“BUTTERFLY – Transformation
It’s very possible to go through major changes calmly and willingly when you view them
as natural and hold relentless positive expectations.”
Steven D Farmer, Ph.D.
Power Animal Oracle Cards
Just now, sitting on my back porch in the Keys, editing this blog post, a beautiful monarch butterfly fluttered its way from the safety of the palms across the open vista over the pool. Released from its dark cocoon, it disappeared around the corner of the house embarking on a new and courageous adventure. “Wow! What a sign!” I exclaimed to myself because the irony (or maybe the synchronicity) is that the subject of my blog is about change and new beginnings.
New beginnings are a persistent theme in my life – probably because my creative thinking puts me out there with way too many ideas that I’m trying to accomplish – usually all at the same time. I often compare my world to the old Ed Sullivan show juggler who would get several plates precariously spinning on top of these long, thin wobbly wooden sticks. He would race from plate to plate tipping, tapping and flicking the plates to keep them spinning, building the drama to the inevitable rescue of the teetering plate that was within a nanosecond of falling to its shattering demise.
Time is a place where I struggle. There just never seems to be enough. Obviously, since there are only 24 hours in a day instead of the 36 that I seem to think occurs, some of those spinning plates (projects, ideas, goals, plans) come crashing down on a regular basis. When I have the time and focus, I pick them up and start over again. It’s a by-product of my Type A personality so I’ve had to befriend failure as part of the artist/entrepreneurial path.
Now it is time to pick up the blog plate and piece it back together – oh yes, I know, I’ve started these many times before – but I’ve long since let go of self-recrimination when it comes to leaving a project unfinished or accepting something not working as I had envisioned. As I mentioned, my friend Failure comes hand in hand with my friend Abundant Success. Both require relentless self-acceptance and self-forgiveness!
In the world of me, both personally and professionally, I live by a constant creed that welcomes the concept of “updating.” That means change. Ugh! I know. I know. The question asked to one of my top executives once was, “What’s the hardest thing about working for Lucy?” Her answer was, “How quickly she changes her mind or direction.”
Quite simply, we humble humans don’t like change. Our egos will tenaciously grab what is in order to keep something familiar, even when a different course would be the better path. With so many great changes about to happen in my world, namely, my new book, GUMBO LOVE being released in May 2017 and the announcement of a new LuLu’s opening in Mrtle Beach, SC in the Spring of 2018, it’s time to blog again! So the question that I posed to myself was, “What can I do to update my old story of failure around this blogging bit? What can I do differently?”
The answer became immediately evident. My success as a restaurateur is built upon the foundational block of letting people help me! Allowing the folks who do some of those jobs to do them, better than I ever could! Uh, lightbulb moment?! Sometimes my “hard head,” as my Daddy would often describe my stubbornness, needs several knocks to the noggin to get it right.
So this notion presented i
tself from that self-inquiry: why wouldn’t I get my team to help me? After all, they get to see the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to be “LuLu and to run LuLu’s.” And though, I even gasp at the thought as I type these words at what could appear in the future blogs, mainly because I am a bit crazy in the best sense of the word, I’m also pretty darn transparent about my life. I never could hide my feelings – “thin-skinned” and “sensitive” – I was lovingly teased as the little sister vying for the approval and companionship of my much older brother and sister. I’ve long since healed any bruised childhood feelings by learning to laugh at my sometimes surprising lack of clarity, which makes it easier for me to embrace the obvious. In this case, what better way to meet the dreaded deadlines of a continuing blog than to get the “take on my life” from the folks that work closest with me. Together with my team, who are my work family and some of my blood family, we will be blogging about the fun, foods, ironies, complexities, challenges, hilarities, travel, absurdities and beauty of the coastal life where I am blessed to live and work.
In my 43rd year as a working woman, I decided that it was time to do more of what my 20-year-old self wanted to do and that is to write. Sometimes it may be a menu or a press release. Other times it may be a cookbook or a poem. Some days it’s just about clearing an overburdened inbox of emails. I will of course still be overseeing the ever-expanding world of LuLu’s and having lunch there as often as I can, but I will also be cooking and conversing. Traveling and living life to its fullest along the shores of my beloved Gulf of Mexico and beyond with my friends and my family. Doing things that I just didn’t have time to do as I was working and shaping my career.
You see, I’m obsessed with connection. It is a driving force in all of my relationships. And I believe that one of the reasons cooking and sharing meals became such an important part of my life is because those experiences fostered true connection to the people I love. I don’t suffer fools and I have no patience for small talk. I’m interested in heart and soul matters and deep meaningful conversations – some that are serious, but also those playful and humorous ones are of equal importance in my book. “Breaking bread” is a spiritual equalizer – there is no better place to share one’s authenticity than around a table of food. And it also gives us the opportunity to do something that my mother taught me was truly important, and that is to “become a better listener.” That’s easier to do when your mouth is full, because the other thing my mother insisted was to never talk while you were chewing!
The bottom line is this: as I shift to writing and playing more than managing a business, I’m delighted to be able to connect to those of you to whom I truly owe my success. Those of you have followed me or joined the fun at one of my restaurants probably know that one of the things I love to do the most is walk around from table to table talking to folks. Now, I’m a natural born talker, so I’m hoping that with this blog, I can share the things about me that “make me tick” or invite you into the world I’m blessed to be living these days. I want your feedback, questions, or suggestions but mainly I want to offer some of the wisdom I’ve earned along the way and share my experiences of how choosing to live well looks as I start this new chapter in my life. Lastly, I just want to humbly thank you all for your interest and sweet patronage. Without you, I’m just a woman with an idea!
Sending you all warm breezes and hot and spicy Gumbo Love from Key West! And if I’m not mistaken, they are taking bets in Vegas to see how long I keep this blog going! LOL! Wish me luck and stay tuned!
