Strongly Worded

What I Was Doing ...

I was tagged by the lovely Jen, so I'm obliging!

What were you doing 1 second ago?
Avoiding work by writing an email about non-blog-related business to my dear friend Melinda.

What were you doing an hour ago?
Being all important and directorial, ordering people around and making strategic decisions. Oh, OK. You got me. Perusing Staples’ furniture collection, trying to find a cabinet that will house our office microwave/fridge and have drawers for snacks, paper products, and other meeting supplies.

What were you doing yesterday?
Accomplishing some massive, long-overdue organizing of receipts, bank statements, mail, and other miscellaneous paper that has accumulated and been hanging over my head, albatross-like, for a long time. Also I put together a picture frame; I took it apart and then it took me almost an hour to put it back again, and I cut myself twice. AND I made a goat cheese and mushroom tart; curried chicken salad with grapes, apricots, and walnuts; and guacamole. Plus, I cleaned the bathroom, suspended my gym membership (because really, who are we kidding), and crossed every single item off my to-do list.

What were you doing a month ago?
Interviewing job candidates. Beginning to pack for the impending move. Loathing my evil racist landlords. Beginning my acupuncture journey. Going out with Mr. Ivy.

What were you doing a year ago?
Healing from the heartbreak. Feeling bereft about everything.

What were you doing five years ago?
Transitioning to life back in the U.S. after my second year in Spain. I spent two years there—one in college, one after graduation. The second year, I worked with a professor of educational psychology on a research project. We didn’t get along very well, but it was a great experience and I am really proud of the fact that I showed up in a strange city, committed to a project I knew nothing about, knowing no one, and then after a year I felt quite at home in beautiful Seville, I had a crew of cool Spanish friends, and I’d written a long research report in Spanish (which the professor never published, but whatever). That year, I met my dear friend R. (who is American, and one of my closest friends nowadays), hosted my first dinner party, and conquered many insecurities.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Interning in Chicago, at a school policy organization. I thought I was so great and smart because I was an education major and had studied all this theory, whereas the actual staff members just had years of experience. I complained that my project wasn’t sufficiently challenging. I shudder with shame about how baselessly arrogant I was. Chicago was cool, though. It was the first time I lived in an apartment on my own, and it was dazzling. I also read There are No Children Here, a book about public housing in Chicago, and that book woke me up from my sheltered-small- town-slumber and changed my life.

Posted by Dori at 12:50 PM