The time a Mel Robbins Instagram post led me to a guest appearance on Hoda & Jenna...
Okay, so it was in a dream. But WOW, did that dream enlighten me.
Happy Thursday,
Getting right into it this week with a story.
Sometimes Every night, I wake up at around 3:30 to use the bathroom. How’s that for a low-key, TMI starter?
It’s actually kind of weird how it’s always 3:30.
At any rate, to make things fun, whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, I play this game…
First, I check the time, even though I know what it will say. Then, before getting out of bed, I go to Instagram (I know, I know).
But it’s not to scroll. Instead, I tell myself, “The first thing that pops up is the message for the night.” (As if the Universe/God capitalize on my consistent bladder patterns to communicate important messages.)
Well, last night, Mel Robbins came up first.
She was very excited as she shared she would be on Hoda & Jenna the next day to promote her new book, The Let Them Theory. She asked her Instagram audience to help her pick an outfit.
I voted for the jeans and black shirt combo, took care of my business, and then went back to bed.
And then the dream started. (Here’s a song to play as you read it.)
FYI, all dream content appears in my official dream font:
In my dream, it wasn’t Mel preparing for Hoda and Jenna - it was me. Only I’d just learned that I was going to be on the show, and was rummaging through my closet, desperately looking for an outfit. I remember being disappointed I didn’t have time to buy something new. Suddenly, by dream magic, my sisters appeared on the scene and told me they were coming along.
Upon learning this news, it hit me that I had no idea how we were going to get there or where we’d stay. Or even when this TV appearance was taking place.
But, thanks to some weird dream luck I found a flight (follow me for tips on booking flights in a dream) and got us there in record-dream time. Seemingly two seconds later, we were in the studio, and I was waiting to go on.
Hoda and Jenna were just a few feet away.
But there were all sorts of problems.
First, I turned to my sisters and said, “OMG, what am I going to talk to them about?”
(This is the point where real life anxieties met my dream. Nothing like a dream world existential crisis.)
My sister Beth turned to me, “Well, obviously, Dad’s book - Letters to Louie.”
Enter more anxiety - in my dream, I freaked out because - the book isn’t done. Who sits down with Hoda and Jenna to talk about a book they’re in the middle of writing?
Adding to this anxiety, I looked at my nails. (Because if you’re on national TV, nails are important.)
They were horrendous. Chipped. Short. A mess.
Before I knew it, the producer told me I was up next.
He told me to put my shoes on… because of course… I was barefoot.
So there I sat, close to Hoda & Jenna, with bad nails, scrambling to get these clunky, black 90s looking shoes on.
ONLY THEY WERE TOO SMALL. (And they were also ugly.)
Jenna was getting visibly annoyed. I remember thinking, “Gee, she’s not as nice as she seems on TV.” (But then again, even in my dream I realized… I was the idiot putting on my shoes.)
My shoe problem made me look at my outfit, which I also wasn’t happy with. I basically felt unprepared on all levels - physically and career-wise.
Luckily, my alarm rescued me from the sorry state I was in…
When I woke up, I actually felt panicky and truly wondered, “Wait. Am I going to New York? Was that a dream?”
I was very worked up, realizing how woefully unprepared I was for Hoda and Jenna, and my life in general.
And then I had a thought.
Which, wouldn’t you know, is What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week:
When I finally realized I wasn’t going to be on Hoda and Jenna anytime soon, I thought…
Why not act as if I’m going to be on Hoda and Jenna?
That is my real- life dream, after all.
And I can control acting as if.
Someone who writes books works on them regularly.
Someone who makes appearances on shows (or even just attends meetings) has some outfits on the ready.
Someone who gets invited on talk shows has an action plan for their days, weeks, and months.
Finally, someone who does TV appearances would do something about those nails.
But I think you get the point.
If I act as if I’ve already accomplished the dream, I’m already right there… in that dream sequence.
That makes it a whole lot easier for something to stop being a dream and start being a reality.
And I’m all for that.
Here’s to acting as if, friends.
Hoda and Jenna… I’m coming for you.
And now… as usual, I discovered a bunch of things this week that I can’t stop talking about.
There are a couple of links for free subscribers and then a bunch of bonus links for paid subscribers. If you’d like to try the paid for a bit, you can click the link below. If not, no sweat.
Enjoy and I’ll see you all next time!
the power or our pals defined by Moai…
Moai is a Japanese tradition that explains Why Okinawan People Live Longer, Better. Moai is all about maintaining social support groups. Technically, these groups start in childhood, and are with you your entire life, supporting you in all of life’s phases. Moai encourages us to keep up our relationships with “our people.” When I thought about this, it made me think of that quote from Stand by Me:
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" - Gordie Lachance (Stand By Me)
travel:
Attention artists! I just saw this cool program called “Vacation with an Artist” where you can travel the world virtually or in real life for an apprenticeship with an artist.
Let’s say you decide to check out the Vacation with an Artist and attend this ceramics apprenticeship in Italy… you’ll want to keep these Euro travel tips in mind.
health tips:
If you missed last week’s special interview with Courtney Drake-McDonough please be sure to give it a read. It contains a very important message for women everywhere, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Also, if you missed Jenna Fischer’s interview on the Today Show about her battle with breast cancer, be sure to watch it here.
A health tip… for your house? We’ve talked about aging our bodies in reverse, but what about aging your home in reverse? Check that out here.