Seattle: More than a Weekend Trip

For my birthday, Zach and I flew to Seattle and spent a few cozy days in the city. Whenever Seattle comes up in conversation, it carries rave reviews with it. The people, the food and the energy of the city all merit such a response. 

Personally, though, going to Seattle was something of a full-circle experience.

In ninth grade (a grillion years ago), a history teacher showed us a video at the start of the year. It focused on the men who work at Pike Place Fish Market and how grueling their days can be. On top of tossing around smelly fish all day, they act as entertainment for tourists, locals and passersby alike. Remarkably, each of these men had a smile on his face and laughed throughout the day. No matter how challenging their days were, they knew their attitudes were entirely up to them. 

This concept completely blew my ninth-grade mind. I'd never once thought before that my mood or attitude was something I could choose. I always went with the flow-- however I felt was how I felt. This woke me right up. Every day I could choose how I wanted to feel and how to treat people. 

I've recently been going through some trying times at work, and this lesson is something I've had to revisit and relearn. While situations may be out of my hands, how I react to them is entirely up to me. How I walk into work every day is entirely up to me. I can keep my eyes down, sit at my desk and work away, or I can walk in with my head held high, say good morning and ask people how their day is. 

As I approached the fish market, both the ninth grade me and the 29-year-old me smiled from ear to ear. The market felt momentous-- it sounds ridiculous, but this market symbolizes something that totally changed my thought process. Walking into the market felt in a way like walking back into myself. Am I making my younger self proud? Am I treating people the best way I can treat them? Am I being the best Kailey I can be? Just like that short video had done years before, seeing the market in person woke me up all over again.

I can't imagine a better way to ring in my 29th year.

Side note...because I had to fact-check my own memory, I found a snippet of the video that was so life changing and it's hysterical. It's called Fish Philosophy and it's used for schools, companies and beyond.