Happy Tuesday!
The process of furnishing a new home can be summed up into one word:
DECISIONS.
So many effing decisions.
Let’s talk about the most recent one that made me (almost) lose my mind.
Originally, Sam and I thought we’d replace the upstairs carpet with new carpet. Carpet is better for kids, right? Apparently not. Carpets attract dust mites and allergens. Besides, if Sam and I weren’t ever planning on having kids, we would never choose carpet. We hate carpet.
So we had to decide on what type of flooring: hardwood, engineered hardwood (never even heard of this), or luxury vinyl plank (LVP).
Hardwood: looks amazing, but it’s the most expensive and susceptible to damage.
Engineered hardwood: lasts 20 to 100 years (as opposed to LVP’s max 20-year lifespan).
LVP: waterproof, scratch-resistant, and extremely durable.
We’re hoping to eventually have a house full of kids, so LVP won.
After much deliberation and two different showroom visits, we narrowed it down to two LVP options and took the samples home with us.
Every day this week, I stared at the flooring samples side by side and walked away with a sigh. I liked both. I knew I’d be happy with either. So why couldn’t I just pick one??
After days of this, Sam and I agreed on the safe option. We both liked Option B, we knew it would look good (based on large scale pictures), and bonus! It was a little cheaper than Option A.
But every day, I still found myself looking at the samples, sighing, and walking away. I even got in the habit of walking on the flooring and ridiculously convinced myself that Option A felt nicer under my feet.
Sam and I were wavering. We Googled more pictures.
Finally, we changed our minds. As soon as we did, I felt happy. Now I find myself smiling every time I walk past the samples.
This was a great lesson in decision-making. Even though I knew I liked one more than the other, I rationalized with myself because of the slightly lower price point and risk of not knowing exactly how it would look.
But when faced with a decision like this, imagine both scenarios, then check in with how you feel if you picked one over the other.
In hindsight, this was an easy decision. I just had to listen to my gut.
At the risk of further indecisiveness, which would you have chosen?
Blog of the Week
With a little guidance from the online writing course I took in February, creating a website and newsletter was surprisingly not that difficult. The difficult part has been sticking with it, week after week.
Online writers struggle with the beginning days of publishing because it feels like no one is reading our stuff. It can get demoralizing.
So I wrote an essay about how awesome I think this time actually is. Instead of getting discouraged, new writers should embrace their small audience. [Read the post here.]
Longform Essay Update
I started working on this essay in April and finally sent the first third of my rough draft to a group of peers. Unfortunately, the feedback indicated that I am not on the right track. The group unanimously agreed: the essay was disjointed. I was forcing things where they didn’t need to be forced.
I realized that my thesis is wrong. This essay is not about my Intuitive Eating journey, as I originally thought. It’s about my body image journey, and Intuitive Eating is only a piece of it.
When I shared this with my feedback group, they responded with a resounding, “YES.”
My friend Doc said it best:
“This is the great thing about writing, though, isn’t it? A first draft is often how we figure out what we’re really trying to say.”
I couldn’t agree more. This slight change in my thesis certainly doesn’t change everything I’ve written, but it does change much of my approach and format. I still hope to finish and publish by August, but we’ll see how things progress this month.
Lesson learned: when creating a timeline for a longform essay, give yourself much more time for revisions.
A Delusional New Mom
I coach high school field hockey and pre-season begins August 3. The baby's due date is August 17.
Back in December I wondered, how much of the season would I miss? I had no idea, but I assumed it would be a few days, at most a week.
I have no idea what I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking! I had no clue what being a new mother entailed, but apparently, this baby needs to be fed every three hours for like the first two weeks of his life. Now that I’ve read The Art of Breastfeeding, I know that the actual act of breastfeeding (as opposed to pumping milk into a bottle) creates a natural bond between Mom and baby. And how beautiful is that? I want all the bonding love I can get.
Add Covid-19 on top of that and I have secretly been wishing for this entire season to be canceled.
I love coaching, but the closer I get to being a mom, the more my priorities change. Seven months pregnant… the maternal instincts are kicking in!
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Until next week,
Charlie