1| Just. Waves and waves of goosebumps. And it comes out the day before my birthday!
Author: Trish
What is the Difference Between Introversion and Social Anxiety?
I’ve always been an introvert, and I’ve recently been proud of it. I love the part of me that thrives under intimate, deep conversation, that cultivates lasting friendships, that is comfortable being alone. If the flip side of these benefits is that I am uncomfortable around large groups of people, so be it.
But lately I’ve been realizing that maybe my discomfort is something other than introversion. Earlier this week Dina said about “D,” one of the girls in our safe house: “She is scared to get her monthly metro card. She has never done it before, and she is terrified. She has many problems.” (Please also understand this is a Greek woman speaking in English, so her thoughts are blunted by translation.) Even with that caveat, however, all I could think was, “I haven’t gotten my monthly metro card either. I thought about it on many occasions, but it always scared me and was never SUPER necessary, so I avoided it. Does that mean I have many problems?” (Yes, obviously, but I did not this specifically was such a problem.)
Because doesn’t everyone hate doing something new? Doesn’t everyone get nervous interacting with customer service reps? Doesn’t everyone avoid stressful things if possible? Or at least, don’t all introverts? Continue reading
Adventurous, Not Dangerous
When I die, I want this video playing on my holographic tombstone.
Hahahahaa, I imagine that very few people will find this as hilarious as I do, but one of those people is Mallory, my amazing friend who shares my dumb sense of humor. I’m so glad she visited and agreed that THIS was the best way to document our adventures.
Enjoy 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the dumbest jokes in the history of idiocy!
A Weekend in the Island of Hydra
They say a good story uses the “show, don’t tell” policy, so there’s a very good chance that this video, in which Mallory and I walk around talking about being in Hydra without actually showing Hydra, will only be interesting to those who are obligated to love us.
For everyone else, here’s a little show AND tell.
Hydra is an island about two hours from the Athenian port of Piraeus. I suggested Mallory and I visit it when she came to Greece because a Rick Steve’s guidebook that my Dallas family gave me said it was the best easily visited Greek island. When I heard that it’s famous for its total lack of cars, I was sold. I have always wanted to go somewhere without automobiles!
How to Avoid Fame-Seeking Behaviors While Running a Blog
At HD, we are starting our Formation of Servants meetings every Wednesday. It’s pretty much exactly the 12 Steps used by Alcoholics Anonymous, but more explicitly Christian (aka we use more Bible verses). I am SO EXCITED to be starting this, because I crave this kind of intimacy with co-workers. There is nothing more comforting than knowing that the people you spend most of your time with know you deeply and still want to spend time with you.
The first step is all about admitting you are powerless, and part of the lesson was three pages of recovery topics we might want to focus on. Here’s what stood out to me:
- approval dependency
- confrontation
- criticism
- family
- fear
- forgiveness
- humility
- jealousy
- loneliness
- looking good
- perfectionism
- reconciliation
I immediately noticed a running theme of “I want everyone to love me and I will do anything necessary to appear loveable!”
Since I spend so much of my time blogging, I wondered how much this blog contributes to my problem. I definitely try to appear smart and funny and interesting here. I want people to like my content. I get upset when people don’t. Sometimes I don’t post stories or thoughts because I think people might disagree with me or chastise me.
My first thought was: I will quit my blog! That way I won’t be contributing to the messiness of fame and attention-seeking that it involves.
But this all-or-nothing reaction is unhealthy, I think. I tend to think in dichotomy and All Right or All Wrong. I like easy answers. This is not the first time I have thought this, and a couple years ago, I actually DID quit blogging for several months. It was awful. I don’t think it helped me be any less self-centered, and it took away my biggest creative outlet.
It also ignores all the GREAT things about blogging. Writing is truly one of the things I think I’m gifted at, and blogging is the easiest way to use that gift. I almost never have a problem creating content every day, because my brain never shuts up, and I need an outlet. And in my most honest moments, I share things that are hard or ugly, and those are the posts that always connect me to people – usually through email or secret Facebook messages, but I LOVE those moments when people write to me and say, “You said what I’ve always felt unsafe to say – THANK YOU.” I don’t want to lose the amazing role of being a truth-speaker (or at least honesty-speaker).
So I have both of these thoughts in my head: Quit Everything! and also Maybe I Am Overreacting! And since I’ve learned this in recent years, I tried to think of ways in which I could find a balance. I don’t want my blog to be all about me, but I also don’t want to give it up. What is my middle option?
Well, you may be surprised to find out that this has all been a lead up to….a new blog series!! A couple months ago on Facebook I joined the #womenaremorethan movement, but then forgot about it. I’m going to move that here (and add #menaremorethan, because I’m a feminist and that means valuing equality), and every week, I will put the focus on someone amazing from my life.
If you want to write about #womenaremorethan and #menaremorethan, PLEASE DO. The world can always use more encouraging messages. And hopefully, but using my creative outlet to bolster others instead of myself, I can find that balance between attention-seeking and humility.
Come back next week for my first #womenaremorethan post!
A Week in Greece #19: HD Celebration Week and Mallory Visits!
Monday
While I was at the women’s conference, “A” moved into HD. I use the office for wifi, and she invited me up to see her room and talk on the balcony for a while on Sunday night. On Monday, we began our first Celebration Week! Every fifth week, we take time off for our participants to create an art project in the mornings, and fun times in the afternoon. Francisca and I went to Jumbo with “A” to buy art supplies, and it was really fun to go out on the town together, buying coffee and waiting for buses and lugging shopping bags up the hill.
“A” came over to my house for lunch after class. I wanted to make eggs (of course) to inaugurate my new kitchen and first oven in Greece, and “A” elevated the meal by making us a nice salad. I still don’t have dining room chairs, so we sat at the table in my office chair and on a footstool. It was really nice! But after that (and especially after a weekend of meeting new people), I spent the rest of the day totally alone. Lovely.
Tuesday Continue reading
Sunday Summary #28: What’s on the Internet
1| 90% of the Black Panther cast will be African or African-American! I’m loving blockbusters’ commitment to increasing diversity (or at least, Star Wars and Marvel). More stories from more voices!
2| Speaking of! This awesome guy interviewed three women in his life to talk about the increased female representation in the Star Wars world!
3| I’M FURIOUS. If ONLY Tom Hiddleston were my boyfriend.
If Tom Hiddleston were your boyfriend, your life would be full of moments where you’d just be standing in your yoga pants with your hair sticking up, waiting for the kettle to boil, when suddenly he’d pop up next to you and exclaim, “Dance break!” and you’d find yourself jitterbugging or tangoing or doing some other dance that you didn’t actually know you knew how to do, while the kettle whistled. This would also come to be your second favorite way of resolving a fight.
4| Do you, like me, long for someone to put together a list of beautiful soundtrack songs from movies, TV shows, and video games? You’re in luck (and so am I)! With songs from Lord of the Rings, Final Fantasy 7, and Star Wars, I knew the less-known recommendations would be right up my alley.
Podcast Recommendation List
For the last year or so, I have been using my phone more and more for podcasts instead of music. Listening to people talking – sharing stories or advice or jokes – makes time go by so much quicker for me. I keep finding interesting podcasts to subscribe to, and I want to share the wealth (and maybe get some recommendations from you)!
1| I love the Vlogbrothers, and I’ve happily ingested their content on YouTube (and bought some Don’t Forget to be Awesome merchandise), but I only recently subscribed to their Comedy Podcast About Death. They answer listeners’ questions with dubious advice, and the whole thing feels very lowkey educational and humorous. I have listened to 17 episodes in the last three days, so. Obviously I like it.
2| Overinvested
This is a newly created podcast by Gavia and Morgan, two geek girls who are great at dissecting fandoms with both intelligence and passion. As of this writing, there are only eight episodes out, but since they cover topics like “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avatar,” “Black Panther,” and “Batman v Superman,” Continue reading
Letters Between Friends: HEALTHY DOSE OF CUTENESS
Dear Tricia,
There are sooo many reasons why I value your friendship, but this…THIS has made if even stronger.
For anyone else reading this, I had the week from HELL last week…Like, verging depression, and I straight up sent Tricia a letter like…”All the reasons I am not physically capable of writing you a letter this week…” Mind you, I sent it on Saturday, so I was already stupid late…
But you, sweet Tricia, gave me just what I needed. Some may think they hear sarcasm in my voice, but nope. You need to talk to Ruthie about your listening ears.
This…. this is what you sent me…
I’m not sure if one day in counciling class, it went something like this, “If in the course of the conversation, your client feels hopeless, confused, slightly broken and almost defeated, show them baby animals. Things will take a different direction.”
Why do they have an affect like that?!?! Sweet Tricia…thank you for your encouragement. And being on my side and not trying to fix things but agreeing with me that people do stupid things sometimes (including me, but we wont talk about that.)
I’m so excited you get to hang out with Mallory this week.
I think a few people have tagged us in this picture before.. seems a good conclusion to a cute animal post. It’s you and I vicariously displayed in the form of cute baby animals.
Love you! Thanks for your mercy this week. Punish me if you will…I deserve it and it might give me some inspiration!
Love,
Lindsay
How Do You Overcome A Mental Block?
I have been slowly realizing that my lack of using Greek is something far deeper than, “Oh, I just don’t have time/don’t have as many opportunities to use it.” It’s actually something far more along the lines of a psychological block. I get incredibly nervous when I even THINK about using Greek, my brain mentally throws up when I try to formulate a sentence in my head, and I have reverted to only tentatively saying, “Ευχαριστὠ” and ‘Κἀλη μἐρα” on a VERY irregular basis.
What happened!? You might remember that at one time, I was writing hilarious letters to fictional girlfriends in Greek. Looking back, I can only conclude that taking the second level of Greek classes right after the first was a very dumb decision. I was struggling that first month, and I just barely survived. I needed a break, but after one short weekend, I was back in class, and everything immediately fell apart. Continue reading
It Is Trish 