Mary's First Adventure

I hate breaking away from my comfort zone and trying something new. Even when I buy new shoes or new clothes, I never wear them right away. I hang up the clothes and place my shoes in my shoe bag. I look at them for a long time before I actually wear them.

Or like when I used to walk in the park. One day I became bored with my routine and decided to walk in the opposite direction. I did and it felt awkward. I became disoriented and uncomfortable. The next day, I resumed my old pattern of walking in the park and I felt comfortable again.

It is obvious that I am a creature of habit and comfort. New things really throw me for a loop. So, this year, I set up a Blog with my high school classmate, Gail. We both decided to do something new and different. We decided to try a new adventure that would take both of us out of our comfort zones.

So, here goes my first adventure. A few nights ago, I attended the Writers at Work meeting at my library. The group meets on one Monday of each month. At least 15 writers were at this meeting. I looked around the long table, and didn't recognize a single person. After things settled down, each person took a turn and introduced themselves. I was nervous and uncomfortable but managed to get my name right and tell a little bit about my
writing background. I was proud of myself for being able to do this without passing out.

For each session, the writers are given an assignment to write, provide copies of each story, read it out loud, and are given helpful critiques from the other writers. Each writer took their turn reading what they had prepared. After the stories had been read, I realized that four of the six writers had written about murder. That surprised me, and I wondered, what's with the death theme? Was I among a frustrated group of wanna be killers? Then it occurred to me that maybe the assignment had opened up their bloodthirsty writer's vein.

When the meeting was over at 9 p.m., I was tired and I was ready to go home. Throughout the evening, I wrestled with the question - would I return? Yes, but not for a while. Earlier that day, I had signed up for beginning classes in Italian. The classes will run every Monday night for eight sessions. But I did come away from the meeting with a few good tips about blogging.

For whatever it is worth, trying a new and different adventure (whether it is a big one or a little one) just might help to pull me out of my old comfort zone. It just might help me to go outside the python.