on star lights, an intervention & a whole new attitude

While I was in Seattle, I bought two paper star lanterns -- a pink one for Alex's room, and the one you see above, for my office.  I've seen them around before, and have always wanted one -- so when I saw them on sale at the Seattle airport, I had to stop and get a couple.  See, I'm all about cozy lighting in my office, especially on days like today when it's cold and miserable outside.  So now, every morning, I turn on my star light and my twinkle lights before settling down to work. 

It usually puts me in The Right State of Mind.

If I'm honest, though, the last few days have been less than perfect; in fact, it's been pretty hard to get my head in that Right State of Mind.  Everything's fine at home -- Marcus and Alex are as awesome as ever -- but I've been feeling a bit adrift when it came to focusing on my work.  However (and luckily for me), yesterday, just as I turned on my lights and sat down to try to get my head around what I needed to do for the day, a friend I hadn't spent time with in a while called me out of the blue.

"Hey," she said.  "I'm in your neighbourhood.  Want to meet for breakfast?"

"Hell, yes," I practically shouted, without missing a beat. I was so relieved for the break.  "I'll meet you in 10 minutes."

When I showed up at the restaurant, she was already waiting at a table.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries, and then she said, "I've been thinking about your work."

I had mentioned my funk on the phone to her a few days earlier, and as soon as she started talking, I realized that I'd actually just shown up at my own intervention.  She proceeded to quite bluntly tell me what I was doing right, but also what I was doing that was holding me back.  She was frank (as she always is) and forthright (as she always is), and at one point, as if she wanted to make sure that she wasn't out of line, she said,

"You know I can talk to you like this, right?"

Are you kidding?  I love this.  She's the kind of friend I trust so implicitly that even when she's telling me things that I might dismiss coming from someone else, I sit up and pay attention.  And of course, everything she said to me -- even the things I had never considered, even the stuff that was hard to hear -- was spot on.  I left breakfast energized, and ready to get my head in that Right State of Mind.

I feel like I owe her a lot.

And with that, happy Love Thursday, all.  May you, too,  have the kind of friend who loves you enough to tell you, as another friend of mine says, how the cow ate the cabbage.

Images:  My Nikon D300 and 35mm lens.

Song:  Let me blow ya mind by Eve featuring Gwen Stefani