Blog #1: Six-Word Memoir and Backstory (Which identity do I want to share?)

From fear to self-acceptance and laughter.  

The top picture is me when I'm seventeen. That's Duane, my first boyfriend ever, and despite the full beard, he is only 20. I don't know what's happening there, but I do look like a deer in headlights, and I'm holding his hand in a death grip. That's pretty much the story of the first half of my life. I was afraid of failure and rejection, and that led to hyper-seriousness in all areas. I suppose I laughed sometimes, but never at myself. I started getting stress migraines when I was six. Ironically, I was at least kind of good at pretty much everything, and I didn't do the things I wasn't good at. I just had anxiety and didn't know it.

The second picture is me last spring, and oh, that's Duane, my husband. We are a lot older, but apparently I have learned to laugh--including at myself. I don't get migraines, and in general I am less afraid of rejection and failure. This may be a life-long journey, but in many ways it started with the silly guy holding the balloons. It's not a birthday without balloons for him, and that's sort of the story of my life. He accepts me and encourages me to take risks, like water skiing and paddle boarding, traveling to Africa, and quitting my job and going to grad school.  He is also crazy silly, which has taught me to accept myself and my failures and basically to laugh at all kinds of things.

So . . . that's basically it for your introductory post: An original title, a six-word memoir that tells a story, and a two-paragraph backstory that expands on the memoir. Plus at least one picture. It doesn't HAVE to be a picture of yourself.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I mean, I had to decide what part of my identity I wanted to share. I could have shared my nerd-i-ness, how I actually liked school and became a teacher do I never needed to leave, or I could have shared my francophile identity and how I didn't actually go to France until I was in my 40s, or I could have shared about my children or how I panicked when I finally became a grandmother a year ago.

So many identities. When we construct identities, this is how other people see us. Since you don't actually know me, this is all you know, and that's my identity until you know me more. I anguished about this a little bit, but then I let it go. (You know, anxiety, angst, blah, blah.)

And then I had to take these complex ideas and condense them into a six-word story. SIX WORDS! That's nothing. As you will learn, I am very verbose. I say something, and then I repeat myself and make it clearer. A couple of times.

Your turn.

1. Remember your six-word memoir needs to tell a story independent of the back story. That story can be about your past, about your COVID experience, about you and current events.
2. Remember, you are crafting an identity kit for the class.How do you want to introduce yourself? What can you build on later on? 
3. Unless you are envisioning another audience (your choice), this class is your primary audience, and they will be reading and commenting on this blog. 
4. To get full points on the blog, you must create an original title, add the six-word memoir that actually tells the story, the two-paragraph backstory, and some pictures

And now . . . back to me!

Playing Apples to Apples. A long time ago.

My daughter, me, and my husband at the Eifel Tower on New Year's Eve. It just lit up!

Duane and I with Calvin, who is dressed like a baby dinosaur.

Duane and I on a catamaran ride in Cancun.