To my future daughter

Yesterday, while driving along through Watertown, I began to think upon some pearls of wisdom that I have learned throughout my 25 years of life. Pearls that I sometimes wish someone had told me. Well- here is a note to my future daughter- signed always- future mommy.

1. Don't ever be late. Account for traffic, car break downs, ANYTHING. I am constantly late (habitual mis-management of time) and constantly embarrassed and regretting it! Don't put yourself in this position! Be an adult and be early.

2. Manage your time. Today I wasted ~11 hours doing absolutely nothing useful. I'm in PA school, mind you. This sort of laziness is inexcusable. Go for a run, make some dinner, clean, do some reading, anything really.

3. If you wind up in PA school like me- remember to go to a school with ~50-74 classmates. 36 (northeastern) is TOO SMALL. Everyone knows everyone's business. It is like a grown-up high school. You don't need that. You're too good for that.

4. clean your closet regularly. Clutter in any capacity not only clutters physical space, but also mental space. The latter of which is far more valuable.

5. When planning your wedding, don't select bridesmaids/wedding party attendants before you know what you are actually doing for your wedding. You see, I'm marrying your father this August and we sort of naively jumped the gun and asked our friends to be in the wedding. Now our wedding is in Ireland and of course we feel bad excluding them, but also bad making them buy a plane ticket to come see us. Oh yea, don't plan your wedding in graduate school. Promise you, darling, it's not one bit fun.

6. Don't wear your heart on your sleeve/be an open book. Less is more. Open your heart to the ones that actually deserve it. If you work in healthcare, your patients should be included in the ones you open your heart to. Some of your future classmates (in any grade, really) won't deserve it. They're really your colleagues, not classmates. Always be classy and trust no one automatically. Trust is earned not given for free.

7. Eat well, exercise, live exactly the way you want to in this moment. You will have long term goals and ambitions and you will need to sacrifice fun sometimes. Don't let whatever you need to do out of necessity ruin your life. Embrace it as a challenge and use this opportunity to practice delayed gratification.

8. When you have a head ache, don't jump the gun to take pain reliever. Wait it out- see what happens. This statement is as metaphorical as it is literal.

9. When you get a manicure/pedicure...make sure that you first look up reviews on that place. Make sure they are reputable and that they don't cut your cuticles!! Your cuticles act as a cutaneous barrier for your nail beds! You don't want bacteria or anything getting in there. I'm telling you...some nail places are not sterile and don't know how to give you a non-infectious mani/pedi. Go somewhere reputable and stick with them.

10. When you are a poor student (as your parents are now), make sure you spoil yourself a bit. Put aside some cash each week to treat yourself to something luxurious. A spa day, a shopping trip, even a $5 coffee. Just because you are poor doesn't mean you don't deserve the best sometimes- no need to feel deprived of anything.

That is all, my beautiful daughter. Someday I'll show you this and you'll laugh!
Love Mom!

It appears I was tricked!

So I got tricked into attending a meditation session today at my local yoga studio. It was advertised as "slow flow" yoga. I figured it would be just what I needed to roll out the knots in my neck and take it easy for a Friday night after a long week of school! I arrive and it is clearly a "guided nap" session. Oh lord. What did I get myself into?

You'll be pleased (or ambivalent) to find out that it was actually quite enjoyable! It was a surreal experience for sure. The first 10-20 minutes or so were BRUTAL. My mind wouldn't shut up. I thought about how cute the instructor was, about how it's awkward that he paced up and down the rows of mats as he spoke, about school, about school work...etc. Everything. After the first 20 minutes, I began to get out of my head. I was completely- 100% focused on nothing. It was awesome.

The next thing I know, class is over. I know what you're thinking (the same thing I was thinking) did you fall asleep?! The answer is no! I was acutely aware of everything, but not in my head. The instructor would tell us things like: bring one knee to your chest and hold it, bring one arm out to the side. I was actually able to follow direction the entire time. But it felt just like a nap. Except that my mind was completely sharp and aware the whole time. I left feeling like I did some sort of drug. The cold weather didn't bother me, nor did I feel anything somatic whatsoever as I walked out. No shoulder pain, no hunger, no thirst, no fatigue. My mind was alert and attentive, but I couldn't identify a single somatic complaint (and sitting all day usually leaves you with many).

Weirdest experience ever.