Five for Fifty

And what Ted Lasso Taught Me On my Birthday

Hi All!

I celebrated my 50th (!!) birthday over the weekend! I don’t typically make a big deal out of birthdays but 50 felt important so I am very grateful to all the family and friends who helped me celebrate both in person and from a distance.

To celebrate, on Saturday (my actual birthday), Rob and I returned to Cafe Matisse, a small restaurant in Rutherford, NJ that boasts a dining room inspired by the artist and a seasonal menu with dishes that require paragraph long descriptions. And then after dinner, because we contain multitudes, we returned home to watch Sunflowers, Wednesday night’s episode of our current favorite show, Ted Lasso.

In the episode, Ted, an American and coach of a poorly performing UK football club, wanders the streets of Amsterdam where his club, AFC Richmond has just lost yet another match. He is feeling lonely and defeated by both personal and football troubles when he stumbles into the Van Gogh museum and finds himself transfixed by the artist’s work. 

Ted stands in front of the painting titled Sunflowers for so long, that a museum employee joins him and says the following: 

“He was just a humble preacher’s son and yes he had his demons but that never stopped him from searching for beauty because when you find beauty, you find inspiration. If that is, you stay as determined as Vincent. Never stop- no matter how many failures- when you know you are doing what you are meant to do, you have to try.” 

VanGogh, whose work was greatly inspired by Matisee (who knew that my 50th would be so interconnected and so artsy!), painted the sunflowers shortly after his release from the hospital. He had been hospitalized after attempting to cut off his own ear. This means therefore, that arguably VanGogh’s greatest work was created on the heels of some of his darkest days. 

The museum employee hands Ted a notebook that Ted spends the night filling with plays that are sure to lead his team to a winning season. Because this is Hollywood, it feels clear that like VanGogh, Ted will learn from his dark days and his football club, AFC Richmond, will come back from behind to celebrate a winning season. 

Between Matisse, VanGogh and Ted, I am feeling inspired to create a list of big wishes and goals for my 50th year. I thought of listing 50 wishes. But over the past few years I have learned that simplicity is my friend when it comes to goal setting and I am making the rules so here it is… 

Five Wishes for 50 Years

1. I wish to keep writing. To write bigger. To write longer. To write more publically. 

2. I wish to keep reading. To read for fun. To read to learn. To read for connection.

3. I wish to explore more. To be a tourist in our community. People plan vacations to visit a city that is 15 miles away from our house. Go to NYC more often for fun. 

4. I wish to advocate more. I am mad about many things happening in this country. I wish to complain less about the problems and do more to improve our society. 

5. I wish to love my people where they are. Our nest will be empty soon. My birds need me in very different ways. I wish to celebrate our relationships where they are and not be sad for what they once were. 

Thanks for reading friends! I hope you are all well :)

xo,

Stacey

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