Tags
Alberta, Bold, Calgary, Canada, community, Diana Schwenk, Fear, growing up, Hump Day Chronicles, living in the moment, memories, Observer, shy, Talker, Tourist in my own city
When you put yourself out there, you never know who you might meet
It’s hard for even me to grasp that I used to shy away from people and was so afraid of doing something – anything – wrong. Those of you who know me personally are probably laughing out loud at this point, but it’s true!
In grade 1 I was so afraid I would lose my house key that I was forever losing my house key.
In grade 3 when Mrs. Carpentier asked me to knock on another classroom’s door and ask the teacher for a pen, I cried.
In grade 4, when our bus broke down coming back from a field trip, Mr. Whittal had to sit with, and comfort me because I was afraid of getting home late.
My daughter Michaela has never seen that side of me. By the time she was born, I was all about trying things and not being embarrassed when they did not quite work out. And I was always talking with strangers; either I’d approach them, or they’d approach me. The then teenaged Michaela would say, “Stop flirting with people Mom!”
“I’m not flirting, I’m just being nice,” I’d respond.
People seem to ‘get my number’ right away too. Not long after I started working at Oxford House, my co-worker Tracey suggested that I go ask someone something we both wanted to know because, “I’m the Observer and you’re the Talker, Diana.”
This past Saturday on the way to my regularly scheduled kaffeklatsch with my BFF, I came upon the people in the above photo. Well as you know by now – I just had to talk with them and get their photo. Turns out they were promoting some kind of week-long cartoon festival. So that I could be in the photo, a random stranger offered to take the picture.
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
How about you? Are you a Talker or Observer?
