No Strings Attached
When I tore open the FedEx envelope and saw “Final Paycheck” written across the top of the check, my heartbeat began picking up speed as I transitioned into a mode of operation I’m all too familiar with.
Survival. Fight or flight. Call it what you will: That intense enhanced sensory experience when your body physiologically takes steps to ensure you make it, and outrun the fire, or the raptor, or the IRS. Without hesitating, I picked up the phone and called my boss, whom I considered (and still consider) a good friend.
“I just got a check in the mail that says final on it am I being let go?”
“Yeah…”
He said more, but after “yeah” it was like someone turned the volume down for life, to a low rumbly hum, and I sat the in the absence of other sound until saying “I'm going to go now. ” and hung up. It wasn't personal, I still deeply care about him and the company I used to work for, but I needed my mind right then. There was barely enough left in my brain to process the news, and I didn't have a surplus for homo Sapien vocalization formalities.
And then something I’m not very familiar with happened. My heart slowed back down, and that chemical bath of survival hormones began to fade. It was as if I had started a getaway car to avoid capture, only to remember I wasn't being hunted down, and turned it off.
When my heart returned to normal, the world became quiet, and still. The phone didn't ring, the emails weren't coming in, and I was left alone with myself.
And in the silence, I heard something, something soft, something warm, something I hadn't heard in a while. It was that inner voice some may call the soul or spirit, that quiet, sweet voice, too polite to interrupt the busy, loud, full life I'd been living, but that voice that comes to you, if you slow down, breathe and listen.
Hello, old friend.
"You know what to do," the voice said.
And I did.
I bought Hello Humans a year before I used it as the home of my blog, with an idea in mind I wanted to bring into the world.
The reason I started posting this blog on HelloHumans.co, instead of SamLamott.com is because my dream wasn’t to create the Sam Lamott show. I wanted Hello Humans to be a place where others can could contribute, and participate. My dream for Hello Humans was and is to be a place stories are told, and conversations are had, and the human experience is shared.
I believe that my purpose in life, and the hope for Hello Humans, is to produce and facilitate what I like to call mood altering stories. Works of art across various mediums that break the trance of mindless thinking, obsessive patter, and worry.
I know changing your life is possible, but it is a lifelong personal journey, that no outside force could ever take credit for. It is an inside job. But to come across something that brings a brief grin to your face when you are upset, a giggle when you're sad, or a feeling of being less alone when you're isolated, is life changing, at that moment. And that moment, this moment, is all we have.
I want to build a watering hole for the tribe.
A huge special thank you to everyone who supports this mission and vision. You can make a monthly pledge by going to our Patreon page. Every little bit helps.
I want to show my gratitude by acknowledging anyone who makes a pledge before my birthday, August 29 as a founding member of Hello Humans.
To the current founding members, thank you, I am so amazed by your generosity, and I’m creating a permanent special place on the website to showcase the humans who helped get this off the ground and believed in me from the very start. This post would not be possible without your generosity Anne Lamott, Brooke Mitchell, Anne Namnoum, Suzanne Satterly, Michele Mansfield, Sarah Efird, Bob Morgen & JD Kelleher, Jocelyn Chamberlain, Paula Davis, Jacquelyn Jucha, Lori Hetteen, Kimberly Coburn, Ginger Cullen, Rebecca , Jen Digate, Cheryl R Souza, Dean & Kathy Dauphinais, Sheila Sandford, Robin Briskin, Mary Eagan, Roz Heiko, Christina Kane, Lee Buchanan, Kimberly R, Linda Pizzitola, Laura , David Barnes, Norah Wohleb, Sara Vurek, Sharon , Dorothy Drennen, DJ Compton, Holly Bishop, Nena McKinzie.
