Yes, please

This picture is calling my name. I have 41(ish) hours of PTO I need to take before the end of December. Beach, anyone?

Prayer

There is a moment between intending to pray and actually praying that is as dark and silent as any moment in our lives. It is the split second between thinking about praying and really praying. For some of us, this split second may last for decades. It seems, then, that the greatest obstacle to prayer is the simple nature of beginning. . . . How easy it is, and yet-- Between us and the possibility of prayer there seems to be a great gulf fixed: an abyss of our own making that separates us from God.

--Emilie Griffin

Aerie Changed My Life

My store manager at aerie recently turned in her two weeks' notice. Even the thought of her absence at the store brought me to tears, because Lauren is the heart and soul of aerie. She is aerie 24/7. For a while now I've been thinking about writing how aerie has impacted my life, but the more I thought about it, especially in light of recent events, I realize that it hasn't been a company that has changed my life. Companies are merely things--nebulous groups. But those groups consist of people. And while aerie did change my life, the truth is that it happened through Lauren.

I started working at aerie about a year and a half ago, and more than my wardrobe has changed since then. I have had a wide range of work experiences, and have found that generally a company is either action oriented or people oriented--never both. I found that seeming contradiction of both at aerie. I still remember immediately evaluating the company as goal oriented, because "at the end of the day, the numbers tell the story." And I was right in that evaluation. But what I found to be more and more true was that the story behind the numbers is people. Relationships are crucial, because people are loyal to people, but through that relationship, you find the way to the numbers. One is not more important than the other--they go hand-in-hand. The reason aerie is so successful, the reason aerie creates brand-loyal customers is that people are loyal to people, and at aerie we believe in fostering relationships.

Aerie girls are able to invest in customers because time is invested in us. Lauren was not a leader who merely corrected our actions--she also corrected our attitudes and thoughts. She taught us how to work hard no matter what we were doing--from running trash and stealing random carts to selling bras. She didn't hesitate to correct us, and she was always liberal with praise.

I learned to love who I am. I learned that it's ok if I am a nerd or if I love Hannah Montana or if I love to dance but really suck at it. I learned to take risks to ensure my happiness. I learned that it really is ok to make mistakes and to learn from them. It's even ok to repeat the same mistakes--it's not the end of the world. I learned that we eat salads so we can eat pounds of chocolate. I learned that I can love my job, and I should love my job. Sometimes I won't love my job, but no matter what, I should have a job that I am passionate about and believe in.

I hope aerie doesn't lose that focus. I hope it doesn't become more of a goal-oriented workplace and less like a family, because that will be the day that they lose half their focus. But no matter what happens, what I've learned and how I've changed is irreversible.

Thank you, Lauren, for the impact you've had on my life. For making me realize who I am and embrace that, just by being yourself and living in front of us. By making mistakes and admitting them and by believing in yourself but trusting in things bigger than yourself. I've grown in ways I can't even explain, and a big part of that has been because of you.

From a friend

Don't Put Me in a Box

I think it is interesting that we have one perception of a person. We see a person in one dimension and think we know that person well, when we really only know a certain person in a certain setting. In some settings I might be more outgoing than in other settings. I may be forceful and opinionated around certain people and quiet and reserved around others. I might come across as timid to some and fearless to others. I have heard all of these words used to describe me recently. I’m certainly not the same person in every setting. At work I am a workaholic, but at home I am quite lazy. Someone who sees me in one setting knows only one aspect of who I am. I get frustrated when people think they know who I am or think they know everything about me when in fact they have only seen one part of who I really am. I am not a flat character—I am round and developing. I change. I am not who I used to be, and I will not be the same person tomorrow. I make no apologies for that. If you think I’m timid, fine, but you’re wrong. On the flip-side, if you think I’m stubborn and headstrong, that’s true, but it’s also very false.

The frustration makes me wonder how many people I perceive as flat characters in my mind. I know I put people in a box. I think people are exactly who I see them as in a certain situation, then I am surprised to find that a beautiful girl is an amazing skateboarder (is that a word?), or I think someone is acting out of character when he gets angry. I am amazed when I hear a story of my parents’ past, although these are people I’ve known all my life. By putting people in a box, I also judge them without knowing their motives or thoughts or past history. Life is complex. People are even more complex. I shouldn’t pretend to understand or grasp the full meaning of any situation. It makes me realize exactly how little I really do know, exactly how finite my tiny little brain is...

The day forever died

I can't believe that you're gone, without a trace
I can't believe you've got no tears upon your face
While mine is soaking wet, making up for your lack I guess

That's how it is in love, or out of love as I sit now
Without you next to me, wishing things that just can't be

It's all that I can do
To sit back and watch it all blow through

Should've been so good
Could've been so right
That was before the day forever died
Wishing on what-ifs
Taking my chances
That was before the day forever died

There's nothing left to be said, its all been spoken
In spite of words you could not find for me
I guess you came out ahead, and now I'm broken
Into a man ashamed to show his face

Walking away seems so easy for you
So why's it gotta be so hard for me
To see that it's over
But for so long, love was just you and me

Leaving

I did recently realize that I have been unfairly using my blog to post things about which I am angry, which makes me sound as if I am bitter and grouchy. The truth is, I am not. I am fairly content with life and other such circumstances. Just wanted to clear that up.

I always pick up Donald Miller's Through Painted Deserts when I know I'm beginning to be especially materialistic. He tells about his journey from Texas to Oregon in an old VW van that dies most of the time. While reading, a section of this stood out to me, because this is where I live.

"So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up...

"And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing... about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?

"It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

"I want to repeat one word for you:

"Leave."