A Mani. 💅🏼A Pedi. 🦶And a Ground Breaking Realization.

Oh, my.

Photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash

Happy Thursday,

It’s taking me longer than usual to type this newsletter because I am injured.

Maybe wounded is a better word for it. 😳

But don’t worry, it’s not serious.

Here’s the story -

I’m typing with a sore finger🩹after a mani/pedi episode compliments of a nail tech I’ll refer to as Vicki.

Things started off rather smoothly. Vicki led me to my pedicure chair, and I adjusted the massage settings to work on the knot in my back. Right off the bat, Vicki was pleasant and focused on her work.

But maybe a little too focused on my cuticles, resulting in a very stressful and painful session.

It went like this - just as I was getting relaxed, Edward Cuticlehands Vicki went rogue with her clippers. She actually drew🩸 - multiple times.

Each time she did this, I’d wince.

Then Vicki would giggle.

How weird is that?

Luckily, she only mangled two (maybe three) of my toes, so I hung in there until the end of my pedi. The whole time, I was contemplating… should I stay for a mani? Common sense would render a “no” to that question.

But I’m telling you, my nails were a chipped, overgrown cuticle garden.

I considered… was the risk of🩸 worth 💅🏼? After ten intense seconds of deliberation, I figured, “Well, just wasted half my day, now have staff and fungal infections in both feet, so… what more could go wrong?”

I decided I’d already invested too much time to stop, so I gave Vicki a shot at redemption.

I’m sure it won’t shock you to learn that decision was as bad an idea as Kevin Nealon’s jeans:

Vicki stayed true to her brand and aggressively tackled my nail cuticles. As she was doing this, I had one hand soaking while she hacked away on the other.

Which resulted in two things:

1. I couldn’t use my phone📱 which meant I was alone with my thoughts. (When I told my husband this, his reaction was, “Oh, that’s scary.”😱)

2. With no 📱access, I came up with What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week:

Forced downtime with no access to phones, reading materials, or conversation can feel uncomfortable.

We might not know what to do with ourselves even.

But we need this downtime.

Because if we’re constantly focused on input, we never give our minds a chance to make sense of all of the knowledge we already have.

Our minds become packed like a can of sardines, with no space or air for event the slightest chance of movement.

Jam-packed minds mean we can’t decipher what thoughts are important, much less access those thoughts, because we’re too busy looking for more input.

So let’s remember to take advantage of the times when we’ve got nothing to do but think.

What an opportunity.

Even in the midst of a painful manicure.

(The price we pay for beauty & enlightenment.)

Check out the links below - I’ve collected a bunch of resources to help you slow down, think, and open up space for new opportunities.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

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podcast

• The perfect podcast featuring a variety of experts, all answering the question…How do you get the most out of your mind in the moments you need it the most? The answer: you take care of it. The Daily Creative tells us how.

• Making space comes when we make the most of our days. Here are 15 Simple Habits That Will Dramatically Upgrade Your Life.

stream

• If you want to get kind of trippy about creating space, try this deep space meditation. 🪐 🌌

• Let’s talk about literally clearing space… on our computers. For Apple users, see this tutorial on cleaning up our Macs. I don’t speak the PC language, but if you have one, this may help tidy up your device.

• For fun - create space by vegging out in front of the TV. Here’s what’s new on Amazon Prime & FreeVee, Netflix, and Hulu in March.

buy

• In true “detox to retox” fashion, once you’ve decluttered your closet, see what you can buy to fill it up again. Half kidding, but if you need a few wardrobe pieces to freshen things up, check out the 15 Best Fashion Trends to Actually Wear in 2024.

eat

• If you want to extend the space-clearing sentiment to your body, maybe a cleanse is up your alley. Some resources in case you want to go that route: all about detox cleanses, intel from Cleveland Clinic on detoxing vs. cleansing, and you can’t go wrong with cleanse advice from The Today Show.

• Instead of doing an all-out cleanse, you can start by looking for anti-inflammatory foods for your diet.

• Not sure what anti-inflammatory foods to add to your shopping cart? Bobby Parrish gives the low-down on what to purchase.

read

• Step away from your phones to declutter your home a bit, and see what happens when you create space in your environment. (Spoiler - you create space in your life.) This article shows us how.

• WebMD tells us about the Mental Health Benefits of Decluttering.

on a serious note

As I wrap up this newsletter, I realized that while I’m thinking about creating space in my life… I can’t forget about considering how I use my time.

You could even say that using time and creating space go 💅🏼hand in hand 💅🏼.

You can’t have one without the other - if you do, you might feel a bit lop-sided.

Kind of like stopping with a pedi. We don’t want our 💅🏼 to miss out on the fun.

Stay well, be well, and watch out for nail techs named Vicki.

✌️

Abbey