First, I know it wasn’t your intention, but I’m so impressed. That is such an accomplishment and an honor. Second, I love this invitation to reframe our consideration of life-shaping moments by focusing on the best days. Why do we not do that naturally? And lastly, thank you for acknowledging and celebrating - in your reflection on the role you’ve played - the people who stand just outside the spotlight but without whom there’d be no reason to shine the light in the first place. It is no small thing to be the person who knows where to get the shovels and which flight to be on to get to the ribbon cutting on time. No small thing at all. 💜✨
It is funny, isn't it? After spending more than a week mired in worst days, I had a "Wait a minute" thought when I was planning this essay. It's funny, I had no trouble identifying my best day although I still don't know that I can name my worst. Perhaps we need to practice holding both and acknowledging the profound impacts they both have on who we become and who and how we choose to show up in the world. I sincerely appreciate the acknowledgement of the person behind the big things. I am finally starting to take pride in playing that role. I am damn good at it, and its time I, of all people, recognize that. 🧡
What a gift to read this! I got a similar scholarship to a liberal arts school. It was also a hinge moment that led to all the possibilities and perspectives that shaped the rest of my life.
But what strikes me most, reading this, is learning more about you — the genetic counsellor, the person who shows up in service to others today. Some days, we know in the moment are big and magical. But reading this, I see how you were already an incredible young woman in high school. Being the person who could apply — that was already the beginning. Then you opened the letter/scholarship, which opened a magical door you walked through. The people you've met along the way, the experiences they invited you into — those are like dominoes that triggered all the rest that becomes a rich, awake life. Thank you for marking this moment and sharing how you carry that feeling forward into who you are now.
Mmmm...perfect metaphor Heidi. It was like dominoes, and I think that's a large part of why this was truly my best day. Receiving that invitation to the Park set off a cascade of other opportunities and people and community that I would have missed if there was different news in that envelope, and all of those things directly shaped who and what I've become.
Do you have a best day? One that might have had that kind of impact on your life? I'm so curious to know.
Yes, different news would be so impactful. My best day recently happened just after I landed in Vancouver — following an emergency call I got en route to the airport in New York after a big trip. My mum had been sent back to her long-term care home from the hospital on palliative care — unresponsive, not eating, even after 5 days on IV antibiotics, no change, the end seemed near. I was spent but thinking I had to get back on a plane to go East. Then they brought Gus into her room: the man she met at 82, the first true love of her life. The moment she heard his voice, she lit up. Alert. Chatty. Back to herself. Better than before is what they told me, and I heard it in her voice on the phone.
What gets me is how completely his presence changes her energy. They see each other every day and really see each other. That gift — meeting him a week after entering the care home (with dementia), finding that kind of love and being truly seen — it gives me so much joy to know this is still circulating. Also hope that it’s possible!
There is something so sweet and genuine about that moment. Thank you for sharing it with me. It is hope personified, and I’m so grateful you get to hold on to it and allow the hope to fill you whenever you need or want to.
This is my new favorite post of yours, Jess - such an illuminating and extraordinary window into who you are and how you got to where you are today. I fully agree with @heidilescanec and her comment. The metaphorical ripples that got you here started long before the arrival of the letter and your college experiences. It was rooted in your thirst for knowledge and your desire to serve and be of help to others. What a fabulous experience - thank you for sharing it!
Thank you for reading! I appreciate the curiosity you bring to looking through my window and the care with which you approach what you find there.
I'm so curious as to what your best day might be? What day or moment has profoundly shaped you? I'd love to know if there's a day that set off the spark of that positivity.
I don't think I have a best day - there are so many moments that are simply extraordinary. There are, however, events in my life that set me on a new course, much like your letter arriving. Two that easily come to mind arrived at the end of my two divorces. Synchronicity set in and paths opened in both situations that brought me the perfect place to live and perfect new work seemingly overnight - work that set up two very different careers. These changes were massive and miraculous, and built in the most positive ways on the marriages I left behind. The scope of the changes and how easily they fell into place were and are profoundly powerful. They also validated the philosophical beliefs I held and hold to be true.
First, I know it wasn’t your intention, but I’m so impressed. That is such an accomplishment and an honor. Second, I love this invitation to reframe our consideration of life-shaping moments by focusing on the best days. Why do we not do that naturally? And lastly, thank you for acknowledging and celebrating - in your reflection on the role you’ve played - the people who stand just outside the spotlight but without whom there’d be no reason to shine the light in the first place. It is no small thing to be the person who knows where to get the shovels and which flight to be on to get to the ribbon cutting on time. No small thing at all. 💜✨
It is funny, isn't it? After spending more than a week mired in worst days, I had a "Wait a minute" thought when I was planning this essay. It's funny, I had no trouble identifying my best day although I still don't know that I can name my worst. Perhaps we need to practice holding both and acknowledging the profound impacts they both have on who we become and who and how we choose to show up in the world. I sincerely appreciate the acknowledgement of the person behind the big things. I am finally starting to take pride in playing that role. I am damn good at it, and its time I, of all people, recognize that. 🧡
Damn straight!!! (on all counts) xo
"I still wonder “Why me?”
I can answer that for you. Right here. Right now.
Why you? Because you, my dear friend, are exquisite. You must have shown them that.
And humility? You have that covered as well.
xo
I'm not sure I was exquisite back then, but I like to think I had the raw material. 😉
What a gift to read this! I got a similar scholarship to a liberal arts school. It was also a hinge moment that led to all the possibilities and perspectives that shaped the rest of my life.
But what strikes me most, reading this, is learning more about you — the genetic counsellor, the person who shows up in service to others today. Some days, we know in the moment are big and magical. But reading this, I see how you were already an incredible young woman in high school. Being the person who could apply — that was already the beginning. Then you opened the letter/scholarship, which opened a magical door you walked through. The people you've met along the way, the experiences they invited you into — those are like dominoes that triggered all the rest that becomes a rich, awake life. Thank you for marking this moment and sharing how you carry that feeling forward into who you are now.
Mmmm...perfect metaphor Heidi. It was like dominoes, and I think that's a large part of why this was truly my best day. Receiving that invitation to the Park set off a cascade of other opportunities and people and community that I would have missed if there was different news in that envelope, and all of those things directly shaped who and what I've become.
Do you have a best day? One that might have had that kind of impact on your life? I'm so curious to know.
Yes, different news would be so impactful. My best day recently happened just after I landed in Vancouver — following an emergency call I got en route to the airport in New York after a big trip. My mum had been sent back to her long-term care home from the hospital on palliative care — unresponsive, not eating, even after 5 days on IV antibiotics, no change, the end seemed near. I was spent but thinking I had to get back on a plane to go East. Then they brought Gus into her room: the man she met at 82, the first true love of her life. The moment she heard his voice, she lit up. Alert. Chatty. Back to herself. Better than before is what they told me, and I heard it in her voice on the phone.
What gets me is how completely his presence changes her energy. They see each other every day and really see each other. That gift — meeting him a week after entering the care home (with dementia), finding that kind of love and being truly seen — it gives me so much joy to know this is still circulating. Also hope that it’s possible!
There is something so sweet and genuine about that moment. Thank you for sharing it with me. It is hope personified, and I’m so grateful you get to hold on to it and allow the hope to fill you whenever you need or want to.
This is my new favorite post of yours, Jess - such an illuminating and extraordinary window into who you are and how you got to where you are today. I fully agree with @heidilescanec and her comment. The metaphorical ripples that got you here started long before the arrival of the letter and your college experiences. It was rooted in your thirst for knowledge and your desire to serve and be of help to others. What a fabulous experience - thank you for sharing it!
Thank you for reading! I appreciate the curiosity you bring to looking through my window and the care with which you approach what you find there.
I'm so curious as to what your best day might be? What day or moment has profoundly shaped you? I'd love to know if there's a day that set off the spark of that positivity.
I don't think I have a best day - there are so many moments that are simply extraordinary. There are, however, events in my life that set me on a new course, much like your letter arriving. Two that easily come to mind arrived at the end of my two divorces. Synchronicity set in and paths opened in both situations that brought me the perfect place to live and perfect new work seemingly overnight - work that set up two very different careers. These changes were massive and miraculous, and built in the most positive ways on the marriages I left behind. The scope of the changes and how easily they fell into place were and are profoundly powerful. They also validated the philosophical beliefs I held and hold to be true.