- Dancing in public – I look and feel like an idiot. I honestly can’t even do the White Girl Shuffle.
- Singing in public – as a professional musician, I feel I am not good enough and would not torture the public with my lack of singing ability.
- Performing in any kind of improvisational way – I am not good at coming up with stuff on my feet. Give me an hour to write a script, and then I’ll be on my merry way.
- Consuming more than 2-3 alcoholic beverages in one sitting, because I REALLY don’t like the feeling of being out of control of myself. If you look at my Facebook “25 random things about me” note from 2009, you’d see I’ve never been drunk enough to puke. True fact. You’d also see that I can’t roll my Rs or burp, but that’s not really relevant here. ;-)
- Partaking in any kind illegal drugs – for the reason above, PLUS I am a rule follower, and this would be breaking the rules.
- Basically doing anything perceived as “silly.” I am just not a silly person. I don’t particularly care if people like me, but I definitely want people to respect me.
- Making small-talk – OK, yes, you may actually find me doing this, but I hate it. It relates to the whole improv thing. I’m just not good at it. I am, however, a GREAT listener!
- I enjoy public speaking. Huh?? Nobody enjoys this! Yes, I do…as long as I am sure of what I need to say. Speaking to a group of 500 people doesn’t faze me, while standing in a group of 5 people trying to hold a conversation is a nightmare.
- Conducting a large ensemble of musicians – I truly miss this part of teaching. I LOVE conducting.
- Blogging: Well, here I am. Pouring my heart and soul out there for the world to see. However, it is from behind a computer and not actually speaking to people.
This week we had a little office competition for best Halloween decorated office-space. Instead of entering the competition as individuals, my team of Fueligans decided to enter together and build a haunted house out of our whole section of the building. We came together to decide on different stations along the trail. Even I, who would normally put this whole concept in the category of “silly” and “impractical” (and even breaking the rules, since we used several “extended” lunch hours to get this done) threw my heart into this.
It was a tour, aided with prison guards from "Orange is the New Black," and an awesome narrative tour guide in a pug costume. We had zombies, a bloody shower scene, a cemetery full of dead-to-us ex-employees, a bar with Frankenstein serving bloody cocktails, a skeleton who died on the job, an awful, creepy video playing on a big screen, a giant, hairy spider dropping down on unexpected participants, and some volunteer Myrtle Beach marathon t-shirts hung like a car wash to walk though (you had to be there to get the experience…trust me). Oh, and me….the Wicked Witch of Analytics. And I had to dress up as a witch (if you consider a witch hat and green face paint dressing up)and cackle at people as they walked by...NOT in my comfort zone. Again…more silliness. |
I am making a public pact with myself to start having more fun in the time I have left on this earth. I will say "no" less often when people invite me to stuff that is out of my comfort zone. I will get out there and meet more people. I will simply do more things.