I apologize for the delay in this post! An adventure in the camper in the woods with mom Mom and a hundred other women stopped me from posting this on time. Here is a special Monday evening post! More to come on my weekend’s adventure this Thursday.
I am on a flight to join a group of women who I don’t know yet at networking retreat with my mom. I just watched a movie about Ruth-Bater-Ginsberg. An incredible movie about the woman who initiated the change for laws that discriminate based on gender. I think it is appropriate because she is a badass and I think I’m about to meet a bunch more female badasses. I am flying southwest which means you get to pick your seat. It also means if you forget to check in until the morning of your flight you will be sitting in a middle seat. I picked this seat on the airplane because most every aisle and window seat were taken. So I decided to take a middle seat close to the front. I picked a row with two “younger women” in it- with the hopes that it would be more pleasant than the grumpy “older adults” in the other isles. However I think I have mostly just annoyed them both. If you have ever ridden in a car with me you’ll likely understand why. Every so often I need to move and my arm slightly touches them. Or my coat does. Or my foot. Each time I am met with a silent grumble. I want to say “Hey! How tall are you? Oh really? Five foot something? Wanna know how tall I am? Tall enough to be asked how tall I am just about every day. I am six feet tall. And I am in a middle seat. And I don’t fit here! The girl to my left is working on some sort of business report. So perhaps she is anxious about that. The girl to my left is watching Avengers End Game. So perhaps she is stressed about following the storyline. Perhaps it’s not my tallness at all ;).
Speaking of tall girls. There’s a new movie on Netflix called “Tall Girl”. There are things about this movie that are very silly. But I like silly movies. And I can relate to this “giant” teenage girl.
I get asked how tall I am far less than I used to. There are a few reasons this could be. Maybe I am growing up and therefore surrounded by more “adults” and they have certain social etiquette as to not blurt out “Oh my gosh how tall are you?”. Maybe it is because I have better learned to stand in my power. When you are comfortable in your own skin, others are less likely to look at you like a freak. Maybe it is because I live in New York and there are more tall women here than in most places. And also there are lots of people way weirder than a tall woman. Maybe it is because I have let go of trying to make people know who I am all the time…. Or maybe not.
It is a funny human thing that people do- making sure others know who they are. After starting multiple new jobs in completely different fields it is clear- that people are all the same. There will always be people who want to make sure you know that they are different from everyone else in how they do things. That you should know that there are things about them that really set them apart from the other members of the establishment. There will always be people who want to make sure you know their entire list of credentials and why you should really respect the wisdom they have to share. There will always be people who don’t give a shit about you and will make sure you know that. There will almost always be people that are kind and care about your best interest. And in my case- there will always be people who think I am naive- and also think I am far younger than I am- most likely because of my blinding sense of wonder for the world. What can a girl do? Dim her wonder? Nah.
This week I got to start working as an aid in a physical therapy office. I think it is going to be one of my favorite day jobs I have ever had. It definitely can get tedious like anything. But it is exciting to me to get learn more about the body and about anatomy while I am at work. And to get to teach people how to better use their bodies! And to be surrounded by experts. There is an office full of experts on the body that I get to talk to every day. And the cool thing about it- which isn’t really a surprise- is that they all have different opinions about different things. They all specialize in different things. And they have different ideas about how to best rehabilitate and how to best train and treat the body. This is just such a great reminder- our doctors (and physical therapists) and medical practitioners are not in charge of our health. They are not responsible for getting you better and healing you. It is up to you- to take the information you have within your body- and the information given to you by the “experts” and seek health. And then get a second opinion. Because more often than not it will be different. Even in this one office it is clear to me that one therapist might unlock something in someone that another wouldn’t. Find the person who is able to lead you to what you want to be able to do.
I heard this week about someone writing love letters to their body and mind. I love this. What if we loved our bodies and minds enough to write a letter to them?
I got to catch my little brother this weekend! He is even more giant than me. 
Sneak peak of my Mom and I at camp.