One Very Possible (and Completely Not Book-Related) Co-Adventure Before Breakfast: Being Brave Already
July 23rd, 2008 by Eisha and Jules
Jules: So, Eisha, as you know, when we featured Laini Taylor’s lovely ladies this past Sunday, I ended up — long story how — at this artist’s blog, Diary of a Self-Portrait. (That, incidentally, is my favorite “about me” portion of anyone’s blog ever. It’s amazing how much we know about Jessie when she writes merely: “I paint. I write. I love strong coffee, being outside, my dogs, and snow. My dreams are vivid.”)
And, as you also know, Jessie — back in October of last year — launched a Be Brave project, based on this notion:
And all kinds of people joined her, prompting her in early July to do this again. She wrote:
And so I’ve come to the conclusion that it is time to revisit the Be Brave Project and to invite you, once again, to join me in doing so.
I will whole-heartedly return to this project on Monday, July 21st…And I will blog about my experience here, as often as I’m able to.
I want to make it very clear, however, that there is no beginning and no end to this project. If you decide to join in, there are no rules except for the ones you create for yourself…
MAKE YOUR OWN RULES.
Do this for yourself.
Make a commitment for the length of time that best suites YOUR needs–one day, one month, one year, one moment…it’s all up to you, and you alone. đ
The “brave” or “scary” things that you choose to do can be as big or little as you want them to be. Sometimes it’s the little things that can be the most scary (and beneficial)!
(not to quote Nike, but…) Just do it.
Be on your own schedule. You don’t need to make a commitment until YOU are ready.
This is your unique journey–make it whatever you want it to be.
And that would be when I emailed you and said, hey, at the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil here, don’t you think this’d be fun? I have always loved that notion, that Roosevelt quote, and I’m tired of being a wussy-butt about some things. And, lucky for me, you said yes.
Still up for it? Me, I can shoot for one brave thing a week, though I’ll certainly try to do more. And I say once a week, simply because I work from home. The girls and I venture out a whole lot, but there are some days when we simply hang out and play and I work and that kind of thing. And look at me defining (narrowing?) bravery in a social context, huh? But that would probably correctly nail a lot of the moments when I’m feeling like a big fat chicken — such as, wanting to say something to somebody and feeling too shy to, etc.
But I’m rambling. I repeat: Still up for it?
eisha: Oh yeah, I’m up for it. I can be such a big sissy about a lot of stupid stuff, like ordering pizza over the phone. But also, it’s kind of disheartening having to apply for jobs all the time like I am, and having to risk getting turned down over and over. I could use a little bravery-nudge there too. So, yes, let’s do this. Or, as Robin Brande once put it, let’s pull on our big girl panties.
I believe we discussed maybe doing at least one brave thing a week for the next month, and listing it along with our 7 Kicks on Sundays. Is that still the plan?
SPARTANS! READY YOUR BREAKFAST AND EAT HEARTY, FOR TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!!!
Jules: HA-OOH! HA-OOH! NO FEAR THREATENS AN IMP! TO THE CLIFFS!
Ahem, okay, enough screaming. Yes, let’s do it. And, yes, we decided to declare and report any and all Be-Brave moments during our kicks on Sundays for about a month.
Anyone wanna join us Spartans? Or, shall I say Spartimps?
(Okay, the Spartacus thing is way awesome? But I’m still going to nerdy my way in with a Klingon quote, “It is a good day to die.” If I really wanted to freak you out, I could write it in Klingon.)
I have to smile that someone else hates the phone as much as I do. I make D. order any pizza, talk to repair people, and otherwise interact with strangers. I don’t want to do one scary thing every day, LIFE is enough.
But.
That kind of sounds like me being a big old baby.
*sigh*
Okay, I’m thinking about it.
Do it! Do it, TadMack!
I also hate the phone. I can’t recall where — it must have been an online conversation with Cybils-related folks at the end of last year — but anyway, turns out that, like, most of us bloggers HATE talking on the phone. Or maybe most people do, and we’re just a great representation of the larger society. Heh.
Seriously, it doesn’t have to be every day. Jessie suggests: Make up your own dang rules. Mine’s not gonna be daily. Shoot, I’m after one thing a week right now!
I like the idea of doing one brave thing a week. Good thing I did not read about this last week. I would have had to be brave and ride the “tilt-a-whirl” with my granddaughter.
I am in. Gulp.
BTW, I will post at the Deowriter blog.
TO THE CLIFFS, Jone! TO THE CLIFFS!
Woo hoo!
WE SHALL FIGHT IN THE SHADE!! HA-OOH!! HA-OHH!!
TadMack, for real, you know Klingon? You have totally outnerded us on our own blog. I just don’t know what to think.
Jone, lordy, you can just do something like actually talk to a stranger in a checkout line, you don’t have to put your life in danger. But welcome aboard.
I’ve started trying to write… fiction. Dreaded, dreaded fiction. That’s my brave thing for the next year!
Dana, that is freaking awesome. COME BACK WITH YOUR SHIELD, OR ON IT!!!
Sorry, I can’t seem to stop with the 300 thing.
I’m in. I’ve got pretty bad social anxiety, so it’s easy for me to find ways to be brave. (Like tomorrow, even though I’ll take my boyfriend with me, I’ll maybe talk to the people at the JC Penney catalog desk myself.) I’ll try for one a week and include mine in the 7 on Sunday. But this week I’ve got 2 already! (One is the phone thing. I, too, hate hate hate the phone.)
eep. You two Spartans are making me crumble into little bitty cookie pieces.
I love this.
I’ll have to think on how not to lose my shield.
I’m with Kimberly, it won’t be hard for me to find something to be brave about! For me, it’s that I seem to be constantly having to be brave at work and try something new and scary. Big girl panties are on!
I actually hate talking in front of big crowds.
I had to laugh over the phone thing – it’s funny how a job can cure you of that fear. I worked for the Palm Beach Dept of Airports out of college in Noise Abatement. The big runway takes off right over the rich folks in West Palm Beach and then Palm Beach itself. They hate the plane noise and complain all the time. I was always nervours answering the phone until one day, soon after being hired, when a woman in West Palm phoned me every time a jet flew over head. It was like 40 times in an afternoon. And she was angry every time.
Basically, I was told that I was hated several dozen times in one day.
By the end, I was waiting for that phone to ring. I wanted to tell her what I thought! ha!
(I still remember her name but won’t post it here. I’m thinking she must have had a heart attack or something by now. Who buys a house directly under the departure end of the 15th busiest airport in the country and then wigs out when planes fly overhead??????)
Hello! I was sent here by a friend and am so glad that she shared your link! By golly, after reading this I feel downright FEARLESS! Well, ok, maybe not fearless…but whole lot more courageous!
Thanks for the shout-out. I wish you much success and grand adventures as you strike out on your be brave journey.
Many thanks,
Jessie (from Diary of a Self Portrait)
đ
The more you ask, the more you’ll know.
The more you know, the braver you’ll be.
I am sending the Be Brave link to the readergirlz divas as well. I know they will appreciate the sentiments as much as I do!
Thanks, everyone.
Colleen, HA! I love that story.
Hi, Jessie! Thanks for the idea.
I’m thinking, quite frankly, that sometimes it’s going to be a fine line between being brave and being stoooopid — for me anyway.
Dang, at this point, why do we still have phones? NOBODY likes them. Except Colleen, who had to go through my exact idea of hell to get over it.
Hey, Jessie! Thanks for coming up with such a kick-ass idea – you inspiration, you.
WORD UP, e.
Grumpy Old Man, No. 7,000 in a Series:
“Why do we even need phones? In my day, we just grabbed some flags or paddles and waved our arms around. That’s the way it was, and WE LIKED IT!”
see, we can do this. it’d be MUCH easier than the phone. just step outside — yell first to get attention, of course — and start waving wildly:
Well… I was thinking email, but… okay. We can do semaphore. It’s probably a good upper-body toner.
eisha, you live approximately 1,000 miles from me (right? maybe 800ish?). it’ll be an EXCELLENT upper-body toner.
god bless email.
(we’re just talking to ourselves anymore in this thread, aren’t we?)
Oh, um, you brave ones scare me. Do I even dare?
yes, jama, yes! to the cliffs and all that!
OMG, I love when you guys start with that Spartan shouting.
I have the exact same phone thing. I feel completely lost without a.) my ability to communicate nonverbally, and b.) my ability to see the person I’m talking to communicating nonverbally. My BFF Tammy is one of those people who calls people all the time like it’s no big deal AND she strikes up conversations with people in public and at parties and things. I regard her with a great deal of awe.
I do challenge myself to do things I find scary quite a bit, though, otherwise I would have crumbled by now. Just today, I CALLED A STRANGER. Even worse? I CALLED A STRANGER who I might be hiring to come help clean my house every couple weeks, which I’m also completely anxious about. But which I think needs to be done. Which makes me anxious. I’ll let you know how it works out in this week’s kicks. Much of my life is like this.
jama, look: if WE scare you, and yet you commented on our scary blog, you’ve already done your brave thingy for the week. Yay!
adrienne, if talking to a stranger meant that stranger might clean my apartment for me, I would embrace it heartily.
Spartans never retreat! Spartans never surrender! Go spread the word. Let every Greek assembled know the truth of this. Let each among them search his own soul. And while you’re at it, search your own.
LOVE that movie! (And Gerard Butler!)
Commenting very late, but you guys are awesome, and I read this yesterday, but needed to write out the memory you triggered before coming back and commenting. (its on my little space, found at the link above.)
You have all inspired ME to be brave, and commit to it. My big step will be to take steps with my one book already written, and the second one that is half written, and see what happens. YIKES!
Thanks for the push!
I’m up for it! I’ll start by commenting… which I never do because it’s scary. Can anyone relate?
My recent need for bravery?: I have to move from my house because of my horrible cruel noisy neighbors, become a landlord, rent a new house, maybe sue my old neighbors, keep calling the police every time and risking toung-tied confrontation.
Yes and any social interaction also! I laughed at the ordering pizza thing! Like I have to be afraid of what some teenager at a pizza place thinks.
Also, what’s worse? Calling strangers or calling someone you know that you should have called a long long time ago? sheesh.
Leanne, that’s some pretty heavy stuff — calling the noisy neighbors out and such. That takes some serious bravery for us shy types.
To answer your question….um, that’s hard. Probably calling someone you haven’t called in a long time is my answer …and, say, you were the one who dropped the ball. I’ve got a friend like that right now. Yeesh. I need to call after about a year or more of not-calling. I just keep cringing about it.
I am reading this so late I have three scary things to report and I didn’t even know about the challenge! WOO Ha!
1. I read the story at VBS the other night. I do that for a living so it shouldn’t be scary, right? But it was a new crowd for me and the first time they saw me do my stuff so it did feel scary. I did good though.
2. I made an appointment with a new-to-us family therapist. Decided to face some issues head on. Big scary step that keeps on stepping.
3. Worked on the grad school application. Still too scared to send out the requests for letters of reference…
And now I know another thing I love about Tadmack.
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