simply gwyneth

So, a little bit ago I posted a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote and in order to do so, I had to google it.  And it brought a wealth of quotes by Emerson into my life.  i figured I’d share a few today, sort of pay it forward to whomever may read this blog.

“Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is.  Tread a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.”

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

“What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say.”

“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself.  Go forward and make your dreams come true.”

“Once you have made a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

“Be silly.  Be honest.  Be kind.”

All these quotes make my mind and my soul happy.  I hope they do the same for you.

xoxo

I have a lot of things on my mind.

But mostly, I just want to curl up on the bed in this sunny, pretty hotel room, wake up and then go home.  Which I realize is both lame and ungrateful.  But I’m so tired, and I just want to be in my own house ….  I have fully accepted that as much as I love travelling, I also really love being at home.

The weather in West Hollywood has been perfection.  I mean — just utterly beautiful.  But — and I know this is going to sound weird — there’s something odd about hanging poolside with a bunch of my male co-workers.  It doesn’t sound very fun.  It sounds kinda stressful.  Definitely not relaxing.  And they probably aren’t as hyper-aware of it as I am, but I definitely feel being the only female.  Additionally, the only female who also happens to have MS.

This is not a pity party.  I am still in LA enjoying great weather, great food and great bonding time with my work team.  I think I just have a case of the Januarys, and I miss my husband.  And I’m tired and feeling very MS-y.

On the plusplus side — there’s football on today.

As my co-workers and I sat in the interminably long cab ride from the airport to our hotel, I was eerily reminded of Cape Town, South Africa.  Maybe because it’s warm in January, and the last time I was warm in January I was in Africa.  Maybe it was the palm trees, and the blue sky and the green vegetation.  A lot of it also has to do with the architecture of the buildings.  So many gates and bars and fencing — just like South Africa.

I got a little lost in my head — as one who is seated in the front seat of a cab who can hear none of the conversation behind her might be expected to do.

I’d love to really ruminate on it, because I found it very odd. But today is a little jam-packed and I have to figure out where the pool for this place is (not for fun reasons — it’s because we’re all meeting there).  On the plus side, my room is beautiful and has a little balcony, so that’s very nice.  On the down side, I am so hungry I could probably eat my left arm, and the snacks provided are a million dollars each (that is obviously an exaggeration — but not a huge exaggeration).  Even the water is $14.  Craziness.  Thankfully I brought my handy dandy hot spot, since they also charge you (in addition to the insane room rate) for access to WiFi.

So, that’s my first impression of West Hollywood.  Yup.

Sometimes, the simplest things can completely change even the smallest moments.

I can’t pretend — I’m completely exhausted and I’ve finally hit a day when coming and blogging feels a little bit like a chore.  But I had such a clear idea earlier today about what I wanted to say that I don’t want to do it complete injustice.

I work every day in center city Philadelphia.  I’m very used to the normal jostling and interactions on the street.  There’s an underlying discontent — a mistrust that runs like a current, an energy that one becomes accustomed to after awhile.  As though everyone is out to get everyone else.  Listen, I love Philly –in the strange way that I also feel as though it’s home — but I won’t deny that it’s not unusual for strangers to feel as though Philly is unfriendly and cold.

I think there are many reasons for that, and I won’t get too philosophical about it. But I think it makes sense, and it’s truly, authentically Philadelphia.

But … every once in awhile you meet someone’s eye, and they return your gaze with a huge and genuine smile.

And today I thought — a smile makes all the difference.

It changes a person’s whole face.  It warms up an entire room.  It buzzes — filling a space with energy.  It sort of made my day when a woman smiled at me in the hallway this afternoon.  A real, true, huge, honest smile.

So often, flat and empty stares greet you and it makes you feel even more alone than you felt before.  A smile — a smile changes all that.  All of a sudden you are two people, connected for the briefest of moments.  Finding the happy and sharing it.

I cannot lie.

In many ways, I am a very simple person.  I have very clear likes and dislikes.

I very much like soy chai lattes from Starbucks.  They are the way I prefer to begin my day, they are a calming tonic when the stress feels like it’s too much, they are a warmth when life feels lonely and cold.  I know it sounds ridiculous and overly romantic, but I seriously love.those.drinks.

My amazing husband has been encouraging me for years to quit my habit.  Sometimes he’s supportive in a positive way (have as many as you want … I know you love them, have them!…– this strategy worked when we first met and I was failing at quitting smoking; he told me it was okay for me to smoke, and I quit cold turkey and have never gone back –) and sometimes he is supportive in a realistic way (babe, you will feel better if you don’t drink so much sugar and you know that …. think of how much money we will save in a week, let alone a year! — which he knows very much appeals to me because I love saving money –). And it intermittently works.  Last year I didn’t have Starbucks for nearly seven months.  But I inevitably went back.  I always do. I justify it by saying that of all the vices in the world, of all the things someone with an addictive personality could get hooked on, soy chai lattes really aren’t that bad.

But they kinda are.  And I kinda know it.

And — there again — I don’t really care.  (Something i should remember when I’m being wildly judge-y about people with drug problems).  

But here’s my side of the story — my dark, hidden love of what I call happiness in a cup.  Life can be hard.  It can beat you down, it can tell you you’re worthless, you’re stupid, you’re failing.  And it’s easy to get caught up in that — the bad stuff seems to come with much more regularity than the good stuff ~ or, more to the point, it’s easier to focus on the hardships than find the blessings.

So to have something — a simple something, an easy to find something, a relatively inexpensive something, a legal and undamaging something — that without fail (unless made incorrectly) brings unbridled joy to your life — even if it’s only for the few moments it takes you to drink it –why would you ever banish that thing?

Anyway, after waking up halfway through the night due to sheer cold (I was shaking under four blankets and wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt) I decided I was going to begin this day with some Chai.  And it was wonderful.  I arrived at my local shop, all the baristas (minus the angry one who always pretends not to know me) greeted me by name, knew my drink, asked how my weekend was going.  It was such a friendly way to begin the day.  That’s the other priceless thing — the “Cheers” feeling for lack of a more descriptive word.  The idea that everyone knows your name.  And on lonely days — days when my husby is far away, and the hours stretch out before me — it feels nice to have someone ask me how I’m doing (even if it’s just a superficial, coffee shop type of ask).

So — there it is.  My love of Starbucks in black and white.  Happy Sunday world!  I hope yours started with some happiness in a cup, as well.

xoxo