They Like Me! They Really Like Me!

So far my writing career has consisted of me drafting content, and trying to promote the hell out of it with my meager means.  Today, in a very small but significant way, the tide has turned...I have been approached to write a piece for the local POMBA (parents of multiple births) newsletter.  This is so cool...the invitation stems from my writing on www.suite101.com , where I've created a series of articles on parenting twins.  So while I realize that writing an article like this is very small potatoes in the big scheme of things, it means a lot to me.  My writing has been noticed by someone, and it is appreciated.  That's a really great feeling.

Wherever You Go, There You Are..?

The idea that your core self is inescapable is not exactly revolutionary.  The idea is, if you're a shy person in your hometown of Boise, Idaho you will not all of a sudden be an outgoing social phenomenon after taking up residence in NYC.  While this used to ring very true for me, I think the theory could perhaps benefit from a caveat. 

At home, I am what would be called an Alpha.  I lead our household/family initiatives.  I am the one person in the house who actually knows our postal code.  I am the person who plans out what the weekend's activities will be. 

At work, I am also "Alpha" except when it comes to crap I don't know anything about.  If the subject matter happens to be child-related, or medical, or to do with makeup, grammar, knitting, or any other topic that makes me feel knowledgeable, there's no stopping me.  I can be persuasive, inspirational, and thought-provoking.  But the moment the topic turns to something more challenging for me like technology (I work for a technology company...), politics, or some specific current affairs that I've been tuning out, I become a completely different person.  I feel myself physically shrink, get red in the face, shake, and generally feel inept.

When I'm writing, I'm in the wonderful, empowering position of being able to reign myself in with no consequence if I find myself wandering into a topic out of my comfort zone.  I think in order to write you have to not only be able to reflect on the experiences you've had but have an insatiable need to experience new things and a need to share those experiences.

So I think the idea of "wherever you go, there you are" is true to some extent but is also completely a headspace.  Maybe it would be more accurate to say "you are what you know and what you want to know".