As a kid, how to make people like me–or at least not dislike me–was a constant calculus in the background hum of my brain. I learned how to read the expectations of people around me and how to contort, to fit myself to them. Even when I came home from college, I still made a […]
Tag: learning
Swallow my Pride and Buckle up for the Ride
My adult life keeps making me eat my words. I’m not. I can’t. I don’t. I don’t sew; I don’t knit. (Spoiler: I now do both of those.) So, so many I-can’t’s locked up in theatre, in being onstage. So much fear of being asked to do something awkward, embarrassing, uncomfortable when those described everything […]
Alliteration is Overrated
Who had the bright idea to make November National Novel Writing Month? I mean, four months out of the year have 30 days. So. Why November? No, this post will not explore the origins of NaNo. I just need to gripe. And, you know, reassure you that I’m still here. (Still figuring out how all […]
Tired
To all the people who insisted that I wouldn’t know what tired was until I had a child of my own: no; tiredness and exhaustion are still the same old beasts. The only difference is that now I can’t just sleep the morning away to make up for the lack of sleep. Actually, I think […]
Still Learning
Babies operate on their own schedules, and good luck trying to dictate anything different! I learned that more quickly and painfully when my daughter decided to cut what is usually a many hours- or even days-long process of arrival down to two hours. Of course, I knew this about babies years ago, but knowing something […]
Mixing Extremes
Saturday was crazy! An awesome sort of crazy, even if it totally kicked my ass. (Yeah, it did.) My day started with a workshop. A local theatre offers occasional master classes, and that day they held an audition boot camp. Which was exactly as advertised. Intense and amazing, and I was more than a little […]
Boundary Issues
The other day, someone extended an open invitation to their home. That happens pretty frequently here. And people mean it. The polite thing is to return the courtesy. “Drop in whenever!” But I can’t. So I always feel awkward when this happens. I grew up in a house with that sort of policy. It didn’t […]
Melissa Burkart 