We celebrated Valentines Day dinner by eating in our 1974 VW JOY BUS (yes the Bus officially has been named, the JOY BUS) while parked inside our garage. We had another couple over and we all cooked a simple dinner together. I strung some party lights hung between the garage doors. We parked a couple of pink Adirondack chairs on a patch of fake-carpeted grass rolled out in front of the doorway. In the end, it looked like a scene straight out of a hipster Instagram feed (see @iamcartermoore he’s super cool).
We had a phenomenally simple evening in the JOY BUS sharing stories about life, marriage, kids, hardships and hopes. We watched a great British movie, About Time, which helped affirm my flawed thinking about the choices I have each day. The message of the movie is,
If you could live today over, what narrative would you live out of ?
Resisting takes more energy
I’m not exactly sure why it’s taken me two decades to discover that Valentines Day doesn’t have to mimic the Hallmark depiction. I’ve resisted the prescribed “go to dinner, buy flowers” idea that I thought Valentines Day represented. It felt fake or forced or plastic to me. I’ve spent a lot of energy resisting undesirable outcomes instead of investing my energy towards something I do want to happen.
Tilting in the direction towards vs. away
I’ve missed out on opportunities to fully enjoy this holiday. I am learning that my Work Life Play are reflective of the narrative I tell myself everyday. This story of dinner in our JOY BUS apprentices me in the art of living. I am reminded of where I want to expend my energy.
I’m reminded how a subtle tilt in the direction towards where I want to go is more effective in creating a narrative of Work Life Play that I desire. I’d be happy to live forward 100 more Valentines Days like this one.
Instead of expending my energy against, I am fueling my energy towards.
Who is coming to dinner in the JOY BUS next week?
