Me and My Village
This week on Instagram, my posts were all about my work places. I get to travel to so many cool places in the world. Everyone envies my job and I never take a single day for granted. I work at a place that really values its people. A place that believes talent is its biggest asset and does all it can to keep the best ones. I also work at a place that challenges creativity, welcomes diversity and respects individuality.
I’ve often been asked – how does one do it all, write, work, bring up a family, travel – so successfully? My response often makes them shake their heads, as if I’m saying what I’m saying just out of humility. Most of the time, I come out almost as if I’m self-deprecating. I don’t give myself enough credit.
The thing is, I don’t do it all. I can’t.
It’s quite the opposite, in my opinion. I do give myself credit. I’m honest enough with myself to know that when you try to accomplish as much as I do, it’s more a coordination of time and attention. The crying baby comes first, and then the other things follow next.
I don’t sleep much. My brain goes on override every hour of the day. Sometimes, it gets stuck on IRS regulations and accounting pronouncements. And other times, it gets muddled in schedules, like how do I get my son from here to there or how we pull off another week of irregular school hours. Late at night, it buries itself in swoony, lovey stuff like pining, and missing, and all the emo that goes straight into the words of my books.
It’s difficult to keep all the juggling balls high up in the air. Even circus performers fall down once in a while.
No one can do it all alone. It takes loving what you do to keep you going, and an entire village to help you succeed.
No matter what it is, loving what you do makes it all worthwhile. It brings realism back into your lofty ideas, it sets you straight when you begin to feel like giving up. Doing what you love makes sense out of everything.
The village steps in to ensure that I can do all that.
Whether it be the husband who keeps our home together when I’m hardly there, or the boss who believes in recognizing hard work; the nanny who takes my son to school, from school, to the doctor, to the orthodontist. Or the authors who give me invaluable advice and support. The son who is always mailing books for me at the post office. Or the friend on the other side of the world who keeps me sane.
No matter who is in your village, always remember how lucky you are to have them in your life.
I may not be able to do it all, but because of them, I can definitely have it all.