Anne with an E…

oh, let me count the ways.

I have to confess, I never read Anne of Green Gables. I know shameful, but honest.

I think it’s the perfect NETFLIX streaming show for our time. I found the pace of the series with no electronics, hard work, beautiful scenery, and the simplicity of 1899 farm life so soul-filling.

Anne’s a rare breed, she’s solidly grounded in her convictions & has her head in the clouds. She can summon her imagination for pure fun or self preservation whenever needed. What a gift!

A grounded dreamer, could there be a more perfect hero for our time?

Viewers get to witness Anne’s resilience, unique intellectual curiosity, and compassion for others and herself grow over three seasons as she matures. Her childhood trauma and daily heartaches are her superpowers—thematically something I always admire.

Anne Shirley Cuthbert is who Pippi Longstocking might have become if she’d been sent to live with a kind, hard-working family in the country, by the sea and learned to be less of a bullshitter.

Anne with and E was created by Moira Walley-Beckett with keen insight into modern womanhood, the many types of love that exist and finding your place in the world without fear.

I truly believe I can show up little sturdier for the people I love and let my imagination go with more ease now after watching this series. Thank you, Amybeth McNulty, for your Anne—our Anne.

We’ve had a tragical romance of sorts while I binged the series and I’m now so sorrowful that it’s over.

Thank you Lucy Maud Montgomery for writing Anne of Green Gables, Moira Walley-Becket for putting your own spin on it and Amybeth McNulty for your interpretation of such a beloved character.

thoughts on anxiousness

anxious: characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind about some contingency 

contingency: an event that may but is not certain to occur

(Merriam Webster)

READ THIS OUT LOUD TO YOURSELF:

extreme uneasiness of mind about an event not certain to occur

Why are we spending so much time thinking about our hypothetical futures?

Anxiety is at epidemic proportions in the world.  I’m personally having far too many sleepless nights lately.  I want to get a handle on my it before it affects my health, my choices and how I respond to events in my life, both big and small.

Research always makes me feel settled down.  I dug in this morning.

FAST COMPANY ARTICLE BY HALEY GOLDBERG: “When we stare into a fuzzy crystal ball, it’s easy to start to worry about what’s inside, like a present we can never unwrap. And it feels productive. Studies show that we often believe worrying can prevent negative outcomes or it can help us find a better way of doing things.”  FAST COMPANY ARTICLE

These three words really stood out to me…it feels productive.   “FEELS” is the cue I needed to settle my brain down a little bit.  Feels implies it isn’t productive at all, our brain has been tricked into thinking that the act of worrying is somehow keeping bad things from happening.

If my brain can be TRICKED, then my brain can also call bullshit when it notices the trickery.  Not every time, but with practice, at least increase the frequency of noticing.

Today, I feel anxious about a few big things happening in my life right now…my father is in the hospital, my three young adult children are all in transition and my life is going to change quite dramatically in the next few months. And yet…

“I know what to do, even when I don’t know what to do.”

I’m trying to remind myself that, even though THE FUTURE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE UNCERTAIN, I believe I can handle whatever the universe throws at me.

Handling it, might mean falling apart, calling upon my team to steady me and going through a period of deep grief and sorrow.

Correct me if I’m wrong, that’s still handling it, right?

I try to remind myself of this often.