Being Geek Chic is a blog about one woman navigating the male-dominated industries of production and tech. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi, Founder, CEO and Director of Mighteor - one of the world's first internet video production companies. Learn more about Mighteor here.
Let’s not pretend like we don’t know that this weekend is an emotional freaking atom bomb. If you’re in a relationship: this is the weekend of wild joy or brutal disappointment. During the various loves of my life, I’ve experienced both.
If you’re not in a relationship: this is the weekend of wondering. Why am I alone? Is it OK that I’m alone? When will I meet someone new? During the various chapters of my life, I’ve wondered all these things too.
But you know what I never wonder about? I never wonder about how much my girlfriends love me. I never wonder about how much I love them. I never wonder about how thankful I am that they are in my life. And I certainly never experience brutal disappointment at their hands. The women in my life make me feel like I can achieve anything. They fill my heart. And you know what? I’m fairly confident they have a role to play in my life until… well, until we die.
That’s why this Valentine’s Day, I’m having brunch with some of my favorite gal pals. Because mimosas are a beautiful thing, but friendship is even more beautiful.
Or as Leslie Knope would say: “If there’s a law against friendship, then lock me up!” So Happy Galentine’s Day to you too.
“Uteruses before duderuses.”
It’s possibly Leslie Knope’s most notable moment of genius. And it’s my new motto. Let me explain why…
My life has been a tornado lately. This isn’t some kind of weird Helen Hunt themed Twister metaphor. I truly mean that it is as if a gale force wind invaded my life, threw every single thing I thought I knew about who I was, who I want to be and the life I live day to day and threw it in the middle of a cyclone. When the storm finally passed, I was holding onto the hands of my best friends looking at the chaos and going: “shit, I have to clean this up?”
Lucky for me, I didn’t have to clean it up alone.
Now this is a weird transition, but I’ve been thinking about Catching Fire a lot lately too. I see a lot of myself in Katniss. I can be stupidly stubborn. Relentlessly tough. I will try to go it alone, even when I don’t have to. Let me say that another way: Katniss is always turning away help. IF YOU TURN AWAY HELP, STOP IT. KNOPE WOULD DISAPPROVE.
When you’re watching everything you know flail around you and crash to the ground, it’s scary. It’s easy to turn inward and push everything and everyone out until the noise and the glass and the chaos ends. But don’t do it. Don’t be Katniss. Take your best friends by the hand and cry. And when weird shit happens, like your sex toys end up on the front lawn, laugh with them too. (I’m not saying my sex toys literally ended up on my front lawn, but believe me, it could have.)
My girlfriends saved me. I told them that over and over and over again this last month. Those uteruses are the best things in my life. If you don’t have that - stop reading this - stop trolling Reddit - stop shopping on Think Geek - stop watching Avengers for the 10th time. GO. Make a date with your lady friends. Start talking on the weekly with your good friends. Tell them your secrets. Open up. In time, you will grow closer. And if you see a storm on their radar, take their hand, plant your feet firmly on the ground and be there for them.
I hope I never have to return this favor to my dear friends some day in the future… but I will be there saying, “What would Leslie Knope do?”
