An Awesome Turn of Events
The bear says it all
The other day, I got to thinking what 10-year-old me would have thought if now-year-old me had come swooping in from the future (perhaps on the back of an enormous eagle, just for the sake of drama) and said: When you grow up, you are going to spend your days writing and drawing, and some people are going to want to read what you write and see what you’ve drawn. That’s going to be not just your job, but what gets you excited every morning, because that’s why you are here.
First of all, the eagle would have scared the pants off me. But then, gosh! The angst I could have avoided over the years! Yeesh!
In an any case, that is how things have turned out, which is awesome*, and I want to thank you for being here and giving me an excuse to keep doing it. I love your notes, and the stories you share in response to stories I’ve shared. Yesterday I even received a beautiful piece of snail mail, which lifted my soul beyond measure.
As you might have picked up, the pattern here at Thick Through the Middle involves a light “Magnificent Monday” post at the start of the week followed by a longer piece of writing, and perhaps a more involved drawing, on Thursday or Friday. Today I depart from that tradition because I’m working on something that requires I pry a little more space open on the calendar.
So all I have for you today is Thank You Bear up at the top, but I’m fond of her and thought you might like her as well. May your weekend be wonderful. I’ll see you again in a few days for another Magnificent Monday.
*Because of the rampant abuse of the word “awesome,” which has become a pet peeve, I have had a strict rule about not using it unless I was standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon. But occasionally, some thought or experience actually triggers in me a sense of awe, and I become resentful that the over-users have removed awesome from my vocabulary. So now I allow myself a rare dip into awesome territory, and always with a real or implied asterisk explaining that I am not one of those people who spends her days scattering awesomes like breadcrumbs for pigeons.
And this, in a nutshell, is what it means to be an overthinker.
Agree on the use of awesome. When did doing something basic (like saying an appointment was possible) become awesome?? But yes - it would have been awesome to have been able to go back and reassure young me about my future 🙏. Thank you for the image of the visitation, and also the bear, and all your joyful little gifts which you bestow upon all us strangers ❤️
"And this, in a nutshell, is what it means to be an overthinker." The whole post was lovely, but this line made me laugh with recognition. I tend to make rules for myself that would make sense to no one else.