Nobody warned me that this week was going to be learn-how-to-take-a-risk-and-trust-rather-than-try-to-control-everything week.
I’m kind of glad I didn’t get that warning.
Though I like to travel, like to try new food, like the idea of doing new things, I am a creature of habit and routine. I was more of a risk-taker at age four (hello, first upside-down roller coaster!) than I am now (hello, very real possibility that one could get stuck on an intense incline, or perhaps thrown from the ride while in motion), and have developed a slight fear of flying (thank you, LOST) even though I lovelovelove vacations (hello, everywhere I’m not right now).
This week has a mind of its own. It’s not settling for the usual coffee shop and writing routine, or anything at all involving the words usual or routine. I’m finding myself stretched in ways I’m not used to, ways that require me to trust that things will work out well (as opposed to me attempting to control them into working out well).
Not at all coincidentally, the need to trust came with my routine being broken up.
At 9pm on Sunday night, I planned a spontaneous trip to Houston to help out a friend, which meant driving there and flying home. By 10pm on Sunday night, the novelty of this-is-gonna-be-AWESOME was temporarily overshadowed by what-if-what-if-what-if? My plans were liquid, oozy, last-minute ones, not at all the concrete kind that make me feel at ease. Even though I was 95% sure things would be fine, that 5% of me worried.
Guess what? Things were fine. Better than fine, even.
Twenty-four hours after I decided to go, I had a) sung to an iPhone soundtrack¹ for five straight hours with my friend as we drove, b) eaten a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone instead of counting calories, c) witnessed an intense lightning storm without completely freaking out, d) hoped and trusted that Melissa would be able to arrange her plans so we could meet, even though we’d never spoken in person until I got into town, e) had a total blast with Melissa, who was indeed able to follow through (thank you Melissa’s boss and brother!), and f) hopped a plane home, despite my aforementioned LOST-induced plane crash fears. Monday rocked.
Tuesday didn’t quite get the memo that the routine was back in session, though.
You may have noticed, I went out on a limb yesterday and showed you my face, my Texan accent, and the fact that I like to make music. That was fun, but nonetheless a little unsettling. I mean, really — like Linda brought up in the comments, this is the age of American Idol. Every year, we see loads of people who can sing, and loads who are…well…borderline delusional?
Well. Yesterday, the adventures continued when a friend taught me how to make sushi, sashimi, and miso soup.
These things are not scary in and of themselves, except for the fact that I’m not the most seasoned raw fish eater. I don’t mind the idea — I just get a little nervous, since I’ve spent more hours than I care to remember wearing gloves to arrange and serve Starbucks pastries. (As if that pumpkin loaf could really contaminate the doughnuts, right?)
Anyway: raw salmon. We made sashimi and Philadelphia rolls. They were DELICIOUS. I now have a fun new skill, and I practiced again today. (I also bought some cute new sushi plates, which means I will have incentive to practice more and more in the future.)
So. Since I’m still recovering from my week o’ spontaneity (which may not be over yet), this post isn’t completely relevant to writing. I’m sure I could spin it that way, though mainly, I just wanted to show you my pretty sushi pictures. Oh yeah, and to say that while routine is nice, it’s a good thing to go outside your comfort zone every once in a while. To trust, when you’re not sure you can. To try, when you’re not sure you want to.
♦
¹Our road-trip set-list? A secret. Let’s just say that I might have been embarrassed to sing some of these songs (in public) even when they came out in the late Nineties. That’s why it was so much fun. CORRECTION: Amber convinced me to divulge this top-secret info. It’s in the comments.
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Owl and Sparrow 
How wonderful to be braving all these new experiences! Well done you, and now I’m hungry, looking at all that yummy yummy sushi!
Thanks, Merrilee! I wish we had some leftover, they sound yummy again today! Will have to make more soon. 🙂
Kayla, as someone who has shamed herself (repeatedly, and in your presence) by dancing to songs released a decade (or two, or three, or four) ago, I think you should be out with your set-list.
You bring up an excellent point. 😉
There were a couple enthusiastic renditions of Hanson’s “Mmmbop,” “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls, a little “Bye Bye Bye” by NSync, and oh, what else…oh, yeah. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” sans F-bomb. Of course, we had to include “Ice, Ice, Baby” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” We also performed (to each other) more respectable songs, like half of the entire selection from Glee (my favorites are “Somebody to Love” and “Don’t Stop Believin'”).
We also did some lesser known embarrasing stuff (S Club 7, anyone?) and some lesser known awesome stuff (LeCrae). Somewhere in there, we sang two or three worship songs (“Prince of Peace” being both the most substantial and the most fun). And, I seem to remember a smattering of Michael Jackson songs.
Anything else we did was not awesome enough, or embarrassing enough, to pop into my head this morning.
This made for a pretty fun five hours, as you might imagine!
PS: I’m working on an email to you! Meant to send it yesterday, but I was very ramble-y and am trying to not be so all-over-the-place. 🙂
Awesome. This did not disappoint. I’ll happily join you for those any day of the week 🙂
Looking forward to your email!
I LOVE SUSHI!
Okay, sorry for yelling, but I really do love sushi. My wife and I have been making our own pizza for date night on Fridays, but it gets WAY too hot in the kitchen with no AC and an oven at 425 degrees. We thought sushi might be a nice change. After all, we haven’t used the rolling mat we bought years ago, so why not give it a shot?
Now we just need to find good cuts of fish. Mmm… sushi….
Oh, and congrats on a fun week, good lady!
Dude. No apologies necessary. When you love sushi, you love sushi. Sometimes yelling gleefully is the only thing you can do, you know?
Ooh, pizza sounds like a fun project to try next. I bet my husband would love that. (Aside from the sweltering oven heat, that is.) You should totally do the sushi. My friend who taught me took me to a Korean market called H-Mart. That’s where I got my fish. Perhaps there’s something similar near you.
Aaaand, thanks for the congrats. It’s been an interesting week. Made some actual writing progress today, which is more than I can say for the other distracting days. 🙂 Hope yours was productive, too. (If not productive, I hope it was at least fun!)
Sorry I’ve missed commenting the last post and this one, been waaay in over my head on the busyness scale. Glad to see you having fun and reaching out and taking risks: Sushi is DEFINITELY a risk. Have fun writing, girl!
Thanks, Megs! 🙂 No worries! I hope all your busy things are working out well! It’s now two days past the sushi experiments, so I can say without doubt that I did not get sick from it. Happy writing to you, too!