An Open Letter to My Summer Internship

Dear Restless, I’ve always been a question girl, but the thing about asking questions is you never know if they will be answered. Last Spring, I would jog through my college town. On these jogs, my mind would race with the questions I was scared to ask sitting still. Why am I restless in my life? What's next?  God, can you open a door of opportunity?  I’d promise to sprint through any open doors of opportunity. And then Curtsy called. I’d worked for them as a Campus Director over the past year at Arkansas. Curtsy is an app that lets girls rent dresses from one another in their area. The semester was over, and they were calling me out of the blue. They opened a teal painted door and offered me a summer internship in San Francisco. I wasn't going to stand there and let it close. I hardly listened to them telling me the reasons not to take it before sprinting through my open door screaming  "heck yes.” I was going to San Francisco.  My first couple weeks, I constantly asked my team to push me. Give me more. Challenge me. I’d run after work and the city was covered in fog. Some days it would clear, revealing a beautiful sunset over the Golden Gate.  One night, I realized I didn’t need others to push me. I could push myself.  I felt as if my own fog lifted, revealing my own unmistakably authentic sunset.  I realized that the sun sets every day no matter what is blocking us from seeing it. If I could remind myself one thing everyday this summer it would’ve been to allow your sun to set regardless of the fog in your own life.

Be like those sunsets, relentless as hell and unmistakably authentic.

Katy Perry always told me I’m a firework but I never understood what she meant. Until this summer.  A firework is blindingly bright, daringly bold, and strangely inspiring. This summer I lived and worked in a crowd of exploding human fireworks. They believed the bolder the better. Their ideology was infectious: boldness is confidence. So often I get caught up in my own insecurities and am afraid to be daringly bold.

This summer I learned that surrounding myself with bold people made me believe in my own boldness.

There is nothing more beautiful than watching someone choose to become daringly bold. It’s freaking magical when we choose to let our ideas and dreams become fireworks in the sky.

To be friendly as hell looks less like a firework and more like a picnic in the park. Picnics are more than walking into the park and throwing a blanket on the ground. They take planning, intention, and sincerity to bring the magic to life. The same goes for friendliness. Without planning, intention, and sincerity your friendliness leaves no mark on those you encounter. For two months I was surrounded by people who approached every interaction with this type of friendliness. It changed my life. This type of friendliness fosters feelings of genuine value, utter awe, and pure magic within myself. I found myself spreading their kindness to all I could. It's why I hope you & I  take time to be the wow in other's days. I promise you, the road less traveled leads to the best picnic in the park.

I want to live my life like that teal house in San Francisco does. The teal house in San Francisco is unmistakably authentic, daringly bold, and friendly as hell.

Instead of feeling restlessness on my runs this summer, I felt awe and inspiration. I found myself taking the road less traveled to the best picnic spot in town, watching the sunsets, and staying for the teal fireworks.

Curtsy, you crept into my heart, you filled it with awe, sewed it up, and painted it with a fresh coat of teal paint. Thank you for the game changing, life changing, wow factor-ing, any other cliche way to say, the best summer of my life. Sincerely, Inspired