I Don't Know How to Celebrate My Achievements

Do you ever have trouble celebrating your milestones? Your achievements? No matter how “small” they may seem? See what SAW Instructor and friend, Jess Ruliffson, shared about her thoughts with these feelings below.

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“I have this really weird memory of holding on to a long heavy rope suspended from the rafters of the elementary school gym. The rope was probably seven inches thick, a big, braided, monster rope. At the end of it was a big knot. There was a contest to see which kid could hold onto the rope the longest without touching the floor. The end of the rope was a few feet, maybe three or so, off the ground. So, I remember being suspended there in a kind of ball, not too far from the floor, and there was a row of us all doing the same thing, trying to hold on the longest.

I am not fast or very strong. And somehow, I actually did hold on the longest, and it wasn't too hard. I sort of found a bench in my brain to sit and watch after I decided I wasn't letting go. This is a weird memory for lots of reasons (memories are weird) but mostly because its one of the only ones I have from second grade when we lived in upstate NY for half the year. I think it was the last time I won any kind of athletic contest. And when the contest was over, I just sort of let go and walked away from the rope. 

I'm writing this because I turned in my book and, I don't know how to celebrate. I found these two good articles about why celebrating is beneficial to your work:

Why We Need to Celebrate Our Milestones, Even the Small Ones

Is your milestone a millstone? I know the feeling. The magic is to keep doing it. I am a fan of yearlong breaks and all sorts of stuff the productive world at large disagrees with. Coming back is always the win, even if there are gaps. It's okay to not be ready, or get sidetracked. A lot of the best artists I know take a long time, but have a regular commitment with their butt to the chair on a weekly or daily basis. 

Why You Should Celebrate When You Finish Your Novel

There also is a great video of Snoop Dogg thanking himself for doing the work:

I'm pretty sure he thanked other people before this part of the speech, but it's wonderful. We don't thank ourselves enough. A friend told me today that there's that culture of gratitude (being grateful IS a good habit) that's kind of been running wild and mutating into a sort of apologetic thing, so you might feel powerless and diminished by quietly thanking the world (almost like saying 'thank you' but meaning 'I'm sorry'.)

This is kinda rambly, I just wanted to share how I've noticed it's good to reward yourself or thank yourself. I always give myself treats when I get to a tiny goal (inked one page! Filed my taxes!) but it's usually something I kinda was going to do already like get up and make tea or have a piece of chocolate. I've never finished something this long before! 

So, how to you mark a moment of achievement? Do you like to do it with gratitude, thankfulness, humility or swagger? 

I made a carrot cake (birthday cake) on the day after I turned in the book, and in my head I gave myself permission to think of that cake as a partial celebration for finishing. But also, it was 7 degrees outside so I feel like I was more-so congratulating myself for going out to get crushed pineapple and an electric mixer......but, cake definitely helps, whatever the occasion!”

-Jess

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