Writing Exercise

One of my close friends who has this wonderful blog, Beyondthegreendoor,were talking about how there are so many characteristic that each one of us fall under and how sometimes, it's difficult to acknowledge that we are all of these things, not just one of them.  Not one person I know can be categorized as just one adjective. We are mothers and sons and outgoing and interpersonal and loving and straight and so on and so on.

This conversation though was the catalyst for us to create a writing exercise out of it and I am inviting my readers to join in.  You can send me(gregg@projectkinect.com) your writing or leave it as a comment or comment on what you get out of it.  The purpose of inviting people to do this isn't necessarily that you want a writing exercise, but it was a great task for some self-seeking research.  Both me and my friend got some great things out of doing this.  It is open ending free writing that allows you to put some labels on yourself.  Here is how we did it.

First make a list:  Write down an entire list of every label, adjective or self-identifying word that describes who you think you are.  I was typing mine so I just did a page full but I really think keep going until you feel is good. 

Second, choose three: Look at the list and take moment to think about each word.  How does each one make you feel?  What thoughts do you have? What memories do these words make you think of?  Choose three to focus on

Third, write: Write about what each of the three words mean to you.  It can be a memory, what you see in others, a news article that you read about it..... Anything.  We decided a paragraph or two would be good for each word but once we started writing, it opened up into much larger topics and ideas. 

Have fun with it!  Here is mine because I wanted to share it.  I like to share when I learn a little more about myself.  I also would really love to hear what you get out of it.

Open minded

Flexible
Gay
Well Spoken
Fun
Confused
Parental
Leader
Psychologist
Actor
Uncle
Friend
Confidant
Son
Brother
Decision Maker
Over Thinker
Listener
Correspondent
Host
Soul Searcher
Loved One
Writer
Peace Keeper
Entrepreneur
Hippie
Aimless Wanderer
Ambitious Dreamer
Blind
Naïve
Partier
Monogamous
Philanthropist
Hopeful
Good Seeker
Life Lover
Horror Film Junkie
Road Trip Lover
Radio Host
Communicator
Connector
People Person
Eater
Food Junkie
Thespian

 Well Spoken.

Growing up I always admired my grandmother for being so well spoken.  It wasn’t that she was just well spoken, but that she was able to change her tone, purpose and delivery with the different people that she came across.   I always just was in aww and hoped that I too, one day would have this gift.  As I grew through my teens, I realized that it was not as common as I once thought. 

I came across two remarkable young women when I got to my first front of the house restaurant job.  The first summer at Houlihan’s I had the hardest time talking to Abigail and Jacqueline because I felt years behind them because of their ability to speak to everyone and always be so extremely articulate and precise.  I watched them, listened to them and began to see what it looked like as a younger person to have the same gift my grandmother had.  This gift my grandmother had wasn’t just a gift, it was a muscle that needed to be flexed and worked out.  The gift is a balance of interpersonal skills, intuition and observation skills that once added with a vocabulary and ability to listen, becomes a power more than a gift.

Years later, now that I have attempted to flex and work out this muscle, I hear it in my voice at times and it shocks me to think that I have acquired this thing that I so admired in my grandmother.  I hear it when I go from talking to my boss to a nineteen year old employee and I hear it when I go from talking to my friends at dinner and then to the nervous waitress.  I have picked up my grandma’s gift.

Host.

Host is such a versatile hat to wear.  I see it in a friend who is having a dinner party and I see it in my staff at the restaurant.  I guess it takes a moment to really think about what the definition is and really thing about how we host in our everyday lives.  A host is someone or something that lets another being into their own space.  A person can be the host to influenza.  I can host people at my restaurant.  A person can be the master of ceremonies and in result be the host of that particular event. I guess a host is someone who makes another feel comfortable in a new environment.  That environment doesn’t have to be owned or property of the host, but just somewhere that the host is able to find comfort on a level of self in order to make everyone else feel that level of comfortability or ease. I see why I would have written it on my list of characteristics. 

 Hippie.  

I have always been friends with what we consider hippies in this post-modern world and they excite me.  For a long time I was unable to breath and be calm and I would see my more hippie-ish friends and just revel in their ability to brush it off. 

The last two years I have embraced my inner hippie and realize that I am a hippie in my own way.  I now let life go with ease, for the most part.  We can’t control everything and I can now really understand that.  Sometimes the plan is much different than we plan and we have to have a calm about ourselves in order to get through the “new” plan.  I remember my roommate in college, Katie, telling me, “Sometime we have to sit in a room and wait for what our plans will be.”  She was usually talking about plans to go out but it is relatable.

Hippie for me also makes me think about how envious I was of Sandra Oh’s character in Sideways.  She was just living in wine country in Northern California in a trailer with her child:  Nothing glamorous, just simple and humble.  I always think how a part of me could just do that very thing.  The hippie in me is strong but not quite strong enough yet for me to say do it.