After school, more school, career stints in a Fortune 500 setting, an ad agency, and then a non-profit, I set out to identify how I wanted to live the remainder of my life.
Work was still assumed, but I tried to focus on all the non-work parts of my life that had been neglected and needed nurturing. My Pie was born.
Pie is a tool for identifying, prioritizing, and experiencing people, places, and things in your life where you know joy exists. It is a simple visual depiction of what is important to me and where I find joy. Literally a circle scrawled on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of notebook paper. Nothing fancy. Just slices of the circle with headings and then specific items described within each slice. (More on that later.)
That was the easy part. Then I needed to find the courage to live into what was on my Pie. And when I did, it started to change me. Slowly at first. Some days were better than others (perhaps pie-worthy, if that is even a word.) Simply having a framework of where I could find joy in life and a guide to how I could direct my time was invigorating. I started to smile more. Life was good.
That didn’t mean that my 90-year-old mom wasn’t dying and that our son wasn’t still struggling to find a vocation in his thirties. Yes, there is a whole lot of withering on the vine going on out there. The world is a cauldron of pain. I never want to minimize that. But there is plenty of room for gratitude too. Pie is a tool to identify where to find guaranteed joy amidst the struggles and obligations of daily life.
That is how Pie came to be. Then a friend, Tim, said over lunch, “That Pie-thing seems to be working really well for you. I know lots of people who might benefit from learning about it. Maybe you could do a workshop or write a blog, or… ”. My quick answer to Tim? "That isn't on my pie."
Now before you conclude that my response was remarkably rude, please understand that I was at a formative place with my Pie. I was just learning how to be fully authentic with what went on my Pie and what didn’t. I was doing my Pie for me and wasn’t certain it might even be helpful to others. I repeat, Pie was for me. I hadn’t entertained the idea of sharing it.
I needed answers to how I was going to direct my energy and time- and, candidly, wasn’t that aware that others might be wrestling with the exact same questions. Don’t think that I wasn’t flattered by Tim’s remark. I value his opinion, and I’m vulnerable to being a people-pleaser. And if it could be helpful to others, well, why not? Tim continued,
“There are a lot of people dealing with life change who lose their way and struggle. The Pie is a tool that invites individuals to claim what is uniquely joy-providing for them as they make their life journey. Please think about it”.
So I did. What you have in front of you is the first fruits of that labor. The post are abbreviated because nobody wants to get mired down in long copy. Mixed in are drawings for visual interest.
If you are willing to create a Pie, I can promise that you will identify where the pockets of joy lie in your life. This is true if you are just starting out in your adult life or if you are entering your twilight years.
Making a Pie is a low-risk proposition with the likelihood of a very high pay-out. And if that isn’t enough to convince you, I’m offering a 100% money back guarantee. I can do so confidently, because there is no charge for making your Pie. It’s totally free. And if this tool is valuable for you, it might even set you free. Like I said before, “Life is Good.”
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