Comments on: Reschooling Tool #18: Personal Firsts As a Sign of Progress

By: Melia

Melia — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:16:54 +0000

And Lauren, I’m glad that you’re doing yoga regularly, too. You’ve said that Beth is an amazing teacher. I love having yoga teacher friends!

By: Melia

Melia — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:15:29 +0000

Yes, I’m looking forward to reading at the Spotlight for the first time! From the responses to the invite, it looks as if we’ll have a good crowd.

By: janine

janine — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:12:02 +0000

you have forgotten another upcoming first; your first time performing your work in Jackson at the Writer’s Spotlight

By: lauren

lauren — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:38:45 +0000

Hey lovely! This is fantastic. I love the fact that you are doing yoga. I’ve been staying up on yoga nights with Beth on Tuesdays. It’s going pretty well, and I agree, very meditative and relaxing!

Wheww. Love it.

By: Melia

Melia — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:36:33 +0000

2008 was certainly a year of change. It seemed like everyone I talked to was going through the kind of major transition that the country was.

Isn’t it incredible how different your life can be from one six-month period to the next? Especially if you move to a totally different place — e.g. South Carolina/Chicago, San Diego/New Orleans, or Bay Area/Jackson.

Katie, I think I’m as nearly glad about your firsts as you are, especially your blog (I’m a big, big fan) and your paving the way for me by forging a freelancing life, with your freelancer partner, in a new city. If you have any tips for easing the mind enough to fall asleep, please send them. I woke up before 6 this morning, with my mind buzzing again.

By: Gilliebean

Gilliebean — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:28:01 +0000

Congratulations on all your great firsts! It has been a lot of change for you in a short period of time (I feel ya), and I think you’re taking it in stride really well. There will always be those stressful “what the hell am I doing” moments, but you have so many fun, exciting things going on. I’m looking forward to learning right along side you as I open a new chapter in my life as well.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 02:11:42 +0000

This is a great post. I used to know that firsts were to be celebrated…until I acquired so many in such a short period of time that I forgot they were important. Like you, I’ve had a lot of firsts over the past six months. Most have been positive. Here are some notable ones:

1) I quit my salaried job to move halfway across the country, just because I wanted to.

2) I worked on comedy videos with Keith and Josh, which has been cooler than I ever thought it would be. They aren’t my babies, but that’s something I never would’ve volunteered my time for in the past.

3) I fell asleep without being overtaken by anxiety. The day I quit my job, I stopped having that rush of “what ifs” in the still moments before I dropped off. I don’t miss them. At. All.

4) I started a blog. It never really occurred to me to have one before, and I don’t know why I didn’t start blogging sooner.

5) I trust someone else with half of my life. When I was the one with the full-time job, I felt like I was running the ship a lot of the time. Now, we merge our freelancing bucks. We don’t have as much money, but it’s a better situation.

6) I took a pasta-making class, and even though it was me and a bunch of stay-at-home mommies I still had fun.

7) I stopped counting calories. OK, so this is only a half-truth. But sometimes I forget to keep score, which would’ve never happened six months ago.

I’ve got some stuff in the hopper for this summer: I’m going to attempt to grow my first potted garden on the back porch, run a 5K with my mom, build up my freelancing opportunities to include actual writing and call my in-city acquaintances so I can lay some roots here. We are, after all, still in this for the long haul…or at least the next two to three years.