Hey, hey hey! I'm so excited to tell you guys all about the last three weeks. Honestly I feel like a new woman. Okay, so before I tell you all about the projects I've been working on, let me give you the full picture.
I love the city. Always have and always will, but these past few years of living in NYC and now Los Angeles have really taken a toll on my mental health. Now don't get me wrong, life has been GOOD the past 3 years. I mean, I got to be on Broadway, an Emmy award winning tv show and met some life long friends along the way. I'm not complaining, trust me (hehehe). However, living in a big city can sometimes be a very isolating experience. NYC has a buzz about it that can't be explained, it can only be felt. Everyone there is about the GRIND! Even the homeless are savvy. The trains are always full of people coming, and going from work at all hours of the day and night and, restaurants and shops are always open. It's truly the city that never sleeps and it's AWESOME! But remember what I said, sometimes even though you are surrounded by people at all times, those moments often can be the most isolating. Here's what I mean. I was on top of my game in NYC, and I was happy but I lost my JOY. I was simply going through the motions. Sometimes I felt like I was living in the shadows and I was desperately yearning for the sun (literally and figuratively).
I don't care what anyone says, NYC is DARK, especially if you live and work in midtown. The buildings are so tall that you barely get a glimpse of the sun. If you're lucky your bedroom window faces the sidewalk and you can get some indirect sunlight, but most of the time, the view is simply of the building next door (haha). Now, this does depend on how much money you are willing to pay, but your girl right here was on a BUDGET! So that meant terrible views in most of the places I lived and very limited sunlight. Not to mention, I worked in the theatre, which is basically a basement. I'm not kidding yaw! I was SUN DEPRIVED. Like actually vitamin D deficient.
So here I am, living my best life and yet sometimes still feeling anxious, worthless and unimpressive (FUN FACT: Everyone has these feelings occasionally. Some just hide it better than others). So what's a girl to do? Well, after i got news that my Broadway show was closing, I decided to follow the light and move to Los Angeles ( for the 2nd time lol...more on that in a future post).
Once I got there, everything was better! I got my color back! I spent so much time at the beach, driving down the coast, going to the park, hikes, riding my bike and basically anything and everything I could do outside. Then BAM! Covid 19...
Once again I was stuck in the house, and I started to feel my color washing away with every Netflix show I binged and midday nap I took. This time though, I knew what was happening so I got smart. I decided to get tested for Covid to make sure I was healthy and once I got the piece of paper that read NEGATIVE, I packed up my bags and decided to go back to Georgia (I used to live there for 8 years) and spend some time with family.
I have some family who have about 3 acres of land and it needed a little bit of TLC. Now remember, I AM A CITY GIRL haha. I don't know much about the outdoors other than the fact that I like it, and like to learn new things. So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Here's a small list of some of the work we got done: Cut down 4 trees, took out the back steps with a sledge hammer, used the weed eater on the front yard (about an acre of land), took 4 loads of scrap metal, 3 loads of wood and things of that nature to the dump, pulled out a fence that had grown into a tree, hand pulled weeds out of the azaleas, cut grass, power washed the steps, cut and dragged tree branches and sooooooo much more! It was a lot of hard work but so rewarding.
Going from sitting in an apartment, where I literally walked from my bed to the coach all day, to working with my hands and accomplishing goals was incredible. I don't know if I felt anxious or unimpressive because I was too tired to focus on anything other than what I was doing. I felt on fire! in a good way (lol).
I also got to go fishing, which I haven't done in years, ate some GOOOOOD BBQ and caught up with family in a way I haven't been able to do in years. I just felt blessed.
So here's why I wanted to share this experience with you guys. Sometimes life gets HARD. Instead of wallowing in the sadness, depression, anxiety, etc. Number one, get you some SUN LIGHT, and number two, get the attention off of yourself. Go find a way to bring a little sunshine into someone else's life because usually in the process, you end up gaining the most.
Love you you all so much.
See you next week,
XOXO
-G