“What a caterpillar calls the end the rest of the world calls a butterfly” -Lao Tzu
A lot of the last two weeks has been confronting the fact that my chapter of college is coming to a close-and quite frankly in a way that I would’ve never imagined prior to this. In my head, it was spent enjoying the spring weather on the hill every weekend, soaking up time with friends that have become family, and doing all of our favorite things together while we still had the chance. Clearly, all of that came to a halt much sooner than one was planning for, but now it’s holding onto the hope that we’ll have one last chance to give hugs and exchange our farewell’s in a more formal way-the way we all have envisioned for the last four years at a college graduation ceremony. Suddenly what has been my whole world for those 4 years, is now coming to an end.
That being said, the last two weeks have been me trying to look at things from the eyes of the rest of the world and feeling more like a butterfly instead of a caterpillar. Last week brought a lot of new as my mom had eye surgery to remove scar tissue and receive a stem cell transplant which meant I got to wear the hats of nurse, chef, maid, daughter, and sister for the week, much more so than normal. I totaled the week with about 8 miles, so not a very high number, but I had nice runs when I had the time. I also found time to finally interact with someone besides my family-and since she lives in the same county as me, my mom finally approved an outdoor hike- at social distance of course! It was so refreshing to have actual face to face conversation with a good friend while enjoying the beauty of Fort Ridgely…not to mention the fact that she kicked my butt hiking up the hill lol, so much for thinking I was in good shape from all the running.
Saturday was a weird day as I felt some different emotions because it was supposed to be Honors day at Gustavus, and my little sister’s first prom…both of which did not happen in the way they were supposed to. On the bright side, I have started to turn my sister into a runner one mile at a time! She biked with me while I ran three miles that evening and by the end of it she said “It’s so nice out right now, I think I want to run too” so we proceeded to run a mile together after exchanging her bike for running shoes :).
The week of May 4th (may the fourth be with you :)) brought many new beginnings, too. I started my first day of a new job as a Marketing Assistant for Schell’s Brewery in New Ulm-and for those of you that know me, you know that I love beer, and Schell’s brewery, so this was super exciting for me! Monday also brought the beginning of Mother’s Day week at the flower shop-for those who aren’t familiar with the chaos that goes on in flower shops during a holiday….in simple terms it goes like this: you work as much as you possibly can, you go home and sleep, and then you resume working as much as possible again. Monday also brought the beginning of a 4 week core program that I’m doing virtually with a dear friend-it’s on the Peloton app which gives you 90 days free and it’s been great so far-would highly recommend checking it out peeps!! At the close of Monday evening, I enjoyed a 3.5 mile run that looked like this: run a mile, walk a minute, run a mile, walk a minute, run a mile, walk a minute, run the remaining distance to home.
Tuesday and Wednesday were both a blur of working two jobs and having no time for runs, but doing the 10 minute ab program before crawling into bed for the night.
Thursday I made a promise to myself because I needed it for my mental health that I would leave work earlier to ensure having time for a run. I left work around 7 and proceeded to do a 5 mile run that evening, and it felt amazing. It was so healing for me both physically and mentally as I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with starting a new job, working busy hours at the shop, and going through interviews for a potential new full-time job, too, and still helping get mom on the mend after her eye surgery! I ended up going 5 miles after setting out on my two feet with no plan in mind, simply because the sunset was so so stunning, and I’m a sucker for a good sunset, so I turned around and ran towards it-legit brought little tears to my eyes-such a good run. After this I got to thinking that I might try and run my 13.1 miles after all, I have until the end of July to submit my virtual race, so stay tuned!!
I haven’t had time for a run since then, but am hoping this week will bring much more time for that seeing that Mother’s Day has now passed!
Also in the last two weeks I finished book #5 for the year and would definitely recommend it to my fellow young adult women out there! Its a super easy read-once I started I had a hard time putting it down-it’s a fiction book that follows a few friends post-college and walks through their lives separate and together all at once! A good light-hearted read that is a reminder of our humanness (I might have just made up that word lol). I’ve dropped a pic of it below so you can check it out if you’re looking for a fun summer read!
Stay healthy and hopeful out there peeps, and remember sometimes you have to see yourself from the point of view the rest of the world has….spread those wings, you butterfly you š
Josie's Journey 