Wait, No, Come Back...!

"Hi, I'm Joanne, it's nice to meet you," the woman says, stretching her arm over the desk and smiling warmly at me.

"Oh, so nice to meet you!" I say, shaking her hand and beaming back. A moment of hesitation--do I give her my name? I'm only working at this office for today. Does she even need to know? She won't remember--it'd be a burden on her brain. But wait, it'd be polite of me to say. I should say. But should I?

My mouth hangs slightly ajar as we shake hands. My mind is frozen. I don't say anything. A flicker of something crosses her face and she nods, still smiling, and walks away. As soon as she's gone, I know I've made a mistake.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I mutter to myself, knocking my forehead with the heel of my hand. I should've introduced myself. I knew it. Who cares if I'm only here for 7 hours of my life? I should've done it. 

I'm sure you know the feeling--that sinking wave of regret that washes over you the second you've made a mistake. Big or small, it's not a happy thing to feel. You just want to knock yourself over the head--because it would've been so easy to have prevented it! If only you were perfectly able to navigate every situation...

But alas, like me, you're only human. You're going to make mistakes. And so, even though we might sometimes forget to give our names to the Joannes in our lives, we have to learn to forgive ourselves. Take responsibility, yes, but also take it easy. Life goes on.

(Plus, she probably would've forgotten it immediately anyways.)

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Get In Your Barefoot Time

Wrote this for Pack Out Gear's blog--they're thoughts that I enjoyed, so I figured I'd share!

Recently, I've been spending a good deal of time in Boston, as I've been doing various temporary office assignments around the city. As someone who has lived in a suburb her whole life -- and who now attends college on a lawn-covered campus -- frequenting urban locales has made me step back and reflect on what makes city living and all other styles of living so different. More importantly, it's made me realize what they have in common. There are certain things that human beings just can't do without--essentials of living that are present in some form everywhere in the world. Unsurprisingly, one of them--in my opinion, the most important one--is green space.

Sitting on a bench in Copley Square yesterday, it made me smile to observe the crowded lawn in front of Trinity Church. Men were playing soccer, kids were running around, visitors and professionals alike were lounging--it was a perfect idyllic scene, a joyful island in the middle of the hot and bustling 9-5 grind.

It was a sight akin to that of Washington Square Park, which I visited when I was in New York over the weekend. The weather was hot and rather muggy that day, but the park was still absolutely packed with people. One man was lying right on top of the fountain jets, directly beneath the "Do not sit in fountain" sign. (Obviously, I loved that.)

To me, these are more than parks. They're safe havens, centers for both activities and meditation, and most importantly, sources of something utterly essential to our well-being and sanity: green grass. There's something about stepping onto grass (especially barefoot!) that instantly soothes and invigorates better than any beauty product can. And as city-savvy and technological as people have become, we all still need that feeling now and again. That's why parks are always crowded. And that's why maybe, you should take a chance and elevate your experience (pun possibly intended)--that is, take a break in the woods! Go swim in a lake, go climb a mountain, just go to a campground and pitch a tent for a night.

I promise you, you'll be glad you did.

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