What the heck am I supposed to do with these fricken lemons?

When life gives you lemons, make lemon-aid. Everyone has heard this, but when you are actually handed those lemons the thought process is usually what the “f*CK do I do with these?”

I remember when I worked my first summer for a theater I felt so lonely that for my birthday my mom sent me a bouquet of flowers with cut-up lemons in the water, and a card that said: “when life gives you lemons…”

In all of our lives over the past almost two years it feels as though we keep walking outside as lemons rain from the sky.

I know that’s how I felt in March 2020. I was in Palm Springs on the National Tour of Old Jews Telling Jokes when the virus started to cause concern. I remember feeling like I was floating in a boat without a paddle, almost 2,500 miles away from home. California went into a state of emergency and our tour was cut short by 2 days so that we could return home to be with our families. I came home to no job and a husband whose job had just become remote.

For the first few months, I just got by, slowly going through the savings that I had worked so hard to acquire, and when that couldn’t sustain me anymore I knew I needed to start making money, and start creating a new dream. It was really difficult, I spent 28 years of my life working on one goal, to be an actor. The thing they never teach you is what happens if that whole business collapses? So I decided to go back to school to get my teaching certificate so that I can teach in a public school.

But honestly, I was still missing doing something creative, so that’s when Steph and I decided to do a podcast called Love Palace, we recorded one episode and the dream went no further. A few months passed and we were hanging out and we came up with the name Cycle Chats, and after that everything fell into place. I still remember recording that first episode with Nicole Snell from Girls Fight Back and thinking, we are meant to be doing this!

So now here we are still in the midst of a global pandemic continuing to work at this goal of educating, empowering, and inspiring women all over the world. I am still in school and have 3 more classes, and 2 more tests to complete to get my certificate. I work a part-time remote job for a call center out of my living room, and I’m still trying to get back on track with my finances while just earning enough money to pay my bills.

The reason I am telling you this is because life is hard, it kicks you while you're down, and sometimes throws some lemons your way to see what you can do. So I am telling you to take those lemons and try something new, build something unexpected, because it honestly may lead you to something you didn’t expect.

Stay safe and live happily!

Love your Cycle Half,

Emily