photo via Andrea Griffith Cash
Here’s something my husband Patrick says to me a least a half-dozen times a week: “Live your dream.”
To be clear, he’s not mimicking one of the motivational posters on display throughout my elementary school years. He says it dryly.
He’s not encouraging me to walk away from all of my business contracts and pursue my passion for music full time. He’s not urging me to impulse buy a ticket to Lisbon. He’s not even telling me to upgrade us to a two-bedroom apartment or shop for a new ottoman.
He says it immediately after I say something pretty mundane like:
“I think I’ll put a coral color on my nails this time.”
“I don’t want to wash my hair. I’m just going to put a ball cap on, and then I’ll be ready to go to lunch.”
“Hey, can we catch up on ‘Fosse/Verdon’ tonight?”
“I’m going treat myself to a little bouquet of farm flowers.”
On Wednesdays from noon to 1 pm, you can stop into Piedmont Wholesale Flowers in Durham for a locally grown bouquet that’s bound to make your day.
“I really want to buy a ticket to one of the Durham Bulls daytime games and just go for an hour, eat some ballpark food, and then come home and get back to work.”
“Live your dream,” Patrick replies.
It makes me chuckle. I guess the meaning behind this little routine is up to individual interpretation, and he and I have never once had a deep conversation about it.
But when I stop to consider this closely, here’s what seems to be at the heart of it: First, you have more control of your life than you think. And second, the little things add up quickly and matter a lot more than you might realize. We convince ourselves that “adulting is hard,” and, yes, it can be a lot of the time. But we also have the power to bring ourselves happiness, even in small doses, every day. Chances are, you didn’t have to work through your lunch break today. But you probably convinced yourself that you did. You probably did have time to text a friend who always brightens your outlook. You could have put on that lipstick or those shoes that always make you feel like you could run the world.
Durham Bulls gear: Always in fashion in the Bull City.
I recently heard author Austin Kleon speak at Flyleaf Books. He’s in the thick of fatherhood. His kids are 3 and 7, or something in that ballpark. He talked about how they inspire him creatively because they are hardwired to explore. They look at the world with such wonder. “How do the planets work? What about marine life?” When they sit down to draw, they express themselves freely, filling the page in seconds. They don’t wring their hands, worrying that their work won’t be good enough. That someone will make them feel humiliated for even creating it. They don’t wake up every day with a dreadful sense of “how will I get through this?” They leap out of bed, excited about the prospects of another day of walking to the park, eating mac and cheese, playing with Legos.
Those examples from a kid’s life – the mac and cheese, the Legos – really aren’t that different from my examples, with the nail polish and the flowers.
It’s all attainable. Live your dream.
After a decade as an editor with various NC magazines, Andrea Cash launched her own creative services company, Andrea Cash Creative, in 2017. She helps small businesses and organizations in Durham and Chapel Hill with content strategy and creation, branding, PR, social media, and video and event production.
Andrea is passionate about community building, doing work that benefits the greater good and helping entrepreneurs grow their business in a purposeful way. Outside of work, Andrea sings in her cover band Penny’s Bend, plays tennis as often as she can, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and Book Harvest, and runs communications for grassroots progressive group FLIP NC.
