An $8 juice, and being walked home

January is never fun for me. No matter if the holidays are crazy or restful, I feel launched, unprepared, back into a month where work is demanding and stressful. This year, this month, it's 5 events in 19 days, four of which come in a row at the end of the month.Tuesday night was the first event of the month, and technically also the easiest, but I spent the day ragged with anxiety. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, this cold and tight feeling in my chest, and my heart racing like it was experiencing a caffeine overload. For the life of me, I could not shake it.I tried rationalizing: Nothing is wrong. I am fine. I am not in danger.  I tried deep breathing, closing my eyes and waiting, a 3m run with the dog, a hot shower and even a fancy, delicious and pricey juice.Nothing worked.And while that feeling didn't leave my body until I slept it off... I wanted to leave a marker here for myself for three reasons:1. I trusted that this was some combo of panic and pms, and that I could lay low, do what work needed to be done, and know that I would mostly likely feel better after a night of sleep (which I did).2. That there was no rationalizing or doing to be done. No fixing. I just had to go through my self-care practices and wait it out.3. That connection is what actually helped.It's the third point that makes this so awesome for me now, a few days later. I shared my anxiety on Facebook and a friend commented "Look at the sky and remember you're a blonde monkey floating in space and none of this stuff actually matters. Works for me every time." A phone call with a former colleague & current friend let me vent. She said, "You're a rockstar. Your event will be amazing. The end." Lindsey sent me a lovely comment about my one little word post on Twitter and Jamie said that my word (~flow~) sounded like the perfect approach to the day we were both having. A friend was photographing the event, and she is such a quiet presence, it's nice to have her there when I'm talking my head off to 100+ people I don't know. And lastly, the woman who managed the bar is snazzy, sends plates of food over to my check-in table, hands me giant bottles of water and says things like, "don't worry mama, we got this".As the day went on, I could feel the love I was being sent, and I did my best to soak it in, and say yes to each offering... because striving the way we do sometimes, sets us up to feel intense panic about if we're doing the right things and if we're working hard enough.This day reminded me that not only was I for sure going to rock my job, but that people like working with me. I am loved regardless if the event is a success or not.And it reminded me of this quote... which I'm pretty sure is becoming a guiding principle for how I live my life: “We're all just walking each other home.” ~Ram Dass.On this day, I had a lot of people walking with me, and for that, I am grateful.