Fluorescent is the only word I can’t spell without the use of spellcheck. I can spell like the spelling bee nerds…sort of. The fact that I can’t spell fluorescent tells me all I need to know about how atrocious they are.
They are terrible, ugly, and depressing. No one looks good under them and they fuck with your brain. They flicker and cause migraines and anxiety.
Between school and work, I figure I’ve nearly spent my entire life under fluorescent lights.
Until 2018.
I made a list of everything I wanted in a job. I had all of it. I had freedom and flexibility. I could wear jeans and sneakers to work. I worked with smart people who liked and respected me. I was good at my job. I made more money than I could spend. I worked with interesting clients. I was able to work on a wide range of activities – recruiting, marketing, operations, and planning events.
But, I worked under fluorescent lights.
That will kill anyone. Except for the millennials. They are much smarter about these things. They work from home. They bring pets to work.
So, I asked myself if this was it. Or was there something I could do radically different to find out? I decided on the latter and made a list – a bucket list of sorts to escape the fluorescent lights and bring back the eternal sunshine I always admired. Then I gave myself the permission we all seek but sometimes wonder if we’re allowed later in life – the permission to be happy.
With a bit of savings and bucket list in hand, I entered 2019 with gusto. I never felt more alive. I decided to get off the hamster wheel after 25 years of spinning and explore life. What would be on your list? Here was mine:
Spend a month in New York
Talk to a stranger every day
Get away on a girls’ weekend
Make out with a stranger after midnight
Meet a famous author
See Hamilton on Broadway
Live in an Airbnb
Start a blog
Take a class
Help a friend and ask nothing in return
Watch the dumbest show on Netflix – Thanks, Tiger King
And 45 other activities that did not include fluorescent lights
And in getting in touch with myself I stopped worrying about a job or my future.
And suddenly new work came in. Consulting projects, collaborations, and co-working opportunities with friends. As did the adventures. A 30-day challenge from a friend, walking enough miles to cross the state of Georgia, day trading stocks, and learning about trillion-dollar firms. Oh, and Tulum. Yes, this path led me and a group of friends to rent out a Villa in Tulum for a month after reading a book Never Split the Difference. We didn’t. We got it for pennies on the dollars and guess what: there are no fluorescent lights. Only sunshine. Eternal Sunshine.
What would happen if you gave yourself permission to be happy?