Page 8 - Tracy Anderson Magazine – Summer 2020

life. Every day she woke up as perfect as Mr. Rogers with heavy footprint, we have been a part of making the awareness for ourselves, but we have the ability. We have
her nightgown and robe, then changing into her wrap
skirt or golf skirt and polo with a cardigan. She made her
iced tea in the sun and cooked only the best homemade
meals. She had the most organized garden in her little
lawn, with tomatoes you would think could only come
from acres of fancy farming. She was a volunteer at the
American Red Cross and American Cancer Society,
and she ran a magic gift shop in Lafayette, Indiana, to
support the local baseball fields and the wing of the zoo
for animals in need of special attention. She knew the
importance of what the essence of a community was
made of. She was an advocate and wrote letters to her
local officials to make a difference. She used her voice
as a woman, even when it was much more difficult to
be heard. She was kind, conversational, patient with
anyone and no one is better than you.” She gave every- and interested in others. She had faith in others and was
one the benefit of the doubt, and the one thing she had gravely disappointed in bad behavior. She deemed bad
no tolerance for was a lie. I remember her teaching me behavior as being lazy, dishonest, prejudice, and entitled.
the difference between a fib and a lie. She would always Her humble home was filled with love, honesty, consis-
teach us the best lessons while she was fully focused on tency, and pride.
an activity with us. A walk to the park, a game of Yaht-
zee, or a very special golf outing with her and my Pop-pa During this time, we are living with a new virus that has
where we got to ride in the golf cart. created a lot of feelings. Concern, fear, confusion, and
emptiness for the way we used to be able to go about our
She and my Pop-pa always lived below their means and life connected and knowing. Knowing that if we got sick
gave to their communities and to those in need. They we had experts we could turn to. COVID-19 feels like
kept a forever innocence between them, as if they were an invasion on a lot of levels. My Nanny survived polio,
still on their very first date 30, 40, 50, and 60 years later. and she was born into the Great Depression. I feel that
given the privilege that many of us have been living in,
Mary Lou Blythe, as the community knew her, went to this is a time for us all to look into where we might have
the same man, Chuck, to cut her hair for 40-plus years, intentionally or unintentionally taken advantage of that
and had the most organized closet I’ve ever seen in my privilege. From Mother Earth, by way of a damaging
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sense of entitlement that we somehow deserve more, and the ability to set standards of clarity for ourselves and
more, and more material possessions. The quality of who those we love. With that clarity, we can better care for
we are and how we live in and with ourselves has be- our overall health and be sure that if and when we pass it
come toxic in many ways. Now more than ever I believe won’t matter if anyone has an e-mail from us or not, as I
this is the time for self-reflection and self-improvement. have not one from my Nanny. What will matter is the ev-
Sometimes that means unplugging from the noise. Not er-growing seed of clarity that they instilled in your soul
until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves by showing up and being certain of their love for you.
sometimes. Not until we hit rock bottom do we find the
strength to face the things we have ignored, to fix what If you think about your relationship with yourself and
keeps flattening our face harder in that reality. others, what feeds stress is confusing signals. Confusing
signals to your body by not exercising, eating well, and
I remember the peace that I would feel as a child when sleeping well. Confusing signals to your body by obsess-
my mom put us in the car to go to my Nanny and Pop- ing over other’s beauty or lack of wrinkles, being snappy
pa’s. It was an hour on the nose, door to door. There was and short with your kids or loved ones, being impatient
a big hill off of the main road into their neighborhood, or intolerant with a friend, allowing your life to be po-
and every time I felt a peaceful excitement once we hit liced by powers that you deem greater than you without
that hill. As a young adult, I would make that drive by taking the time to clearly define what you do and do
myself or as a young mom with my son, Sam, anytime I not stand for. Having a price tag on selling out on your
needed to think, heal, or just be wrapped in their love. certainty because you think you can’t have it all. There is
an endless cycle of disturbance created inside of you and
That sense of home is so powerful. You can’t buy that. around you when you don’t take the time to be clear and
There is no price tag to that level of goodness. People certain with who you are and what you stand for.
search their entire lives to try and create or find that
feeling. When I reflect on what that magical ingredient So thank you, Nanny. This adventure is dedicated to
was I keep coming back to “certainty.” Perhaps it was the you. Dedicated to you for being such a love-filled blanket
personal sense of responsibility my Nanny took to create of certainty. You instilled a security in me that has passed
clarity in her life. Clarity for what she stood for, offering down the tools to always make the journey of life feel
clarity to others about how she felt about them, clarity to like I will never not know how to find my way back
her partner and family about her love, clarity about what home.
she really needed and didn’t need. Most of us don’t take
the time and make the effort to be aware of producing With love,
clarity in our thoughts. We don’t demand that level of Tracy
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