Hello lovely readers,
For the past 6 months I’ve been working like a mad woman to help organize a huge Sales Conference for my company. It’s taken up a lot of my time, energy, and most of my brain cells. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Attic Tales has been woefully neglected in the process. What can I say? Work interferes with the fun stuff in my life…but alas Mama always needs a new pair of shoes. And Mama is now going to stop calling herself Mama.
Also, in the interest of being completely honest, I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired. So when one is in a rut, one must do something fun and refreshing! In the next few weeks, I’ll be working and by I, I mean my friend Maryse, co-founder of the Chouettes Coquettes, on a new look for the website. I’ll also be diligently working on fun new topics where I can take polls, surprise you with pop quizzes, and yes…bring back Penis Schmenis. Please note however that the comics will reflect more on my catastrophic attempts at dating. But don’t you worry! Bianca, Maggie, Carmen, Natalie, Gemini, and Samantha might not be back as often, but will certainly be making guest appearances. Bianca will give me a brain tumor if I do not comply.
In the next few months I’ll also be working on a script for a series of short 5 minute movies that I hope with the help of a few friends I’ll be able to turn into an actual film and submit to the lovely gals responsible for the Image+Nation festival here in Montreal.
I tell you all this because I don’t just want to be a dreamer, a thinker, and a talker…I also want to be a commiter…committerer…committee??? Sigh. I want to commit and act upon these little dreams of mine. Can you tell we had a motivational speaker at our Conference? Just be grateful I didn’t get into his RIDE THE WAVE metaphor. There are just too many dirty jokes to be made.
Please don’t think I didn’t learn anything lesbionic in these past few months while I toiled away. Oh no sirree, bob! One of the biggest things I learned while co-organizing this Conference was that the only way not to get frustrated with some of my co-workers’ lack of work ethics was to change my attitude and adapt accordingly. After all, I didn’t have the power to fire their asses.
I realized that this new found philosophy is one that I can also apply outside of my professional life. We deal with people on a daily basis that irritate, hurt, and frustrate the hell out of us. They may have been behaving this way for years, yet after all this time; we continue to react negatively to their repeatedly unacceptable actions. Why is this?
I think there are a number of reasons:
1. We hope that the people we love, whether friends, family members, or partners, will change…become the people we want them to be.
2. We also sometimes enable them to continue behaving badly, by either covering up for them, or pretending to ignore their upsetting words and actions.
3. We’re comfortable in our misery and will continue to live a vicious cycle until we’re ready to make some significant changes, which will involve finally either truly ACCEPTING these people for who they are, confronting them on their behaviour, or walking away. And let’s face it; none of these choices are easy to make.
I’ve said it before that we can’t change those who do not want to change…but I’ll broaden that philosophy to say we can’t sit around waiting for them to change either. The best that you can do for them and for yourself is to continue along your journey in life ready to adapt, to change, and to learn…especially when it comes to finding peace of mind and spirit.
On a last note, I want to thank all of you again for being on this journey with me. I’ve been getting quite a few emails from people who are not only sending kind words my way, but who are also telling their stories and divulging what they’ve learned along the way.
Thank you for sharing. Here’s to more Attic Tales.
Sincerest regards,
Geneviève
