Happiness Inside Grief
When a cluster of oddness floating inside your brain
PICK-ME-UP: A FLASH OF HAPPY INSIDE FLAIRS OF GRIEF
Hello! Greetings from Brooklyn. The weather here has been moody. It was 60 degrees on Monday. It was 17 degrees on Tuesday.
More than anywhere else, when the weather is a certain way, it feels like a collective mood swarms the hearts of the people who live in NEW YORK CITY.
When it’s a beautiful day, after a handful of “I can’t feel my thumbs” days, the mood feels like cotton Candy magic. It’s contagious. It forces you to smile. It makes you love how a city and its weather can change how people feel, so fast.
It makes you feel like everything that once felt broken could start over and be fresh once again.
In this issue: A note on emotions, how I sold an NFT, and a new book to read.
Ps. I wanted to share an email from my website designer - who lives in the Ukraine. Her entire team is there too and after hearing her words, her resources, and her suggested ways that we can all help - I wanted to share the email with you too.
Why you’re getting this: I'm Jen Glantz and this is my Monday Pick-Me-Up newsletter. I've been sending it for over 8-years, every single Monday morning, to thousands of awesome humans, just like you. Thank you for letting this email live in in your inbox. It makes my heart explode with joy.
The Pick-Me-Up: Emotions.
I was angry at myself for laughing.
I just remember sitting on my bed, bitting the tips of my finger nails, trying to shake off the emotion.
Have you ever accidentally swallowed an ice cube? That's what swallowing happiness feels like when you're burning from grief.
I was going through the most traumatic time of my life. That time lasted a few years and inside those thousands of days, there were moments of immense grief.
What we don't talk about when we talk about grief is that it's a suffocating feeling, but it takes a break. Everything exhausting needs a nap, so when grief would go to sleep, and I'd find myself feeling OK or something would make me feel good or happy, i'd feel guilty.
How can you smile when your life is falling apart?
How dare you go out and see friends and pretend like nothing is going on?
Are you seriously going to let yourself laugh at that joke? What would grief say about that?
Grief became an invisible person who ruled my life.
I felt like it judged me when I betrayed it and punished me when I allowed myself to feel positive.
But the truth is, when we feel emotions, they have to come out of us through one exit and one exit only - our mouth.
We can't swallow grief just like we can't swallow happiness. We have to let it out.
Lately, when I'm angry with Adam or upset about something from my past, I find myself having to stand up to that feeling of guilt. I have to give myself permission to feel opposite things….to feel happy and sad at the same time or even back-to-back.
The other day, during an argument with Adam, one of us said something, and I just started laughing. I had gone from steaming with emotion to spitting out a deep-hearted chuckle.
I looked around the room.
I should not have done that. I should not have done that.
But I did that and you know what? It felt good.
“I'm still mad at you,” I told Adam. “But it felt really good to laugh in that moment.”
The silly thing about emotions is that we can feel a million different things ALL AT ONCE, in a day, throughout the span of a really horrible time.
Let yourself feel those things, unapologetically.
And if someone asks you why you just laughed after spending 5-minutes crying….and if that person happens to be your invisible friend grief….look at them right in the eyes and say:
Sorry, I'm not sorry.
Just let yourself feel.
All my love,
Jen Glantz
❤️
Random Links
Playing this song on repeat because I love anything from Selena Gomez.
Also, have this podcast for you if you need a quick hit of Inspo.
Random, Random:
Picked From the Library: Heartbreak for Hire
Odd Jobs You Can Do While Scrolling on Your Phone
Spending hours on your phone? Why not find ways you can get paid at the same time. I put together a long list of those ways right here. Check those gigs out here.
Love these slippers for around the house.
Candle I like to give as a gift
Oversized suits are soooooo fun to wear
Ps. I have 1 spot open in March for coaching. Check this out if you're interested in working together one-on-one. PLUS! I have availability for company workshops in March. If that's of interest, look at this!
🖤
Mini Pick-Me-Up: I created an minted an NFT
If reading that makes your brain foggy, like leftover milk in a cereal bowl, let me break it allll down.
Here’s the breakdown:
I created a digital image and uploaded it an NFT “marketplace” where It now lives and can be bought by anyone. My NFT isn't just digital art. It gives the person who buys it access to redeem a 60-minute coaching session with me. That's the perk of owning the NFT. However, the cool part is, if the person doesn't want the coaching session with me, they can hold onto the NFT and sell it in the future for even more cash than they paid for it. VALUE!
2. How did I make this?
I made it in 30-seconds using Canva. Because I'm not just selling a piece of digital art, it didn't matter to me what it looked like. I consider this more of a digital token that can be redeemed for a service or resold. BUT you can hire a fancy designer to make a cool looking NFT or find someone on Fiverr for $50.
3. How did I mint this?
Minting means turning this digital file into a digital asset on the Ethereum blockchain. I created a digital wallet and bought Ethereum (the crypto that's needed to buy the NFT and to put it on the blockchain (the fee was around $60 to list this NFT). I did this first step on Coinbase but you can use many other spots. Then I picked OpenSea as my NFT “marketplace". I linked my digital wallet to OpenSea, uploaded my digital file (a standard JPEG), wrote a description of the NFT, and "minted it". Doing that officially put it up for sale and allows people to find it and buy it.
4. The hardest part of this?
It took me a few headaches to connect my digital wallet to OpenSea. Also, after you buy cryptocurrency, there's a slight delay getting that money into your digital wallet (it can take a few days).
I don't fully endorse NFTs or crypto, but this is something I wanted to learn and fully understand.
SO...
I just did this.
AND I'm here for you, if you want to know any of this too.
❤️
The End
Thanks for reading my Pick-Me-Up Newsletter.
If you're on Instagram, add me here: @jenglantz. I post interesting things every day to my story.
If you're new to my emails - welcome! I promise to work hard to bring joy and motivation to your inbox every Monday.
If you have a friend (or 2) who would love to receive this Pick-Me-Up, share this link with them.
Until next time... I'll be rooting for you and cheering you on!
Have a great week.
Jen Glantz
p.s. Here's the About Me on my website if you forgot who I am or where we met.
-Jen Glantz
Author, Serial Entrepreneur, Podcast Host, Pizza lover, & Goofy's best friend.
Here's what she is currently working on:
The Newlywed Card Game // Books // You're Not Getting Any Younger Podcast // Bridesmaid for Hire // Odd Jobs Newsletter //The First Years of Marriage Newsletter // The Monday Pick-Me-Up Newsletter // Jen & Juice Business & Life Coaching // Company Workshops