What a week!

Let me say, I love writing.  I love books. I love creating whether it is a novel, a short story or a column or an article or a book cover.  But this week…   This week has been a trial in patience.  We all have tough weeks.  Times when other responsibilities or obligations body-slam us with realities or duties or things that require our time and attention.  We give it—obviously those things are important—but then something happens and all we’ve done has been for nothing, or it hasn’t worked out the way it was supposed to, or the way it should.

I’m not saying that effort was wasted, it wasn’t.  I learned a lot of new “tricks.”  So that’s good.  Not easy on the patience front, but good.  I know how to go about a task I had no idea how to do at the beginning of the week. But I maxed out on fourteen-hour days to get there.  And I got new wrinkles from squinting my eyes before opening email, hoping and fearing the dreaded email would be there.  And it was. Repeatedly.

I ended the week exhausted and, after all the dreaded emails that something else was required, I finally got the hoped for one—the project was done. Let’s just say I was appropriately grateful and relieved, and there might have been a few tears of relief involved.

Then I got body-slammed again. The project went live early which messed things up for it and multiple other projects.  The only fix–and I really tried hard to find a less drastic one–was to undo all I’d done. 

That went much quicker.  Doesn’t it always?

Everyone has weeks like that.  Everyone picks up new tricks and new skills doing something new.  And everyone has to struggle to do things and then undo them. Luckily, we get to keep the knowledge we gained and we stuff the new tricks into our personal bag of tricks and keep them, too. But it takes a little time to appreciate the gains when you’re knee-deep in the sting of hard work being a bust.

I was mentally and physically fatigued, and I wished so hard I could crawl into So Many Secrets for a Girl’s Night Out with Dana, Laney, Julia and Ana.

When trouble comes their way, they gather and chat about it. Talk through things, relax, seek each other’s counsel, and share their frustrations and trials. Sharing makes the burdens lighter for all of them.  They vent. They’re friends. They support each other.

Since there is no group here for Girl’s Night Out, I got creative.  In my mind, I chatted with that group of women.  A mini escape, if you will. 

It was enough.  Perfect, in fact.  Laney was her practical self.  “It’s over. Let go of it and move on.”  Dana was supportive and empathetic, as I expected she would be, straight through to the end.  “Look at it this way.  The work is done when you need it, and you got smarter. That’s a win.”  She’s a half-full glass kind of woman.  Julia cracked jokes with her dry sense of humor that made me forget I cared about the week.  And Ana, being Ana, cautioned me against pulling a string of fourteen-hour days and the toll it takes on the mind, body and spirit.  She also elicited my promise to exercise more regularly.  I’d grumble, but she’s right. I do need to do that and it would improve my frame of mind and my stamina.

My point is, it turned out my virtual Girl’s Night Out was exactly the perfect way to end a hard week. 

If you’re having a hard week, and you don’t have a local group handy for a Girl’s Night Out, that doesn’t mean you can’t join a virtual one.  You can virtually go to Shutter Lake and join the Breakdown women.  Laugh all you want.  I’m proof that good can come from it. 

Another perk:  You can do this virtual Girl’s Night Out in your PJs after a totally self-indulgent hot bubble bath.  

Ah, bliss!

May your tough weeks be few and far between, the good in them easy to see and quick to grasp, and your Girl’s Night Out be exactly what you need when you need it.

So Many Secrets will be out 10/11, but on September 7th, Dana’s short read, her deepest fear, releases.  If you’re not getting my monthly (mostly) newsletter, you might want to sign up before then for a perk.