Just Do It...Scared...

*Note - credit for the title and inspiration for almost everything I have done over the past few weeks and documented in this post goes to the brilliant content creator Elyse Myers. If you have not seen her video about doing it scared, take a look here.


Just do it...scared, anxious, overwhelmed, & exhausted...is a message seemingly intended just for me that I needed to incorporate into my days. Because, frankly, I often find life itself overwhelming, anxiety-producing, scary, and utterly exhausting.

Thanks to my spicy neurology, I have a plethora of contradictory characteristics but for the sake of brevity, I will only list a few that regularly come into play.

• I appear super confident and behave like I can do anything - yet I likely won't do something someone tells me to do (PDA). Additionally, I always expect that people are upset with me and that I have forgotten a pertinent detail and failed them (RSD).
• I am a problem solver; pushing up my sleeves, brainstorming, experimenting, getting inventive, and getting the job done is second nature - yet, inside, I am overwhelmed and need to bargain with myself to do all the things I know need to be done - unless it is one of my purely creative projects, then I will get lost in it forever.
• I appear organized (everything has a home and goes back to it when I am done with it - a necessary hack that I have developed over time that is now automatic) - yet I struggle to keep files, important documents, and receipts in order - they have a way of hiding from me when I need them to complete grants and other critical forms.
• I refuse to wallow (blame others) or be defeated by the hard stuff - yet I have panic attacks at the mere thought of picking up the phone to call someone (anyone), meeting with people, and admitting that I need to ask for help.

Despite all that - over these past few weeks, I did all the difficult tasks (calling, meeting, explaining, searching for necessary files and documents, and asking for help) while scared, anxious, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Yes, I took this Thursday off to rest and recover - but I was back at it on Friday and will be again on Monday.

And, as I explained to one board member when they commiserated, "...this sewer line crisis has forced me to explore options and talk to people I should have - a very long time ago." Yup, just one more example of a contradiction: I despise drama, hyperbole, and exaggeration - yet I am at my best when the stakes are at their highest.

If I can do life...scared, anxious, overwhelmed, and exhausted - you can too. Just remember to follow your intuition and rest when you need it. However, knowing when you are hiding (escaping, avoiding) instead of taking a required break to recover is invaluable.

DRC News

Thank You
Gratitude to the J.M. McDonald Foundation for funding $3000.00 toward our "Healing through Mentoring and Free Creative Expression" Project.

And thanks to the Massena VFW for the recent $500 donation.

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Thank you to everyone for the concern and suggestions on our social media posts about the sewer line debacle. Many have expressed disbelief that the homeowner is responsible for the pipes in the middle of the road. As I explained, this is the way Canton deals with it. Apparently, it is a common practice.

That green circle with the X indicated where the sewer line break is. The contractor came out Monday and informed us that he has to cut through the pavement, dig all the way back to the tree line, remove the debris to off site, replace the old line with new, fill it in with fresh dirt, redo the side walk and repave the road (oh, and remove and replace the road sign). He said all together it is a $10k job! This is not a simple fix. The village has agreed to help. The contractor was going to meet with the DPW to find out what that would look like - as of now, I have not heard back from him.

I learned on Friday that our homeowner's insurance will not cover it. Apparently, they didn't even have that type of coverage when our agent wrote the policy nearly 6 years ago.

I have written a couple of grants to cover the costs - now we are waiting to hear from them.

In the meantime, you can help by contributing to our plumbing fund here. Thank you to those who have already contributed - we are currently at $575.