So I set three alarms for an early wake up, but sleep won’t come me because I keep stirring. My mind doesn't want to mess this up, somehow the importance invades my dreams. This morning was the same, but my spirits are high so I’m traveling on powerful fumes.
Already, this trip is proving to be inspirational. And isn’t that how it goes? When we overextend for something bigger than ourselves, the runoff proves to be nourishing.
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I’m off to Houston! TSA Pre made things easy and I slept the entire flight.
Waking up to a rough landing, I found myself startled. My body knew it was off. It’s become a muscle memory of sorts. You have to keep kinetic energy in the airplane at the lowest level you can. The touchdown dumps that energy. If the initial touchdown is too soft, the airplane is still kind of flying. The energy will have to be dispersed over braking instead. I’m only saying all of that because it made think of how many variables we encounter with other people. I’ve been told the best training for landing small aircraft takes into account multiple techniques and emphasizes pilots making decisions “by the seat of their pants”.
One can prepare with information, but experience and intuition seems to be everything. Self training is important in order to build a baseline of understanding.
I’m trying to communicate that my best “landings” have never been calculated. They’ve been multiple decisions made without a ton of foresight. Rather, cumulative intuition based on listening and learning over many years, with many people.
I feel the final product on the woman I’m about to see, was finely tuned to her needs, her varying conditions. And I’m proud of that.
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Courtney is a mom and an accountant. Drew is a dad and a firefighter. And Kai, well, he wants to be a policeman, doctor, and a firefighter because he wants to help people. You should see him, these two are gonna be scrambling to keep up. I’m already curious what he’s gonna do with such a quick mind... how many people he’ll affect, like his parents.
I’ve spent time with them a couple of times. When Courtney got a mastectomy tattoo, Drew had to have the same flower on him as well. They’re a unit. In probably the healthiest way I’ve seen. And it’s not that everything seems perfect, it’s more about how open and honest they communicate with each other.
Also! There hasn’t been an ounce of judgment. I’m sure you realize how rare this is. When spending an inordinate amount of time with people, clients tend to get comfortable and blatantly honest. We all have bias and it comes out. It’s common and my role is to be neutral and listen. Well, in the twenty or so hours I’ve spent with Courtney and Drew, it’s all been acceptance. Fun and love and pure acceptance.
I’m not sure I’m explaining this well. These two aren’t hippies or anything. They’re both super normal and funny as hell. It’s just that somehow they have a large-scale perspective on life that imbues everything they do.
Anyway, I was greeted by three dogs and some piddle. Then I walked inside and met a sweet heart cat with the most beautiful face. All of which made sense to me. I’m sitting here listening to a story of Drew calling home because a chinchilla needed saving. Life really matters to them. Intrinsic value!
They’ve readily adjusted to whatever crosses their path. But I wanted to know more. These are not the kind of people that sing their own praises, these are folks that speak with actions.
We started talking about my last post, and Courtney started to open up. To hear her communicate about the resulting difference is encouraging. As we were talking about Heather’s response, it’s obvious Courtney understood, but it seemed to be from a different angle.
“I get it, but I’ve become the opposite of shy,” she says.
I was wondering what she was thinking.
“I have a hard time not showing these to everybody.”
Oh no way! That’s not at all what I was expecting to hear. How wonderful.
I well up with tears and realize I was a small part of that shift.
“I remember telling you how the dimpling bothered me, but now I don’t even see it. Actually, this is the first time I’ve seen it in awhile, because I’m talking about it.”
And I remember her telling me that. If there’s any sort of indentation, it’s important to keep darkness away from it. You’d think throwing something on top of it would do the trick, but that’s not the case. The slight dip will visibly deepen if it’s given the weight of any more darkness. So if skin tone is the lightest we can go, darkening the surrounding area can optically trick the eye. The indentation is no longer obvious, and she’s happy.
It still shocks me that we really did it. We spent enough time and, on the fly, we figured out something that would work. Something that has given her enough confidence to not only enjoy, but to also show strangers. How magnificent.
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I could hang out with these two forever, but I have to rush. It looks like flights are filling up quickly and I’m worry I won’t be able to fit on my flight to Minneapolis.
