ask and ye shall receive

there is no such thing as being in the right place at the right time, but you could convince me otherwise

along with writing and expressing my feelings through texts, i’ve also been consciously trying to voice my opinions out loud—really just speaking up about anything. and i hate to break it to you but i’ve actually had a very positive experience. lately, and i mean the past few days, i’ve been given quite a few things. crazy to think that situations actually work in your favor if you speak up. groundbreaking news!!

at work, a group of girls put together goodie bags for our fashion show to give away to VIPs and models. the leftover supplies were handed around the office for a very short minute, until marketing realized it would be a better use of materials to give them away to customers. i had wanted one of the mud masks, but alas they were stashed away. before i had known this though, i voiced i would take any left over. since i had spoken out, one magically appeared in my hands! (our influencer relations girl slipped me one from under the desk, shh). on a different day i needed a birthday candle, and after asking the office assistant if we had any, she pulled one out specifically for me. another instance happened recently as i was walking out of the boardroom of the fashion show; i stopped for a moment to reorganize the bags on my shoulder when a woman on the floral team who was cleaning and moving flowers out of the venue, asked if i wanted a large floral bouquet since they needed to go (right place at the right time?). all of these recent experiences not only make me feel important, but grows this space around me that yes, i deserve everything coming my way.

i feel like once you start speaking up and asking for things—even little requests—there’s an air of confidence that people catch onto, and they almost just want to offer you things. perhaps this goes hand in hand with having a specific aura.

i’ve also been thinking about speaking up for what’s yours. sam and i recently went to a cigarettes after sex concert (which was incredible by the way and i would love to dive into in because wowwwww), and some girls were sitting in our spot. i’m not the type to get mad or rude if someone is in a chair that i paid for, but i will ask them to move. this happened in a movie theater recently as well—sam and i walked in and found a big group of women taking up a few rows, on one of which our tickets were reserved for. sam didn’t want to make anyone move and was willing to sit further away to avoid causing issues. however, i politely let the ladies know what our seats were, and they happily moved to the where they actually had reserved.

this got me thinking about how many times in my life i’ve willingly given up or not spoken up for something that was “rightfully mine” in the sake of keeping the peace, or thinking it wasn’t a big deal. but it is a big deal! by doing this, you’re essentially telling yourself you don’t need it and also telling the universe that you don’t want what’s given to you (to an extent). it’s like the concept of finding money on the ground—if you don’t take it, you’re giving off the vibe(?) that you don’t want money to come to you. i believe this scenario was written about in “The Little Money Bible” by stuart wilde. some people might not know that they’re in the wrong area or place, and it’s not/or shouldn’t be offensive by telling them otherwise, instead i feel like you’re actually helping them out by saying something.

my coworker mentioned she bought tickets to see a movie, but the rotten tomatoes rating was very low, so she decided not to go. this ties into truly knowing your worth—or rather the worth of your time. i was taught that if you spend money on an event or buy tickets to something, you go no matter what, because it would be a waste of money if you didn’t! but imagine knowing yourself so well and recognizing how valuable your time is that you don’t care to waste it on something unimportant (or not wanting to waste your time according to what movie reviews say if you trust the source). and i think your time is definitely more important than loosing a few bucks. it almost begs the conversation if your time is your worth and where you spend it shows who you are and what you value.

there is an element to what you base your opinion on, whether it’s following an external source or your own intuition - where either it could limit you from an experience that could be good or save you from something that’s actually boring. i thought her confidence in not going was incredibly chic. when someone is so forthright in what they want, i find it badass and makes me trust someone more. maybe that comes from a place in me that was never decisive about what i wanted until recently. i can totally disagree with someone or their stance, but if they’re confident in what they’re preaching, i love that and respect it. and it’s okay to waste money sometimes if you don’t want to do something. you are literally free to do whatever you want, but you’re also entitled to what’s yours.

i’ve been contemplating the combinations of being in the right place at the right time, right place wrong time, wrong place right time, and wrong place wrong time. usually, these sayings are associated with romantic relationships—it’s not you, it’s me! but is anything really the right time or place for anything? isn’t it more about having an accumulation of experiences that prepares you for it finally being the “right time” for something? going back to the romantic aspect, i was thinking about miranda’s theory in sex and the city that men get married when their “light is on” and when the timing is right.

“It’s not fate, his light is on, that’s all...Men are like cabs, when they’re available, their light goes on. They awake one day and decide they’re ready to settle down, have babies, whatever, and they turn their light on. Next woman they pickup, boom, that' the one they'll marry. It's not fate, its dumb luck.” - season 3, episode 8

you can be in any place at any given time, and could that honestly be THE right place? couldn’t good and bad things happen anywhere? could things be fate or simply dumb luck?

sam and i bought a home together in spring 2022, and some could argue it was the “wrong time” to buy a house because of market prices, or that it was the “right time” because interest rates were low. for us, it felt like the right place at the right time, but we also didn’t fully understand the commitment we were getting into. the market has changed so much since then that if we were to consider buying a house now, it would be absurd.

being in utah feels like the wrong place wrong time, at least for both of our careers, and i feel like my time in utah is dwindling. i have so much i want to do elsewhere, but is it the wrong time to leave because of calendar timing; we’re going into colder months and the holidays after all? but when is the right time to do anything? life is always moving and something will always be in the way. we’ve been looking and have broadened our search to new york in the past few months, and i feel more called there now than ever. our time will come, yes, but i’m desperate to make the move now. i hope we’re not making a mistake in selling our house, but we’ve decided that’s what we need to do to lift the big financial burden off our shoulders - taking the power to decide for ourselves it’s the right time and not leaving it to fate. and like i said, i’m trying to be all in on my decisions and confident that this is the right choice.

when i first started working at my current job, the salary was definitely higher than what i was used to, but i also made a promise to myself to not sell myself short. i made it clear that i wanted to revisit my compensation after i had established myself in the role, and confidently laid out what i wanted. i was met and respected at my asking point which felt like a big win for me. i’ve reflected a lot on asking for what i want since then and that anything is achievable and open to you if you are open to it. i’m no longer religious, but i do resonate with the passage in the book of matthew, in the sense of material things and not spiritual,

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

the receiveth, seekest, and knocketh of it all can’t stop me from thinking of our dear savior sabrina carpenter, “where art thou? why not uponeth me? see it in my mind, let's fulfill the prophecy”. anyways ask for what you want, be confident in your decisions because that just shows that you’re THAT girl, and don’t get caught up in the timing of it all - and i say this more to myself than anything.

those are my thoughts from the week, let me know if any of this resonates or if you feel a fiery passion against it - because then i know i can trust you.

xoxo,

isabella