thinking

Overthinker

by
My new nose piercing
It’s small, but I *do* work in an office.

I got my nose pierced today.

I’ve thought about getting it done ever since I was a teenager. And at nearly 34 years old, I finally did it.

Now that I’ve done it, I’m wondering about why I waited so long. What was the big deal?

This happens to me a lot.

I am an overthinker. Those of you that know me well know that this is nothing new. When a decision needs to be made, I like to mull it over, do my research and feel 100% good about the decision I’m making. It’s rare that I make a decision on anything significant without giving it some serious thought.

The ability to just make a decision without thinking it to death is something I really admire in my husband Sean. He has the confidence to say “I want to do something”, figure out how to get it, and work at it till he has done it. The guy has a lot of adventures as a result.

I get stuck at “I want to do this, but…”:

  • Is it a good idea?
  • Can I pull it off?
  • Can I afford it?
  • Where is the best place to do this?
  • When can I do it?
  • Will someone come with me?
  • Will I be accepted as a legitimate do-er of said activity?
  • And it goes on (and on) like this…

All of these questions lead to frantic Googling, pros and cons lists and annoying everyone with the “what do *you* think I should do?” question.

All this thinking doesn’t lead to doing – or consciously Not Doing. It just just leads to hamster wheeling.

I got off the hamster wheel today because I was sick of listening to myself dither. I was driving myself crazy. I did some last-minute thinking this morning, but at lunch time, I left my office and walked with purpose to the piercing place. I only hesitated outside for a minute or so and I walked in. I didn’t tell anyone I was going.

I was nervous as I filled out the release form. I got less nervous as the procedure was explained to me.

Then it was done.

I looked in the mirror and was proud that I finally did it. That I made the decision on my own and I felt good about the result.

If anyone has any advice on how to make a decision quickly and thoughtfully, without making yourself crazy, I’m all ears. Or, I guess I should say, I’m looking for what everyone else already nose about decision making.

Welcome to suburbia

by

Well, I’m here. We’re all here. We moved into the new house a couple of weeks ago and while we still have boxes to unpack, we’re mostly settled in.

We’re getting used to having more space than we had before. Space is nice.

Sean and I are figuring out our new routines. We’ve truly joined suburbia and bought a second car. Looking around the neighbourhood, I’m shocked at how many cars are in the driveways. I shouldn’t be surprised about that, but it’s still quite a sight when everyone is home for the night.

We’re still getting used to getting up earlier in the morning. I should probably be in bed right now, but after working late tonight (a not-so-regular occurrence given my preference for spending what few evening hours I have with my family), I needed to get some things done. I also needed to have some by-myself time. I need to make sure I carve out some writing time – I have lots on my mind.

In short: we’ve moved, we’re happy, we’re busy. We’re like every other family in suburbia. And that’s okay.

My word for 2012

by

Happy… Old Year?

I’m a little behind. Forgive me, I’ve been busy.

Like so many other bloggers, I’ve chosen a word for 2012. I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a big year, and not just because there are theories that the world is going to end come December. (Personally I don’t buy it, but lots of people do so I have to acknowledge it.)

The word I’ve chosen for 2012 is:

create

  • I want to create  great content for hellomelissa.net
  • I want to create more in general
  • I want to create a happy, settled, comfortable home for me and my family
  • I want to create the life I want for myself, which will benefit my family

It’s a short list, but they’re pretty lofty ambitions. Wish me luck.

 

#reverb10 – Day 17: Lesson Learned

by

December 17 Prompt

Tara Weaver
The Butcher and the Vegetarian
@tea_austen

Prompt: Lesson learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

reverb10.com

Note: So yeah, I’m a little behind on #reverb10. While December is a lovely time to take stock of my life, I think I would have more time to actually do that in January. The holidays and all they entail are done with and the whole “new year, new start vibe” is in full effect. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll get all the prompts done by December 31st, so I’ll likely get my wish and continue the prompts (well) into January.

Hmm….so what was the best thing I learned about myself this year?

I’m having a hard time answering this. Anything I think of feels boring or mundane and not worthy of a blog post saying “look at me! I’m the awesome!”

The truly kickass things I learned have hopefully been absorbed into my daily life so that they feel like I’ve always known them and can apply them at will. That they become boring and mundane.

But that doesn’t answer the question does it?

#reverb10 – Day 15: 5 minutes

by


December 15 Prompt

Author: Patti Digh
Creative is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative
@pattidigh

Prompt: 5 minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

reverb10.com

I’m totally behind on #reverb10, and this prompt has been swirling around in the back of my head since it was released. That said, when I set the timer to write this list, I spent some of the five minutes thinking “what else do I not want to forget?”.

I’ve distilled my raw points into the following list:

Things I Don’t Want to Forget About 2010:

Flora’s milestones and development. Flora learned to walk late – she was about 18 months old. I wasn’t exactly worried about how long she was taking but it was a relief when she finally got the confidence to get her feet under her. She learned to talk before that and she’s been talking a blue streak ever since. It’s been a lot of fun to watch her turn from a one-year-old into a two-year-old. Her imagination is huge and it’s such a joy to watch her play and learn.

Summer. I love summer. I am a summer baby and it is definitely my preferred season. We didn’t do too much out of the ordinary, but we did get to go visit friends and go to a cottage together for the day. Watching Flora hang out with our friend’s kids was a lot of fun. Hanging out in the hot tub after the kids went to bed was awfully nice too. We also did boat trips with my parents and went to the beach near their house. Beach days with my family are always fun – lots of food, drink and sand and water toys for everyone to play with. Even hanging out at home was fun. Sean barbecuing, going to the park to go on the swings, everything is easier and more relaxed in the summer.

Our January trip down south. Sean and I went to the Dominican Republic with good friends. It was wonderful to get away from the kids (they have a son four months younger than Flora), knowing that they were safe and having a wonderful time with their grandparents. It was also nice to take an all-inclusive trip while not being pregnant!

My girl’s weekend. In November, I got together with a bunch of girls I’ve known since high school. We live here, there and everywhere and don’t see each other often, but putting us all in the same room made for a lot of talk and a lot of laughs. The subject matter may have been slightly more mature (at times anyway), but it’s amazing how little things have changed between us. Very few pictures were taken (d’oh), but I hope we can make it an annual event so we need fewer pictures to commemorate it.

Blissdom Canada. Blissdom was a big deal for me. It was my first blogging/social media conference, and was my first opportunity to meet many of the people I see on Twitter and on their blogs every day. I learned a lot from the sessions that I’m using in my day-to-day life. Seeing everyone there also made me more aware that this stuff is a big deal to more than just me. I’ve been writing online a long time and I really enjoy it. Meeting like-minded folks both in person and via Twitter has made me realize that I am not crazy and I am not alone out here.

I hope that 2011 brings more of the same and that I’m able to remember even more great, uneraseable memories next year at this time.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
This work by Melissa Price-Mitchell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada.
%d bloggers like this: