Good Sunday to you :)

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Eleanor Roosevelt

A great thing happened today: I went rock climbing (at a climbing gym) for the first time ever, and I went all the way to the ceiling! It was awesome, and I thought you should know. It seems like the scariest thing ever, since you're hanging onto a wall with your fingertips and the side of your foot, but then you just take one step at a time, and eventually you're there! My friends who took me go all the time (they're fiends), so they were super positive and encouraging, and I felt really supported. I figured out that I don't like being told what to do when I'm in the middle of doing it. I need to be able to focus as much as possible on the task at hand, and voices calling out to me where to put the foot I can't see (on the 2" rock I also cannot see) are simply not helpful to me.

So that was good to know about myself. I hadn't quite put those two things together before. See how much I love personal development? I think everyone should do things that scare them just for the heck of it, and we'd all be better people. Unfortunately, I think that a lot of people do drugs and join gangs in an effort to confront their own fears, and this isn't usually a good idea. So maybe the ethos isn't perfect, but it's worth thinking about.

Peace out.

Normalizing differences

I'm too smart for my own good sometimes. Sometimes my intelligence leads me to be judgmental and impatient with other people, instead of compassionate and understanding. I was the clumsy, daydreaming kid who didn't have common sense. Now I treat children in some of the same ways that I was treated. Well, I don't treat them that way, but I do get annoyed in my head, and have to work extra hard to be patient.

So all in all, I'm not failing. But my difficulty in this area reminds me to slow down, and think about the situation from the child's perspective. What must it feel like to not know how to do something in the presence of an adult? That must be so scary, and shameful. How could a kid admit that they don't understand if the adult understands everything? I need to remember to foster a culture where asking for help is normalized and being wrong, or "failing" is not indicative of a person's core worth.

Maybe I was wrong

So, I came home today and fixed my sink and my toaster oven. I didn't think it was possible, but I did it. I am so proud of myself. In the course of fixing the oven, I was only electrocuted once. I say that's a success.

Over the weekend, as I work on my senior paper (again), I will be trying to not overdo it as much as I did last weekend. There will be more cuddling and less crazy-banging-my-head-against-a-wall and losing lots of sleep.

Stay tuned for scenes from my weekend of house-sitting with the sweetest dogs ever, the reason I have come to adore pit bulls.

Peace out mofos.