If you’re reading this today, Friday March 22, would you do me a favor and click this link to vote for me?
I’ve been nominated for Best Local Author by the Charleston City Paper.
Today is the last day to vote and I’d be so grateful for your support!
I just realized that it’s been exactly 20 years since I left my career in television news.
It was the beginning of spring.
When I left, I felt equal parts sorrow and relief. I was shedding the old—past versions of myself that I’d outgrown. I saw just a glimpse—not the complete picture—of the new.
As I drove way from the TV station and over the Cooper River Bridge, I felt a deep sense that even though the future was unknown, it was also bright.
“I blinked away tears as I smiled. It’s so much easier to reduce an experience to good or bad. But to look back with no regrets, I had to be willing to take it all and appreciate how it coexisted. How it all worked together to illuminate the next step. This was the beginning of a new chapter. Driving away from a dream an into the bright unknown, I’d finally become my own girl. It felt like the first day of my life.”
- an excerpt from “Girl in the Spotlight”
Chapter 35, Perfect Day
In the months leading up to that, I was doing a lot of quiet work behind the scenes. The days felt dark, but somewhere internally, I was readying myself for what was to come.
I went to the doctor for a routine checkup and had a vulnerable conversation with her about the stress I was under.
The doctor referred me to a therapist who helped me reframe the idea that I was stuck in my situation.
I had coffee with a friend who asked, “What’s your perfect day?” It helped that the sun was shining that day; on that particular day I’d felt more like myself. Free. It empowered me to take the next bold and scary step.
Remind me to file this away for next January, when I’m bringing a bunch of “new-year-woo-hoo!” energy, always forgetting that seasonally we’re headed into the dark days of winter. In the cold and in the darkness, change is still happening but the energy is different.
I forget that winter is a time for hibernating, quietly preparing for what’s to come.
Spring is a time to come alive, to step outside, to turn our faces toward the light.
Friends, welcome to spring.
xo
Angie
I’m Angie Mizzell, the author of the coming-of-age memoir “Girl in the Spotlight”.
My website | My book | Instagram
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