Elevating Brilliance…And the Value of Life

I rarely get personal on this blog – I try to keep a line between my personal life and business life, but when the line gets blurry and my personal runs into my business, I have to take it for what it’s worth, and run with it…
This past week will go down in the books as one of the most difficult weeks of my life. It wasn’t difficult as far as multiple events, a lengthy to do list or a thousand errands to run…it was emotionally difficult trying to understand why people pass away, how to live in the moment, and truly valuing those people in your life.
On April 29th I got a phone call from my best friend that would forever change my life – her brother, and my close friend, passed away out of the blue from a heart attack at the young age of 26 – it rocked the world we knew in a way I didn’t think could happen.

To say that my mind went in a thousand different directions is an understatement. I completely closed off from the world outside of my close family of friends as we tried to understand what just happened.

There are many lessons I will take away from this difficult time. Primarily, I will value those experiences where I can live in the moment. Chris did this better than anyone I’ve ever met – he didn’t stress the small stuff, laughed at almost anything, and made a joke out of whatever wasn’t going his way. He had this unique way of making everything enjoyable, whether it wassitting watching baseball, to family Christmas’or having a night on thetown. He made sure I knew when I was being picky or difficult and helped me to understand when something wasn’t worth my stress/time…he truly allowed me to laugh at myself and for that, I will forever be grateful.

This past week Ibetter understood the value of family – not just family by blood, but family by life. I have a very close group of friends,many of whom I wouldn’t have made it through this week without. My friends reminded me ofthis scene from SexAnd The City where Carrie talks about the importance ofher friends, refering to them, simply, as “My family – My Insides”…it just makes themostperfect senseto me after this week. I learned the importance of each one of them and have promised to prioritize my time to make more memories with them.

I will always cherish the memories I have with Chris, and all my friends for that matter. I think that might be why I find so much joy and excitement in planning events – weddings, opening nights for a show, baby showers, celebratory corporate events – they are all milestones and memories that I help to facilitate. Because of some of those very events, I have memories that will last me a lifetime.

I walked away from this week with a completely different view on life than I had the previous week…and I know that view will change before I’m truly healed from this experience…the process of grieving will take a long time and I know there will be many more lessons to be learned.

Continue to Elevate,
K.