Day One Hundred Seventy-Nine: Makeover

Looking for faces on which to practice makeup application for her business, a woman posted a plea on a local Facebook group for volunteers. I decided it would make a good First for me, so I offered my face. This First was way outside my comfort zone, since I'm not that in to people, makeup, or being touched. But getting outside my comfort zone is definitely the spirit of this Year of Firsts project, and I'm glad I did it. I made a new friend, tried a new look, pushed past some of my issues, and grew as a person.

Before

After

Day One Hundred Sixty-Nine: Stepping out of my Introvert Shell

I have heavy leanings toward introvertedness. I do not easily or comfortably make connections with new people. I see this as a flaw in myself, and it's something I have to consciously work on. Therefore, I was proud of myself today for initiating interactions with two different people--one in person and one via Facebook. The face-to-face interaction occurred at Weston's basketball game with the mother of one of his teammates, and we ended up chatting during the whole game. This seems completely normal and not at all edgy, I know, but for me it's a bit out there, so bear with me. Because of our divide-and-conquer system of delivering our four kids to their different activities, I have only ever taken Weston to one basketball practice (where I actually sat in the car in order to get some writing done) and have only gotten to attend one other game. So, I haven't met most of the parents and had the opportunity to engage in bleacher small talk with them (which I honestly don't really love, but which seems to be the way most conversations get off the ground). But before the game started tonight, I overheard this mom say something interesting to one of the coaches and decided to strike up a conversation on that topic. It was delightful to visit with her and reminded that social interactions don't have to be (that) hard.

The Facebook interaction was even more bizarre for me. I follow a group of "worldschoolers" with something like 40,000 members from all over the world. They are a great source of travel information, and following the group is a way for me to travel vicariously when I'm not traveling in real life. Someone posted something recently that resonated with me. I responded. We had a brief virtual conversation and realized we both live in Flower Mound of all the crazy things. The connection seemed so serendipitous that I immediately sent her a PM and invited her to lunch, which is way outside my normal MO. These were two pretty big Firsts for me, and I'm proud of myself for operating outside my comfort zone.

Day Ninety-Five: Personality Test

I guess this is the week for Firsts that are similar to, but different from, other Firsts. Yesterday, I had the charcoal mask, which was similar to the homemade face mask, but different enough to count as a First. Today I did a Meyers-Briggs type personality test, which was different enough, but not too different, from the Enneagram. I have probably taken a personality test like this before, but I honestly can't remember when or what the result was, so we're just going to act like this is a totally new experience, okay?! For those of you familiar with the Meyers-Briggs labels, I am an ISTJ, and the description of that personality type seems like it fits me fairly well but not perfectly, which makes sense since for some of the traits I only show a slight preference in that direction.

Day Nineteen: Hiding

As my grandparents' home filled up with sweet well-wishers bearing carb-filled comfort foods, my crunchy, introverted self started to feel overwhelmed. And eventually, in a effort to find a piece of quiet where I could take a break, I found myself sitting on a stool in the utility room, hiding from the crowd and the noise. It was probably not my finest moment, but it was definitely a first.