So, it’s my turn to participate in the AbsoluteWrite Blogchain #9. Following a wonderful post from Andrea on the pushing outside your comfort zone, it got me thinking to when I really started pushing outside of my comfort zone.
I’ve always been a tad bit stubborn. Only a little, I promise. I know that I gave my mom a run for her money when I was little. It’s just how I am. And I’ve always been a bit of a thinker. Not many children read from an encyclopedia just because, or to gather information. I’ve be hoarding information since I could grasp it.
So what makes me push boundaries? I’ve always had a knack for that, too. Question after question until I wear someone out. But, I like to know the intricacies of things. Is what your currently doing the best option? Are there better ways out there? If you’ve tried X before, what made it fail? Can you improve what you’re doing?
I’ve always liked to try new things within reason. Which means maximizing safety and minimizing stupidity. No, I’m not going to hang on to the hood of your car while you drive around the parking lot. Yes, I will learn to use a gun, even if they scare me, because it can be useful and I can go hunting with you.
Common sense is a wonderful spice to add to life, and I don’t like to make decisions lightly. But some things don’t affect us all equally. So, I tried to make a list of things that push my comfort boundaries. A couple of things that stuck out:
I start a new job a week from Monday. I just starting feeling like I was really comfortable in my current position, and now I get start from scratch again with people I am not sure will like me.
I’ve been encouraged to post more of my writing at AW. I don’t often like to attract attention to myself, and right now I don’t have anything polished enough to let others lay eyes on. I can’t bring myself to do it because I see so much weakness in what I have. I probably should polish up something to post for crit.
With that enlightening post, I shall leave you to how you feel about your comfort, and what activities factor those changes. Next up in the blogchain is Niteowl at http://www.periodically.org/.
AbsoluteWrite BlogChain #9
Virginia Lee: I Ain't Dead Yet!
http://blog.cathsmith.com/
hunt & peck
Life, Writing, and Other Things
periodically.org
Food History
A View From the Waterfront
Organized Chaos
Willibee
The Road Less Traveled
awchain
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8 comments:
Good post, TJ. And really, part of the point of posting your work for crit is to help get that polish, so find something you're not too emotionally invested in (if that's possible) and give posting a shot. If it has a beginning, middle and end then go for it.
Of course, I'm not one to type. I currently have about a gazillion things that are too incomplete for even first crits. So maybe I'm not the one to listen to...
Good luck with the new job! :)
And good on you for sharing your work on the forum.
I think we grow when we push ourselves like this. They're opportunities to learn as much as anything.
Nice post tjwriter. I'm afraid I didn't stray that far from the topic of Comfort Zone. Actually, I didn't stray at all. I stayed within my comfort zone in a blog post about comfort zones. I'm sure I broke a blog rule somewhere there :)
Putting your work out in to the light of day is scary and necessary. It's great to have the support I've enjoyed at AW through the people I have met here.
I was alway nervous when my boss said she had a growth opportunity for me...
nice, TJ.
Good luck with the new gig!
Sometimes we push, sometimes we're pushed. Either way, I figure you can't see the boundary until your looking at it from the outside.
I'm with you on the not wanting to share my work for crit. I don't have any fiction writing I'm happy enough with to put up for public scrutiny. I know, deep in my gut, that someone other than me will have to read it sometime, but I just don't feel ready yet.
P.S. Good luck with your new job!
Ugh! Sharing writing! That is so tough. But, you are right, if you don't even try, then you can bet that you won't progress.
I love the thoughtful voice behind your blog.
Thanks for the thoughtful post, Tori, and good luck with the new job. It's been a tough road, hasn't it?
If you aren't comfortable posting your stuff in SYW yet, try soliciting for a private crit. It will help you put some polish on a piece, and hopefully make the idea of sharing in SYW a little less scary.
Hugs!
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