Category: Work

Good Morning!

In lieu of Michelle Obama’s amazing new book, Becoming, I wanted to share with you my “swerves”.

For staters, if you haven’t read or listened to Michelle’s book yet, stop what you are doing right this instant and go buy it.  When you are done come back…

To those of you who actually listened to me and bought the book, you’re welcome!  To those of you who read it, you get it.  To those of you who didn’t you still have time, it’s 1,000% worth it.

With my long drives to work, I listened to the book on audible.  I laughed, I cried (a lot), I was inspired, I was educated, I was hurt and upset.  I was all of the things and had all of the feels.  I am clearly not Michelle Obama if I can one day say I became a fraction of what she is I will be so proud, but while listening to her story, there were times I felt like she was telling my story.  She was so raw and real and open that you could relate to so much of what she was saying.

One story she shared was how she was a “box checker”, always doing what she thought she was supposed to do to get to that next level.  Get good grades, get into Princeton, go to Harvard law, practice law at a great firm in Chicago.  She did it all.  Then, when she met Barack he was different, he was “swervey”.  He didn’t do things according to plan and in order, he was a risk taker.  He “swerved”, he zigged and zagged.  This idea of “swerving” was talked about a lot in her book and she went into a lot of detail of her own swerves and how they impacted her life.

Ironically, not long after I finished listening to that book, and finished crying because Michelle and I would no longer be BFFs every day even though she doesn’t know I exist, I was faced with a swerve. Continue reading “My “swerves”” →