birthday

there lived a woman named Marissa who did some internet stuff and some assistant stuff and a whole lot of websurfing and blog-reading stuff.

One day, in and amongst her usual websurf locations, she happened upon a blog called The Fluent Self.

And it wasn’t what she expected, even though she didn’t expect anything, really, because she’d never heard of it before right then.

But it was goofy. And it was real. And it talked about wacky yoga brain training alongside ducks as business partners alongside nonviolent communication alongside why you don’t actually have to conquer your fears.

And Marissa was hooked.

This shining oasis of wacky, wonderful, totally-get-it-ness was created by a woman named Havi. Who has a duck named Selma. A small, rubber duck, with her own personality and fanbase.

Marissa couldn’t get to the “Compose Email” button fast enough. And once she hit that button, she professed to Havi that she was a “googly-eyed fangurl” for her writing. And her duck. And, just, her.

And Havi wrote back and said the email was awesome, and that someone should really hire Marissa to write emails and send out that awesomeness to the universe.

And Marissa thought, “Golly, that would be really cool.”

Golly, this is really cool.

Then one day, Marissa opened an email from this fabulous woman named Havi and the email asked Marissa what she thought about possibly working together. Working with Havi. And Selma.

And Marissa closed her email, then reopened it, just to make sure the email was still there. That it was real.

Because what Havi couldn’t possibly have known–nor Selma either, for that matter–was that Marissa had a list of “People I Dream of Working With” taped next to her computer desk. And at the top of that list was the name, “Havi (and Selma the duck).”

With a speed and certainty that only a certain joy and happy-dancing-squeeing-enthusiasm can inspire, Marissa wrote back to Havi to tell her that she welcomed this opportunity to work with her with open arms.

Gifts from the Birthday Girl

In the relatively brief time that this woman named Marissa has worked with this woman named Havi and Havi’s irrepressible duck named Selma, Marissa has learned a great deal from Havi, and from the folks Marissa gets to chat with while working with Havi. There have been laughs. There has been an understanding and empathetic ear for business queries and concerns. There has been a helping hand and totally wise but totally real-person, down-to-earth advice for personal queries and concerns.

There have been doors opened to this woman named Marissa that Marissa would perhaps never have even passed by, had it not been for her opportunity to work with this woman named Havi (and that unmistakeable duck named Selma).

It’s Hallmark-level cheesy, but it is also a fact… that one email from Havi to Marissa changed Marissa’s life in a very bright and wonderful way.

Gift to the Birthday Girl

On this very day in this very land there is much celebration, for it is Havi’s birthday.

And Marissa wanted very much to find a gift for Havi that expressed how much she appreciates her– appreciates her writing, appreciates her spirit, appreciates her humor and her duck business partner, appreciates the unfathomably awesome circle of folks that hang out with her, appreciates her help and her friendship and her mentorship and her advice on everything from blogging to TV-less-ness to why Mount Hood is probably just a figment of everyone’s imagination.

But no gift seemed to adequately bundle all of that up.

So Marissa sat down at her trusty keyboard and just decided to write about how much she values Havi. Values her as a blogger, as a writer, as a friend, as a business mentor, as a personal supporter, as an inspiration. And as someone who thought it was completely normal that Marissa’s dogs happened to be her business’s vice-presidents.

And after Marissa wrote all of this, she wrapped it carefully in giftwrap made of gratitude, tied a really pretty bow around it in the form of a big hug, and sent it out to Havi via that great communication-carrier we know as the Internetednessdom.

And the little tag on that imaginary box read simply, “Dear Havi, Thank you. May your birthday be happy, and may your year bring you threefold the blessings you’ve given to me.“

~~~The End~~~

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