Earlier this month, I drove Nella to Miami for an eye surgery we'd been waiting for (i.e.: dreading) for quite some time. It was a three-day ordeal, full of all the unpleasant things that accompany surgeries; but she handled it with impressive bravery, and everything went as smoothly as possible.
There were, naturally, some real lows from the experience—those last few moments before she went under anesthesia and the half hour after she woke up were hard to watch. Also worth mentioning are the twenty minutes I spent begging her to get up off the pavement of the fourth floor parking ramp where she decided to take a nap while walking to the car. These were the pits of the experience, but I was determined to transform the three-day surgery event into something special we'd remember by filling the pits with moments of delight.
Last year, one of my favorite books I read was The Power of Moments by Chip & Dan Heath, a deep analysis of how and why our most memorable moments are made. Finding opportunities to transform a pit into a peak is, of course, one way to make a memorable moment. One of my favorite examples of this from the book is the story of Doug Dietz, an industrial designer who spent years working on a new MRI machine. Given the chance to see his work installed in a hospital, he visited the scan room with his new design and excitedly watched as a young patient approached the MRI machine. What he didn't anticipate was the little girl's terror (those machines are intimidating!) or how her reaction would motivate him to rethink his entire design process. He had focused so much on the machine rather than the experience of patients using the machine. Inspired by his mistake, Doug organized a team of children's museum leaders, daycare teachers and children's health care workers to help him redesign the MRI machine with more thought on the experience of a scan. The result? New MRI machines designed to look like hollowed out canoes and pirate ships, scan rooms painted to resemble jungles and open sea, painted "rocks" on the floor that lead to the machine, and a sense of fun and play infused into the MRI experience to alleviate fears and transform a not-so-fun situation into a memorable moment.
"This is it," I thought, reading that story. "This is everything I believe." Inevitably, life is going to hold challenges, but so many of our most memorable moments come from those very challenges--the peaks that were transformed from pits.
...which is why those three days in Miami for Nella's surgery turned out to be one of the most special memories of the two of us together. We made magic in our little hotel room next to the hospital--hung twinkle lights from our bed, ate take-out food while we watched the Babysitter's Club, calmed pre-surgery nerves with face masks and pedicures. The pit we were dreading turned out to be a peak we'll never forget.
I've always been motivated by a good challenge, and pits are my specialty. What pits in your life right now could benefit from a little peak magic?
My Surgery Pit Kit
I had so much fun packing our surgery stay bag, filled with as many little things I could think of that would add some delight to the experience. What was in our bag?
twinkle lights (I bring these in my suitcase for all my trips)
our favorite face mask (hotel room spa nights are the best)
our favorite card game (we played this in the hotel room and in pre-op waiting room)
our favorite hotel candle (don't forget the matches)
Nella's favorite nightgown
books and puzzles
sour Skittles
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Passionate about creating memorable moments in life, I'm drawn to books that dig into how we do this and the psychology behind it. The Power of Moments was my favorite from last year. This year, I'm currently reading this book and loving it and have this one on my nightstand to follow.
Speaking of making peaks from pits, if you loathe doing laundry like I do, this changed my perspective and taught me so many things I didn't know. Who knew you can actually take a laundry course?! I've since changed up several of my laundry products, added a horsehair brush to my laundry repertoire and have--dare I say--enjoyed the ritual of carefully folding our latest load.
Every time I wear this shirt, I get asked where it's from. It's one of those shirts you'll wear forever and comes in thirteen colors.
How fun is this company's work environment, made up of tiny houses for every employee's office space?
This story made me cry--such a great one to remember the most important moments in motherhood. If you like that one, keep scrolling through Wonders and find all the "Thanks for Asking" segments. With all the negative noise in the world, I find Kelly Corrigan's weekly 10-minute "Thanks for Being Here" segments the most hopeful feel-good soul food. Highly recommend. Wishing you a restful weekend full of delights."We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil. If the locomotive of the Lord runs us down, we should give thanks that the end had magnitude. We must admit there will be music despite everything." ~Jack Gilbert, from A Brief for the Defense.