Get involved.

I know, I know, I know. It has been too long, I have been gone for a hot minute. I apologize. I haven't forgotten about you though. I have been mustering up some well thought out blogs in the time being. I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, visiting with some great friends, traveling to the Gulf coast, and expanding my social stature here in the Twin Cities. Ha.

After a breath of fresh air I am happy to inform you that I am starting a new series I've entitled, 'get involved'. The series will focus on the ways in which I am paying it forward in my life. This is my mantra. These are the rules I live by. Whenever in doubt, find your friends of the program, be in, not out, and get involved. It is an optimistic, upbeat way of saying, 'just do it', 'say yes' and never look back .It is the answer to those split seconds where we hesitate on a decision, resist an answer, or delay activation. Something has come over me in the past three weeks. A new leaf has turned, I got my wind back in my pipe, and I'm all in, ready to get involved!

So first segment of this series I will break the news that about a week and a half ago, Megan and Holly were visiting from Chicago for the weekend. These are my two best friends from college, and the three of us together = the bad girls club of _(insert city). We have a blast together, are continuously laughing, and I am the best version of myself when I am with these two women. They met me in my prime, saw me make mistakes, make the walk of shame, explore myself as an adult, and act as study buddies. These girls helped me cook my first home-cooked meal in our broke-ass apartment, they picked me up after falling down, and they stood by me in during my rock bottom. These are women are the types of friends that are irreplaceable, that know what I am thinking before I say anything, who can convince me to change the world, and who give me the confidence I so desperately long for. I am merely a reflection of my myself through the eyes of the people I surround myself with, and I know that when I am in the company of Megan and Holly, I am the Jillian that I so easily fall in-love with.

We had a hell of a time in the twin cities. Saturday when they were here we were making our way around town, and we were driving through Dinkytown which is where the U of M campus is, and we saw a tattoo parlor. So naturally, we pulled the car over and walked into the shop open-minded. Now anyone that knows me, knows that I have been wanting to get a tattoo of a tree for years now. I have dabbled in a few parlors here and there around the country, but haven't clicked with any of the artists. Until Saturday. Rich, the Irishman, with sleeves, a nose piercing, and scar alongside his left face looked just like my kind of guy! There was great synergy between us, and after I gave him my painting to trace I didn't even think twice before saying, 'Get Involved'. Rich and I went out front, had a smoke and then I spent two grueling hours laying on my side with Rich straddling my side. Kinky I know. I mean I can handle physical pain, the emotional shit is unbearable- so I thought. After two hours, my jaw hurt so bad from clenching my teeth that it hurt to relax my cheeks. The needle felt like it was piercing my rib bones ever so slightly,  yet left a stinging prick like a bee's thorn. But the finishing product couldn't have been more perfect. Take a look for yourself. It is magical, I can't stop looking at it in the mirror. It is me, through and through.

Oh- Holly got a tat too, bucked up and 'got involved'. Now I look like a tough cookie with a tat in the most painful place on the human body. I feel like a badass chicky babe, with a new attitude and a fixed crave for adrenaline.

It is a reminder to me that no matter how deep our roots, how shallow our egos, how painful our experiences or how far our achievements reach, we are all changing and we are all constantly growing.