounded me in my academic life. I made time for a long overdue chat with a good friend, I met with a creative young person about a sustainable business idea, and I did an interview and photoshoot for a beautiful Japanese magazine that hopes to inspire older women to be their best selves.

I made a choice between an event where I would be “seen” and one where I could support a friend (the beautiful Jasmine Aarons, founder and creative director at VOZ) and meet other creative and talented women who care about human and natural system well-being (the Maiyet Collective, which will be a whole other post). I also participated in a video installation project that will be exhibited in the windows of the International Center of Photography in the Spring. The artist, David Michalek, also did a film installation for a Dries van Noten Exhibition.  (You know my passion for Dries: see his Fall 2017 collection here for your Fall look inspiration). During the filming, I wore a garment by an emerging designer, Lera Pivovarova. which she calls “Workpants”.  Both the piece and the “costume” were a good match for me because both are designed to showcase human movement. It is almost as though participating in the project unlocked something in me that was stuck.  When Calvin I went out to do our photoshoot for this week I just could not stop moving. Everything about me has become animated. I realize how much I was like a computer that was frozen and needed a reset.

Perhaps best of all I spent a day with my granddaughter watching  strong, brave Disney princesses who “Dare to Dream” glide across the ice. Nostalgic and wonderful, this was the annual event my daughter most looked forward to and was excited for when she was young. We got our act together too late for her to come too but we will both be on it for next year. In the meantime being the amazing mom she is, even though work responsibilities prevented her from attending (and she really wanted to go!), she generously let me share the experience with her daughter.

Still have to get to those boxes piled in the corner but I am taking one at a time and thinking of how to be creative and innovative in what I want to say. Oh and…organize my clothes, do more exercise…there will always be something still on the list but the difference is I am not going to stress about it and I am going to do it on my own terms.

Anyone else have a reset story to share?