Kind of a big deal.

Zachary: The one who has never chosen to sit it out (even as an 18 month old.)

 "If you have the chance to sit it out or dance,

I hope you dance. . . .I hope you dance."

~ from Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance"

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This is what the church folk down South and the Grady elders call a "praise report."

 Okay. I was on the fence about sharing this in this way. But I have to share this because it's something that I sort of put on the vision board  I started over a year and a half ago. (I secretly buried it in an earlier post, but was cryptic about it.)

I debated back and forth, about mentioning it here. Would it be weird to unabashedly tell this on the mountain? Would it be a little too self-important?

So that's where I was. Say something or not? Hmmm.

But then I remembered these words that I have posted on my office door at Grady:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson

I read this every day when I come to work. And I always have to reread that middle stanza. It reminds me to let my light shine.

Reflecting on this helped me to be okay with admitting to myself that. . . well. . . .this shout-out was kind of a big deal. (At least to me.) I'm happy. I'm flattered. I'm inspired. And. . .dare I say it? I'm. . .kinda proud of myself. There. I said it.

::Gasp::

Must we always have the "kinda" there to water down a "yay me" celebration? Why can't I just be more like that Zachary and his brother? Is there anything more audacious than the confidence of little kids? Talk about dancing like no one's watching. This shot says it all:

Zachary aka The Great Poodowski: our hallway circa 7pm tonight.

To quote Isaiah:  "'Yaaay me' does not mean I'm saying 'Booooo you!'"

Words to live by, man.


Wait . . .so how in the world did this go down?

Essentially, a really cool freelance writer named Madonna Behen (her name is even cool, right?) randomly found and read my blog. I thought her first email was a gag. Anyway, she was just surfing the net for a story she was doing on medical bloggers and found the little blog that could (aka the one you're reading now.) Actually, she found it linked from another much more popular blog (one with double digit comments on nearly every post and quadruple digit followers.) Oh did I mention that this is my measure for blog-royalty? But I digress. . . .

Oh yeah. . . .so anyways, that's how it went down. The little blog that could (aka the one you're reading) ends up nestled right in there with some blog royalty. In Oprah Magazine, no less. Bananas.

"So random."

Funny. All week I've been referring to this as "random." But is anything really random? I don't really think so.

Hmmm.

I find it interesting that the cover asks, "What's your true calling?"


I started this blog on August 8, 2009. Shortly after that, I wrote this:

"Do you ever do something and feel intensely like it's totally what you were born to do? Do you? I sure hope you do. Because that's how I feel about my life as a clinician-educator at Grady Hospital. I really do." *

*(Being born to love Harry and the cocopugs goes without saying!)

Assessment: Wow.

Plan:  Dream bigger.

Hope:  That we all dance instead of sitting it out. Shall we?
 
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P.S. Was equally thrilled to get honorable mentions this week on two of my FBE's (favorite blogs ever): Smacksy and The Startup Wife. Wow. Maybe I should redefine my personal definition of "blog-royalty." :)