Thank you so much for sharing, Terry. You’ve given me a lot to think about! Your writing has inspired me to work with your prompt “have I changed?” this week for a journaling exercise. I also really appreciated the footnotes — it was great to receive the extra context at the end. Keep writing! :)
Hey Alisha, your comment deserves a little more thought. My initial response rang a bit hollow when I re-read it, so I felt compelled to come back and try again. 8^)
First, thank you for your encouragement. I've been thinking about your last two words for the last couple days. For whatever reason, my brain decided to take a couple mutinous days off from writing. Your words reminded me to keep trying. ;p
Also, I don't think I fully appreciated your comment about a journaling exercise. I've heard the phrase "writing prompt" before but frankly never gave it much thought. I've never really followed a "prompt" to write. I am developing a new respect for what that means: time.
Finding your thoughts on "curiosity as a guidepost" filled a gap in my metaphor landscape here. That really helped solidify my thinking and I'll probably be quoting you again soon. Your "writing prompt" may have helped clarify the main direction of my writing here on Substack. I'm not sure how to properly thank you for that. :)
Words have power - something else I'm rapidly learning to appreciate. Writing takes time and mental effort. When you said you were going to take something I wrote and use it as a journaling exercise, I wasn't sure how to respond.
Now I think "thank you" and "good luck" may be appropriate.
Thank you again for your kind words and encouragement. I'm glad to hear I sparked some thought and hope your prompt leads toward your goals! 8^)
It certainly did spark some thought! I think that’s what this is all about. Finding bits of ourselves in others’ words and feeling the connection that comes with that. I typically do not journal with a prompt either, but when inspiration sparks it’s a fun change of pace.
Thank you, Alisha. I wish you well with your prompt! :)
I'm also glad you found the footnotes useful. I'm still learning what to cut and when to use footnotes to keep the narrative moving, so your feedback is quite helpful.
Thanks for your comment and feedback. And thank you for your thoughts about curiosity as a guidepost! 8^)
Thank you, Laura. Adding a little "flair" to break up the "ad-free" wall of text is one of my favorite parts of writing here. If you see some of my first missives, you may find I went a little overboard on that front. Like so many things, I'm seeking balance. ;p
As to your questions... those are good ones! I thought about addressing them here but felt it could have spiraled quickly into another full post. I'll try a ‘short’ answer.
To answer your first question: it already has. These recent self-discoveries have already helped me identify several areas of myself I hadn't seen before - and in my family as well. My self-image or ego or whatever term is appropriate is undergoing a rapid transformation. I can see that in my family as well, especially when I take my focus off myself long enough to look around.
Many of those realizations are new since I started writing here. I already see tangible self-growth looking back at posts from just 60 days ago. Writing here has helped me slow down and really think about (and learn to accept or handle) so many of our changes. In many ways, writing here has truly been more effective than therapy.
I've used the visual of an old 1940's-ish telephone switchboard room with rows of chairs with people wearing headsets moving plugs around a large wall. For the better part of a year after I retired, it felt like that inside my head. Except, it wasn't a bunch of people casually switching things. It was like the entire crew was constantly pounding coffee, furiously switching plugs 24/7, and didn't take a break or sleep. I didn't want that. I couldn't stop it. For quite some time, I felt powerless to even slow it down.
That started to change about the time I started writing and has now become a frequent challenge instead of a constant one. I can't pinpoint what started the change, but writing certainly helped tremendously. Defining guardrails for writing here helped channel my thoughts even more.
As for your second question: yes. Patience and Grace are the key words I find myself contemplating. Perhaps compassion is a better word. :)
As this new lens starts to come in to focus, I realize that I need to be a little more deliberate with being patient in general. That level of self-control simply doesn't come to me nearly as easy as it used to. Applying that to myself is a next level challenge.
I'm used to being pretty good at "what I do." Finding myself confused about what "what I do" makes it hard to be good at it ... and requires a lot more patience and grace with myself than I'm used to applying.
This may be partially the "recovering perfectionist" part. Maybe it's 24 years of living in a bubble where excellence was the consistent standard. Compassion for myself wasn't exactly something my military training reinforced. Developing just a little of it since writing here has already been notably helpful.
Beating myself up for unnecessary, internally generated stress is not good. Recognizing it and stopping it is tough and requires a little patience and grace – or compassion for myself. 8^)
Thank you so much for sharing, Terry. You’ve given me a lot to think about! Your writing has inspired me to work with your prompt “have I changed?” this week for a journaling exercise. I also really appreciated the footnotes — it was great to receive the extra context at the end. Keep writing! :)
Hey Alisha, your comment deserves a little more thought. My initial response rang a bit hollow when I re-read it, so I felt compelled to come back and try again. 8^)
First, thank you for your encouragement. I've been thinking about your last two words for the last couple days. For whatever reason, my brain decided to take a couple mutinous days off from writing. Your words reminded me to keep trying. ;p
Also, I don't think I fully appreciated your comment about a journaling exercise. I've heard the phrase "writing prompt" before but frankly never gave it much thought. I've never really followed a "prompt" to write. I am developing a new respect for what that means: time.
Finding your thoughts on "curiosity as a guidepost" filled a gap in my metaphor landscape here. That really helped solidify my thinking and I'll probably be quoting you again soon. Your "writing prompt" may have helped clarify the main direction of my writing here on Substack. I'm not sure how to properly thank you for that. :)
Words have power - something else I'm rapidly learning to appreciate. Writing takes time and mental effort. When you said you were going to take something I wrote and use it as a journaling exercise, I wasn't sure how to respond.
Now I think "thank you" and "good luck" may be appropriate.
Thank you again for your kind words and encouragement. I'm glad to hear I sparked some thought and hope your prompt leads toward your goals! 8^)
It certainly did spark some thought! I think that’s what this is all about. Finding bits of ourselves in others’ words and feeling the connection that comes with that. I typically do not journal with a prompt either, but when inspiration sparks it’s a fun change of pace.
Thank you, Alisha. I wish you well with your prompt! :)
I'm also glad you found the footnotes useful. I'm still learning what to cut and when to use footnotes to keep the narrative moving, so your feedback is quite helpful.
Thanks for your comment and feedback. And thank you for your thoughts about curiosity as a guidepost! 8^)
Thank you, Laura. Adding a little "flair" to break up the "ad-free" wall of text is one of my favorite parts of writing here. If you see some of my first missives, you may find I went a little overboard on that front. Like so many things, I'm seeking balance. ;p
As to your questions... those are good ones! I thought about addressing them here but felt it could have spiraled quickly into another full post. I'll try a ‘short’ answer.
To answer your first question: it already has. These recent self-discoveries have already helped me identify several areas of myself I hadn't seen before - and in my family as well. My self-image or ego or whatever term is appropriate is undergoing a rapid transformation. I can see that in my family as well, especially when I take my focus off myself long enough to look around.
Many of those realizations are new since I started writing here. I already see tangible self-growth looking back at posts from just 60 days ago. Writing here has helped me slow down and really think about (and learn to accept or handle) so many of our changes. In many ways, writing here has truly been more effective than therapy.
I've used the visual of an old 1940's-ish telephone switchboard room with rows of chairs with people wearing headsets moving plugs around a large wall. For the better part of a year after I retired, it felt like that inside my head. Except, it wasn't a bunch of people casually switching things. It was like the entire crew was constantly pounding coffee, furiously switching plugs 24/7, and didn't take a break or sleep. I didn't want that. I couldn't stop it. For quite some time, I felt powerless to even slow it down.
That started to change about the time I started writing and has now become a frequent challenge instead of a constant one. I can't pinpoint what started the change, but writing certainly helped tremendously. Defining guardrails for writing here helped channel my thoughts even more.
As for your second question: yes. Patience and Grace are the key words I find myself contemplating. Perhaps compassion is a better word. :)
As this new lens starts to come in to focus, I realize that I need to be a little more deliberate with being patient in general. That level of self-control simply doesn't come to me nearly as easy as it used to. Applying that to myself is a next level challenge.
I'm used to being pretty good at "what I do." Finding myself confused about what "what I do" makes it hard to be good at it ... and requires a lot more patience and grace with myself than I'm used to applying.
This may be partially the "recovering perfectionist" part. Maybe it's 24 years of living in a bubble where excellence was the consistent standard. Compassion for myself wasn't exactly something my military training reinforced. Developing just a little of it since writing here has already been notably helpful.
Beating myself up for unnecessary, internally generated stress is not good. Recognizing it and stopping it is tough and requires a little patience and grace – or compassion for myself. 8^)
Thank you for thoughtful questions! :)