Feel Good Vibes

I write this post as I lay in bed at 8:30PM on Sunday evening with the intent for this to post Monday morning and having just finished a nice 20 minute yoga session lit only by two vanilla scented candles in my dark abode.  I’m trying to create a relaxing environment for myself while the world outside my door floods, as it’s been raining all day.  But as I stated earlier, it only seems fitting for how I feel.  What makes everything all the worse, is not believing what actually happened and therefore reliving the moment over and over to be sure what happened actually happened.  It’s like opening a wound again each time.

Despite all of this, I have to say I am reminded how thankful I am to have some amazing people in my life.  After it happened yesterday, I called a friend in hysterics who dropped what he was doing and drove over to my apartment where he hugged me and tried to relax me for an hour or so.  I was also swarmed with loving text messages as I shared the news and worried phone calls.  While out Saturday night for a friend’s birthday, I had numerous hugs, friend’s claiming they’d punch me if I started crying but when it happened, they rushed over, sat next to me, hugged me, hid my face until I had stopped the water works and helped wipe the tears from my face so no one would be the wiser.  I’ve had numerous offers to hang out today, grab frozen yogurt, drink hot chocolate, have a glass of wine, whatever.  Unfortunately I was feeling rather anti-social and instead decided to eat too much sugar (tummy ache..boo) and watch ‘Little Women,’ clean my bathroom, and go grocery shopping.  I figured the only people I could probably convince to watch ‘Little Women’ with me would be my mom and sister, but with my mom in IL and my sister in Africa, I knew I was going solo and I was okay with that.  But I still feel truly thankful for the love and support I’ve been getting from friends all over the country.  Thank you.  I love you all. 

While I’m trying to deal with my own personal “tragedies” that I know in the grand scheme of things are nothing compared to the real tragedies in the world, the least I can do is try to distract myself, move forward, and help others.  When you help other people, it comes back to you and makes you feel good.  A few days ago, I told you all about the GAP Give and Get Program, which I love!  I spent my lunch break the other day wandering around GAP and walked away with a new track jacket!  There was one in a different color on a sale but it was a medium and I liked the way the small fit, so I went with the not-on-sale color.  But I don’t feel guilty for this purchase in any way, because while I got 30% off, 5% of what I paid went to Habitat for Humanity!  Feel good vibes!

A Santa Monica, CA based company that I absolutely love is a shoe company called TOMS (http://www.toms.com/).  Toms works off the One for One idea: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.  How could you not feel good about purchasing from them?  In LA, TOMS are often deemed “hipster” shoes and while I don’t think I fall into that “hipster” category, I don’t care if someone wants to call me that because I bought a pair of shoes that gives back.  They’re cute, come in many styles and are relatively comfortable.  I wear them to work all the time and if you add your own additional insert, they were often more comfortable working on the floor than many of my other pairs of shoes.  I have one pair already but decided to buy a second pair that I’d been eyeing for several weeks along with a new tshirt. 

There is an event on April 5th, called  ‘A Day Without Shoes’ which TOMS uses to raise awareness of the impact a pair of shoes (or lack thereof) can have on a child’s life (http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/splash ).  The work this company does, is truly amazing and inspiring.  While I don’t think I will be able to successfully go without shoes that day (shoes are generally required in my workplace), I plan on wearing my new tshirt to support this day, along with a pair of TOMS.  It’s the little things that count and send more of those feel good vibes.