My Happy Place

Something that I’ve really been thinking about since Thanksgiving is how I’ve turned my coping mechanism into a business.

To escape abuse as a child, I created a fantasy world. Anytime I felt unsafe, I’d go there in my mind. It’s a coping mechanism that I still use to this very day. It’s so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine existing without it. 

Anyone can live in it. People in my day to day life that I enjoy interacting with live there. But famous people live there too. As an adult for a very long time, Oprah visited me. She’d help talk me through whatever I was struggling with. The celebrities often change. Currently it’s Melissa McCarthy. We just make each other laugh and that helps get me through things.

As a child it was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not just any version of him. The version of him in Commando. The strong, protective father that would do anything for his little girl. That’s what I needed then.

I needed the comfort of an old TV Show

March 2020 when the shit hit the fan: a new scary virus was running rampant, people were dying, everything shut down, our money dried up, the grocery store shelves were bare; I (like many of you) was scared to death. And I did what I do.  I went into my fantasy world. It’s fueled by television, movies, pop culture.

I needed the comfort of an old tv show. I knew exactly what to expect. I could fast forward through the cringey episodes (I’m looking at you “Scott’s Tots”).  I needed the laughter of a newer show that I had not given a chance to pre-pandemic (thank you Schitt’s Creek).  I needed the genuine goodness of Ted Lasso. These things helped get me through those dark times.

And I turned that into a business! I mean how many people can actually say their coping mechanism is their business?! I don’t know. Maybe a lot. I haven’t taken a poll or anything.

Obviously I love when y’all make purchases, but I also love watching you go through the cards. Hearing you laugh. Connecting with you through an episode of a tv show that got me through something difficult. At the end of the day, that’s what my fantasy world is: a cry for safe connections.

So thank you for helping to keep me as sane as I’m ever going to be and for supporting this crazy little business!