The Sun Also Rises

Before New Year’s this year - at least not right before Christmas - I was let go from my brand new job. There was Q4 Restructuring. We all know the drill.

But, I had plans to start a newsletter around Employee Engagement and Corporate Culture in 2024. This would have aligned nicely with the sales job I had in corporate gifting and both my manager and I felt it was a good idea. I was all excited about it and had started reaching out to business leaders to hear their stories of what they are doing to address these issues. I had some great interviews and other appointments scheduled.

So, I’m still starting a newsletter. It’s just not directly related to any job. My sunshiny, trying to put a good face on things, sparkle with all my heart outlook is the language and voice you can expect.

The thing is, I used to write every day, for my own peace of mind - not for business purposes. I would just share some little snippet of joy I’d found in whatever I’d read that morning. I did it as a quiet sort of protest to a world gone mad. When everything seemed bleak and horrible everywhere, I would send out a missive on my blog, or more recently through Facebook, to my group of friends, and share something lovely.

There were times when it was hard to write, when it was hard to find any joy at all. I would tell my husband that people might think I was crazy for sharing beauty when there was a war on, or another tragedy was in the news. He assured me that it was exactly in these moments, that my friends and the people who follow me counted on me to focus on a tiny bit of wisdom literature, an odd turn of phrase, a wisp of poetry, or anything at all that I found beautiful. He told me I offered respite exactly when the world was too much.

The thought today is that “The Sun Also Rises” from Hemingway - which is what I will cling to in the days to come as we forge ahead into 2024 and figure out what I’ll be doing next.

If you need a pep talk or a bit of wonder and joy before you start your day, I encourage you to stick around and let me know what resonates with you so I can share more of it with you.

Your comments and responses to what I share mean the world to me!