A certain mood strikes me on a regular basis. I start scanning the house for things I no longer want. I check my closet for a nubby sweater or the basement for a dusty decoration. I put it in the Goodwill closet.
Giving it away feels good. Not the “giving” part, but the “away” part. Proving my detachment. If I can choose to relieve myself of things I am attached to now, perhaps that will ease the transition when something is ripped from my hands. Something or someone.
Perhaps.
I’m turning 29 next week. I might as well be thirty, since it’s the same thing. After you are twenty-five, you are basically thirty.
I find new gray hairs while examining a pimple. This doesn’t seem quite fair, but it is ironic in an Alanis Morissette kind of way.
I’m done with friendship and relationship drama. If you’re interested in getting mad or arguing over pettiness, I’m not interested in being around you.
Once I hit two million views on this post, I answer a phone call from an unknown number for the first time ever and it’s Savannah Guthrie (who is definitely responsible for contacting her interviewees for the Today show). Naturally, I prove equally charismatic in person as I am in writing during my 7:10 AM spot when I am “surprised” with a book deal. I fly back to Wisconsin, spend the rest of my days reading in my overstuffed chair and writing at my vintage desk from West Elm, wearing some on-trend, dorky glasses.
Week One 2011 Along with the other resolutioners, I was excited about a lifestyle change that would make 2011 the best year yet. I firmly stated: I, Ali Webster, will not be stressed at work.
Week Two 2011 Resolutioners were boasting about thirty-minute workouts, healthy dinners and no confrontations with their spouse for 14 days straight. I was holding strong too as I upheld my resolution: I, Ali Webster, am not stressed at work.
Week Three 2011 The gym was empty while frozen pizza sales and cases of domestic violence increased. I also hung my head in defeat: I, Ali Webster, am totally stressed at work.
Reflecting on my already-out-the-window resolution, I wondered how I expected myself not to become stressed at work for an entire year. On the walk between my car and the office building, I decided, Today I will not be stressed at work. With this mantra in mind, 365 mountainous days were simplified into one grain-of-salt day so that I could maintain my perspective, focus, and a normal blood pressure for eight whole hours.
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Miss Early Bird 