The View

The year has burst from the gate like a race horse. I’m not sure why, but this go ’round seems particularly character-building. I suppose you can’t judge a book by its cover, and perhaps you can’t judge a year by the first few days either.

But if you could…

In my world, you’d see a mashup of the good, the bad, and the ugly. On the good side, I’ve found myself suddenly filled with wonderful projects after a less than stellar 2022. On the bad side, my password manager was hacked and I’m in damage control mode, combing through old accounts to delete the ones I do not use, change the ones I can, and have the wisdom to double authenticate the really important stuff. 

On the ugly side, about a month ago I experienced what I can only describe as a self employed person’s worst nightmare – a Very Large Order was placed and then after I spent a significant amount of money on custom materials, the whole thing came crashing down. The company refused to honor our agreement, and left me stuck with the bill. This was the closest I’ve come to small claims court, and I am elated to say IT ALL WORKED OUT. 

I’m telling you this for two reasons – one, because I’ve been carrying the stress for like a month now and it was exhausting. Saying it out loud, even in written form, is cathartic. And two, because whoever needs to hear this right now: the thing you fear the most, yeah, it might actually happen. 

But you’ll survive.

In fact, going through that experience might make you stronger. It might make you more resilient. It might even make future challenges less… challenging. 

Of course it’s hard to see this in the moment. When everything feels like it’s crashing down around you, the only thing you can see is debris. 

But once it clears, the view is glorious.