I was lucky to have a HUGE project to work on for a year-and-a-half...you guessed it...my wedding! This was a fantastic event that was so beautiful and special. It was handmade and crafted to our liking and incorporated many elements from our lives - my dad was our officiant, I had a good friend play classical guitar in the ceremony (I'm a professional classical pianist), handmade redwood rounds from the performing arts camp I work at, a homemade wedding cake from my sister, speeches from everyone in our families...the list goes on. My mom, sister, and I crafted our butts off making everything from the seed-bomb favors to the table cards. My mom's cousin Pat and her husband Richie flew in a week early and immediately got down to work. Richie, an incredibly talented photographer, started photo documenting everything the instant their feet hit the ground. And my mom and Pat worked day and night to get everything sorted - up to the hour before the ceremony. I had the time of my life making this all happen. My family enjoyed themselves as well, but as my mom said to me the other day, "I almost died with all of the work we did." Which is a very fair statement, and one I certainly believe.
So, my life up to this point was also busy - I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Piano Performance from San Francisco State University (go gators) in 2012. I immediately flew to Scotland to start my 1 year master's program for Piano Accompaniment. Graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in October of 2013. I also got engaged while I was over there - a beautiful story, for another day. Moved to Los Angeles in June of 2013 (I got permission to do my final project for my master's stateside). Set up our apartment, worked about 5 jobs before landing a secure job at Fullerton College in Fullerton CA as the accompanist for the vocal program. Got married, August 2014, went on honeymoon, came back and immediately started work at school. Got through Christmas 2014 (my sister got engaged on Christmas Day...YAY!), New Years 2015, and now we're in March...BAM!! WALL!!!
OK - let's be real...not a true wall. Both my husband and I have great jobs. He's a Wealth Manager for Morgan Stanley Beverly Hills. We have a lovely home which is furnished with not only the necessities, but elements that make a home homely. Like I said before, we have 2 cats - both rescues. We have the time, and money, to go out and see movies, hit balls at the driving range, go to happy hour, etc. But still - something was off. I didn't realize it until the dust had settled from the whirlwind year we had before. Once that dust settled...roughly a month ago...I was able to see that there were aspects of my life that were wearing on me. This was affecting my overall happiness in life. Ugh!! So frustrating!
So why was I unhappy? What was making me unhappy? Was a really unhappy? Is this what it feels like to be an adult? Am I really an adult? Whoa!! There it was...I am an adult...and I hadn't really ever thought about it before. As a kid, you look up to adults...pretty much anyone in college and older is an adult when you're a child. But as you grow into adulthood, there's no sign you come to in life that says "Congratulations!!! You're an adult!" I don't really like to think about being an adult...I'm just older and more mature. I'm married (that was a weird one to think about for a while) and I have a husband (that one was even weirder). I am financially stable. I am not dependent on anyone except myself and my husband. I file for taxes, I have my own car which I'm making payments on, I have insurance, I take my cats to the vet, we've invested our money. Yup...I'm officially an adult.
Once this hit me, I realized it's not a bad thing at all. It's actually very cool! My husband loves me, and I love him...even though as I write this, he's just finished chewing loudly on his beef jerky we picked up at the farmer's market this morning, and is now flossing his teeth...loudly. I'm going to digress for a moment and share a secret with you. You ready? It's kind of a weird one......I absolutely cannot stand the sound of animals licking...and cats do it a lot. They bathe themselves all day long. And they do it in the middle of the night, on top of your legs. I've suddenly realized that the sound you make while gnawing on a piece of beef jerky is incredibly similar to animal licking sounds. So now I'm laughing and so is my husband, because he's come to this realization as well. Though he might not understand this particular irritation of mine, he respects it, and has since ceased all chewing/flossing.
OK, back to the topic at hand. Yes! I'm an adult! Woohoo!!! But something was still bothering me. So I chatted to a great friend of mine, a truly awesome human being that makes this world a much better place. She gave me some books to read, including a book called "Happier at Home" by Gretchen Rubin. I haven't yet finished it, but it really inspired me to make some positive changes in my life and focus on improving all of the little things that are making me "unhappy." There we are...we finally arrived at the inspiration for this particular blog post.
In an effort to continue my happiness, and make sure everyone in my life is loved and happy as well, I am going to start working on the little things in life that will hopefully ultimately change my overall happiness level from an 85% to well over 100%! Gretchen went about it by picking one thing to work on each month, and I will do that as well, but I also want to make this blog about the little things that make me happy. Whether it be painting my room (just did it), learning to do a new craft like candle making, or just making sure I get time to nap on the couch in the middle of the day with a kitten or two. (Naps are soooo underrated).
So there we have it. I will be making positive changes in my life that will not only affect my own happiness, but hopefully encourage and inspire others to do the same. We only get one life to live, and as my mother-in-law Amanda (Milly) always says, DPJ - don't postpone joy.
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