I don’t know about you beautiful humans but throughout most of the course of my often way too busy, future-focused life, I rarely gave a second thought to energy.
Wasn’t it some touchy-feely thing spiritualists and yogis went on about, calling it a host of other equally out there, inconceivable things like chi??
Wait, that’s a bit of a lie, because as I forged ahead, on the perennial go-go-go, moving towards goals I thought would yield ultimate gratification, building an action packed and pretty public and glam life I thought I wanted and perhaps did at the time, I would hear those around me, be they friends, clients, acquaintances and others marvel at the sheer volumes of energy I seemed to embody and expend, inspiring one pal to exclaim a few years back, “My lord, it’s like your very own brand of irrepressible boundless “Jennergy” coursing through you! I swear we should bottle that sh** and make a fortune!”
Of course, at the time, I laughed it off, seeing the humour, though admittedly I (or rather my e”goic I”) did take quite a shine to the sassy new moniker, often throwing it out there and making people titter when the topic of my high energy would arise. “Just call me Jennergy, I’d say with a wink and a shrug” (and notably, many did, especially a gaggle of witty Britty friends who found the nickname particularly entertaining, right Adam and Henry?!).
Yet despite the direct address, I was still far too caught up in the rapidity and hectic of my life to give much thought, attention or ironically, energy to my energy/Jennergy or energy as a larger concept or construct. I mean really, who had the energy for that? (Oh c’mon, that made you laugh!!)
And then …. you may have seen this coming … the pandemic happened, taking a swing at my life like nothing I’d seen in well over a decade, or well ever! (Ditto for tens of millions of us …)
On the professional front, the blow was especially big seeing that I cover the “social” scene, perhaps best captured in a recent exchange with a dear friend in the automobile industry who inquired how my business had been impacted: “Well, I replied, imagine being in the car business and suddenly there are no cars!”
Sure, we had a good laugh, but that pretty much summed things up. For over a decade I’d been the social columnist for our leading English daily, The Montreal Gazette, and for almost as long, have presided over my own social scene-centric brand and publication, yes, this one, Diary of Social Gal, both driven, focused, and animated by the antics and fabulous of a thriving red carpet/gala rich social scene in a city known worldwide for its apropos nickname, the “Party City.”
On the personal front, as many of you well know if you’ve been tuning into other lessons in the series, I’ve been pretty candid about some unexpected “surprises” in that realm too like the stroke suffered by my precious fur baby Presley that also threw me for a loop.
The truth is any which way I sliced it, the pandemic induced pause on my life last March said “hey rhymes with itch, I’m here!” and suddenly for the first period in seemingly forever (one of those few side gifts of the surreal sci fi horror show that is Covid 19), there was the luxury of time to ponder a lot of things that invariably inspired these weekly shares including the curious concept of energy, or in my case, Jennergy.
One sizable contributing factor to such musings was the utter depletion of energy/Jennergy I was feeling on a daily (so completely ironic given the until then seemingly infinite supply I rarely gave a second or even first thought to lol), often hitting me in the early afternoon, affecting focus, concentration, mindset. And, as it turned out, after consulting with friends and family and others in my orbit, not to mention the prolific media shares on the subject, this was real, yet another sad and sorry byproduct of a global crisis of this magnitude. Really, how could our only human energy reserves not be compromised by all the stress and fear, and horrors exploding all round on so many fronts?
And it got me thinking …. This energy/Jennergy I’d been tossing around so cavalierly for years and years to everyone and anyone, everything and anything, as if it were infinite confetti, was far more precious and priceless than I’d realized. (Enter the beloved adage, “you don’t know what you have until you lose it …”)
In fact, the Oprah-esque AHA moment soon reared its soul-replenishing head: Energy is effen everything, the reason we get anything on this wild journey done, the impetus that drives all creativity and dreams, relationships; the force propelling us to get up in the morning, achieve, show up, write, work, dance, play, love. Where is it all without energy?!!
Also essential here – two points so many brilliant spiritualists and philosophers like Deepak Chopra and others have been driving home forever: Not only is our energy profoundly sensitive to the energy around us (ever notice how some awesome people replenish it and send it soaring while others, aka, the energy vampires send it spiraling down to zero?!) but where we place our energy is inevitably where we will seed growth and meaning in our lives: Focus your precious and as we see now not so unlimited energy on the negative and frivolous and meaningless people and projects and thoughts in your world and that’s what you’ll nurture and see proliferate, laws of attraction kicking into high gear. Conversely, have the courage to turn its transformative laser beams on the good stuff, good dreams, good people who, as noted, fire you right up and watch what sprouts and springs …
To that end, in my little world, as you may have expected, I no longer take my energy/Jennergy for granted. I guard that supply like it’s better than gold because it is. Before I start any sprinkle, there’s some solid due diligence going down: Is this project, post, person, thought, action worth the expenditure? Do they, it, bring real deal value of the light and love variety to my life, like this meaningful share I’m penning right now?
If the answer is no, the energy stays with moi … right where it belongs!
Hope you enjoyed this latest lesson. For more, see the previous posts on this site and explore the companion material on social media, especially Instagram where I’ve posted IGTV videos. And yes, please share your feelings on point. I so enjoy the dialogue and learn so much from you amazing humans!