New Day, New Canvas

I'm writing this as I'm sitting in the Chicago airport. It's been an exhausting day of travel, as I'm on my way to Pennsylvania for pre-production for tour. This day is always an exciting one, but also a little grueling as it's an entire day of travel. But I learned two things today that I felt I needed to share.

Patience and kindness are so important. I cannot express this enough. My patience was tested first thing this morning. I'm making my way through security at LAX and my carry on was flagged. No big deal. But what was a little annoying was that everyone working for TSA was moving at a snail's pace. (Breathe, Lindsay). My Apple watch buzzed. My flight is boarding. The man checking the bags decides it's time for his break.

My carry-on is currently in queue with bags before mine with no one in sight. I'm standing there for five minutes laughing with a man standing next to me at the current state of happenings. And not one person working for TSA seems to have any sense of urgency. I travel so much and have seen some of the worst behavior from humans at an airport. So it was refreshing that we were able to laugh at this versus one or both of us losing our shit. Small delay, but we finally were able to get our things.

I arrived to my gate exactly as they were calling my group to board. Perfect timing. I was all smiles as I walked up to scan my ticket and the lady working the computer says to me, “Wow, you're smiling. That's rare to see. People aren't usually smiling at the airport.” I looked her in the eye and wished her a wonderful day and for whatever reason, that interaction put a little pep in my step.

I don't get it. Why are people so miserable all the time? I mean, I get having a bad day (obviously as you all read last week's little downer), but shouldn't we be excited that we get to travel? Shouldn't we be stoked that we get to take a means of transportation that takes hours what used to take days, weeks, and years? And then, why push that energy off on other people?

Anyway, the flight to Chicago was fairly drama-less. I watched the Oasis documentary, Supersonic, which I highly recommend. I had no idea the backstory of this band that created some of my generation's greatest songs, and I'm obsessed with that kind of stuff. I watched the new Hanna Berner standup, and also listened to a few chapters of Chelsea Handler's new book, I'll Have What She's Having. We landed in Chicago only to taxi around aimlessly for 40 minutes as we waited on a gate to open. I was super grateful to have had a 1.5 hour layover, which would give me time to make my next flight.

I made it to my gate with 15 minutes to spare as I inhaled some grapes, cheese, and crackers, and we boarded our small little plane to take us to the Wilkes-Barre airport. I felt a little suspect of the plane as soon as it started. It sounded like it had seen better days. And as we were in line about to depart from Chicago, the captain informs us that we are having some maintenance issues and need to head back to the gate. However, it will be another 40 minutes before one opens up for the maintenance team to come.

I'm a very chill traveler most of the time. I kind of have to be since I live in Los Angeles, and the traffic there is no joke, and there is nothing you can do about it. So, in my head, I'm like, “Thank God for this delay, because it's for a reason.” I'm an affirmation junkie and tell myself often that I am divinely protected. I say a million different affirmations everyday actually, but anytime I am traveling, that one is always on repeat.

So, we finally make it to a gate, and they've now asked us to de-plane and to take all of our things just in case. About 15 minutes later, we get good news that we're going to be on a new plane in a little over an hour. Yay! Hoping I make it in time to get my rental…

I'm now writing this part from my cozy Airbnb room in Scranton. We eventually made it to Pennsylvania in the nick of time for me to still snag my rental car. And the plane we traveled in felt much better and sounded better than the one we were on. Everything all day worked out. Just not in the time frame or manner we all anticipated.

I guess the point I'm trying to make with of all this is to remind you that almost 100% of the time, we cannot control the circumstances around us. However, we CAN control how we act, how we respond, and how we show up. I've spent the better part of the last three months thinking about how I want to show up in my life and living that. I feel like there aren't enough people out there who take this into consideration, especially when feeling triggered or impatient. Life-ing is basically art. We get to have a clean canvas everyday to create a fresh perspective on it. I want to splash love, patience, joy, gratitude, and abundance all over my daily canvas. And this day really nailed that in for me, from each interaction, to every single delay.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if everyone opened their eyes each morning and created their day before even getting out of bed. I wonder if they thought about how they wanted to paint their canvas of life that day, intentionally, what kind of shifts and impacts it would have in them and how things unfold around them.

I hope you create the most beautiful canvas today after you read this, even if your day didn't get started on the best footing. My hope is that you think about how YOU want to show up. I hope you get to turn someone's day around with your smile and your loving energy. I hope you dance in your kitchen and hug someone like it's the last time you ever do. More love, please. More light. More patience. More joy.  

Until next week, I love you.