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Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Thoughts From July 2018


There's a lot of rejuvenating power in a well-placed lazy weekend. Since as far back as September of last year, every weekend has held lots of skating, long work days, traveling, competitions, and everything in between. This month, though, held a few empty weekends, so there was finally time for Saturday adventures, lazy Sunday mornings, and laughs over drinks. An absolutely wonderful reminder that little moments are often as fulfilling as big moments, and empty space doesn't always  mean wasted time.

Something isn't inherently bad just because it's scary. This past month, I felt pushed out of my comfort zone in a lot of positive ways. My immediate, gut reaction in those situations was to push back, and step away from whatever that scary thing was. But, that's a pretty boring way to go through life. A lot of good stuff lives outside of our comfort zones, and I want to work on stopping my immediate associations of 'uncomfortable' with 'bad'.

Let yourself be excited about positive possibilities, instead of worried about negative possibilities. This is sort of related to my previous point, but this month I found myself worrying about the possible negatives of a future situation, rather than getting excited about all the great future possibilities of that same situation. The future is coming whether or not I spend time worrying about it now, so while it's good to be thoughtful, this month was a great reminder to not let that turn into over-thinking. Plus if positivity leads to a healthier, more productive present, then chances are that will encourage a healthy, productive future, too.


Some people splurge on their nails or massages. I splurge on breakfast. I think I've officially found my favorite, over-indulgent way to treat myself: go out to breakfast (preferably somewhere with an outdoor patio) by myself, and journal and read over numerous cups of coffee. It's my happy place.

There are limitless possibilities. Keep moving. Sometimes, I get stuck thinking that because I've done something a certain way for a while, that's the way it will always be. But the truth is that there are so many possibilities and paths before us, and we don't have to always do the same things. I'm excited for the change of routine this summer has brought me, and even more excited to keep that energy going throughout the year.

A month can hold a lot of stuff. Don't waste the time you're given. Looking back at my 1 Second Everyday video from July, it blew my mind that on July 1, I was still in Chicago for TOI Nationals. Since coming back, I've had friends stay with me for a few days, I've stayed at friend's places for a few days at a time, we filmed our AIT Boston company piece, I re-worked my audition program, I traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho, for skating auditions, plus there's been work and kayaking and the beginnings of new relationships. It's crazy how much a month can hold if you try to take advantage of it.


In case you missed it: On Ice Perspectives filmed our AIT Boston piece, "Turn to Stone"! Here's the teaser. Also, my 1 Second Every Day video for July 2018. 

Reading Update: July was a great month for everything except reading. I'm still in a rut and stuck in the middle of Final Harvest, a poetry collection by Emily Dickinson, as well as in the middle of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and Best Food Writing 2012 compiled by Holly Hughes. To try to break the rut, I started 300 Days of Sun by Deborah Lawrenson on my trip, but I think it just buried me deeper. *sigh*

Happy Wednesday! Be the grittiest. 
xoxo Gillian