Wednesday, November 9, 2011

seven day challenge: let's get real

I want to be challenged.  In my writing.  In my relationships.  In my life.  Due to this desire to be challenged I tend to challenge others.  Press them for honesty.  Try to break down the wall that so many put up.  Some people are very put off by this.  Others gravitate towards it.  I have had many people unexpectedly tell me their life stories, their deepest secrets, their greatest downfalls.


The very first night I met my husband he told me something extremely personal that he says he never talked about with anyone.   Years later I asked him why.  He still has no idea. In any case, I loved that we were able to connect on that level so quickly. 


Maybe it's because I've always been a button-pusher. A question-asker.  As a young kid I could easily get each of my siblings, in turn, to want to punch me in the face with my annoying button-pushing. {They never did...but there were a lot of close calls.}   I've never been much of a people-pleaser.   You know, keeping it surface-level and withholding my opinion so as not to cause any waves.  I can only stand so much small talk...then it's got to get real. When it comes to relationships,  I love happy people but you can't be happy and "roses and sunshine" all the time...you've got to show me a little darkness.  We all have it.  It is what gives us depth as humans.  If everyone was perfect and had no idiosyncrasies in their personality or heartache in their story what a very, very boring world it would be.  Differences are interesting, and happiness is only that because we have sadness to compare it to.


So the next seven days I will break from my typical "roses and sunshine" posts about cooking and babies and decorating {p.s. all things I genuinely do love} and go a little deeper.  Get more "real."  A little more revealing.
I came across a tumblr.com page {found here} dedicated to challenges. Hundreds of writing prompts, or, at the very least, questions to get you thinking.  I liked this one because it didn't seem too overwhelming or too silly,  and is relatively thought-provoking:
I figure this is a nice way to get back to creative writing and delve a little deeper than my usual posts.
So starting tomorrow things may get real. 
You ready?
:)
g