You’re better than this and you know it
Oh, hi friends!
You don’t have to accept a bad offer.
And offers come in all shapes, sizes, and opportunities.
But it’s funny, because we all know what a bad one feels like.
Makes your shoulders creep a little higher and comes to you at night in the whisper that says, You’re better than this and you know it. Or maybe not as blunt. Maybe it only says, Really? You’re really considering this?
And the biggest lesson I’ve learned about this is that if the offer feels bad from the beginning — when it should actually feel the best — then that feeling is never going to get better. (Take it from someone who’s said ‘yes’ to countless nightmare assignments that whispered, no, screamed DON’T DO IT — and barely lived to tell the tale.)
Listen to your gut.
Gathering String
Gathering string is what reporters do:
a fact here, a quote there, details everywhere.
They hunt and gather like the Australopithecus
(indebted to copy editors who check their words).
Three possible interviews—leads, they call them,
turn into eight answering machine messages,
marked unread from here to eternity.
Four emails, a second call—a victory;
forty minutes on the phone becomes thousands
of words transcribed in a rush, which shrink
into an eleven-word quote in the sixth paragraph
sitting adjacent to an ad selling shoes.
But the reporter doesn't see it, she's off gathering
string, stringing sentences, knitting the next story,
making a comfortable nest for the truth.
(Logging off Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram last week got me reading and writing more poetry!)
Um, Would You Look at These Soaps?!
The only thing that makes me more excited than someone quitting their job is when someone starts a new business! I LOVE NEW BUSINESSES.
My friend Alison Peters just launched an Etsy store with these gemstone rock soaps — yes, these are soaps! — I already bought two and can’t wait to buy more, because we’re all still washing our hands constantly, right? Love all the variations, from peridot to turquoise and everything in between.
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara