Hello, friends. I have an inspiring story for you…
Last night, I was asked to do something I NEVER would have done without being asked.
A young friend of the family who is without a mum in her life asked me if I’d go to her very first sports match where she was competing. She wanted to feel like she had a full family there, and be like the other girls.
And it was boxing.
You guys know me (and I probably know you, too). I’m guessing very few of us have ever been to a boxing match—but of course I went to support her. I sat in the front row, and hid my face in my hands, and screamed with everyone else, and watched this intriguing sport that I thought was all bloody and demented like the Rocky III movie, but was actually beautifully skilled athletes dancing, throwing combination punches, and showing the most amazing sportsmanship.
And I understood why this teenager needed to build herself a family.
Other boxers had cousins and grandparents and siblings carrying them from the ring hoisted high on shoulders when they won.
She had just a few of us: a ragtag ‘family’ she gathered together.
She was the underdog—and then she won.
Apart from the fact that the match was amazing—a sport, not too aggressive, with lots of headgear, and proper rules, and caring coaches—that spotlit room holding an audience of hundreds was filled with love.
I never would have gone.
So here’s my question for us today:
When was the last time you electrified yourself seeing something for the very first time?
For me, it had been ages. I couldn’t even remember when.
But there’s so much to learn about ourselves and the world. Doing something new gives us energy and perspective and growth.
If you get a chance—if someone asks you to step outside your routine—please say yes. Go do the unexpected. Watch what happens.
Even a tiny change (a shirt you thought wasn’t you, a different grocery store, music you don’t listen to) might surprise and delight you. And if you’re lucky, it might actually change you.
Growth is so good for us. Doing the unexpected is the quickest way to feel like we’re truly living.
Enjoy your weekend. I hope something wonderful comes your way.
Love Catherine x
PS. The fun stuff!
From last week— that digital frame I sent my mum for Mother’s Day is a huge, huge hit. It offers continual surprise and delight. Highly recommend.
Time to reread The Road Not Taken. Oh, Robert Frost — you were right. “That has made ALL the difference.”
Seriously the best, most affordable satin A-line slip skirt in the most gorgeous plum-brown-aubergine colour. Size up, lovely people, so it sits nice and long.
And there’s this: my photo of a statue, partially unclothed, offended a handful of people last weekend. I’m not sorry for art. I am sorry if I made anyone feel uncomfortable…but we’re still here, right, and we’re the kind of friends who could visit museums and see beauty wherever we go, aren’t we? I think we are. Cx