Slightly Interesting Things About Me

The directive seemed simple enough – disclose three things about yourself: something simple, something serious and something funny. That was the initial discussion board request by the professor teaching the online persuasion class I took as part of my graduate program a couple of summers ago. It was just a way of “breaking the ice,” per se, a way of helping all of us faceless students get to know each other in our virtual classroom.

“Okay,” I thought to myself. “That’s an easy enough first assignment.” But it ended up being more a more complicated feat than what I had anticipated. The “simple” part was a breeze – I just explained where I worked, that I was married and had three kids.

And the “serious” didn’t take long to figure out. I mentioned the too-long struggle that my husband and I were going through at the time to support my developmentally disabled brother-in-law – specifically, our frustrating experiences maneuvering through the often vicious process to convince the government that my brother-in-law was entitled to disability benefits.  (It took two-and-a-half years. Good thing we took him in. I can only imagine how many people die in poverty waiting for the system to work for them.)

So with the simple and the serious covered, I only had to add the “funny” component to complete the puzzle. Hmmm. Funny? I was stumped. I’m guessing it didn’t have to be circus-clown type funny, but it at least had to be humorously intriguing. Come to find out I couldn’t think of one thing funny or even slightly interesting that I could share about myself. Wow. Had my life become that boring?

I have to say, it was quite the revelation. Had I just been so caught up in the rat race of life that I no longer had time to be an interesting person? Perhaps I always take myself too seriously and just need to chill out a little. Maybe it’s just hard for one to judge oneself in such a way. Maybe there are funny, or at least interesting, things about me that others see but that I do not see.

I must have pondered the “funny” issue for at least an hour before I thought of something that was even remotely acceptable to post. What is the fun fact that I posted? That I collect Oktoberfest Zinzinnati steins. I have almost every one since attending my first Oktoberfest in 1988. For those who wonder what’s the big deal, Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest is North America’s largest Oktoberfest. When my husband and I started dating in 1990, one of our very first dates was attending the Oktoberfest. Thus, it’s sort of become “our” event and a must-attend every year. With the exception of three or four years since 1988 (two of them when I was pregnant), we have attended every year. And every year, the first thing I do when I get there is purchase my prized stein. One year I almost didn’t get one. All of the booths were sold out except for the very last one we tried – the booth at the very outer edge of the festival. Now I always make a point to get there early to be sure I get my mug. Amazingly, one would think with three kids a few would have ended up broken by now. But only one has suffered that fate (one of my favorite ones, drat it), and it was just the handle that broke, so I can still display it. Don’t know whether those steins of mine will ever have any real monetary value, but they are a prized possession to me – perhaps because the event is so special to me.

But I digress. This isn’t really about Oktoberfest steins. It’s about my own reflections on just how interesting a person I am. I think we all imagine ourselves as much more interesting than maybe we really are. However, after my own little adventure racking my brains trying to think of something intriguing about myself, I realize that perhaps it’s something I should ponder more. Maybe it entails a process of self discovery. Perhaps a conscious effort to discover the fun in life, and thus the fun in me, is necessary. Or maybe I could just ask somebody – how am I fun, or funny, or interesting?

I think it would be an interesting exercise to just start to sporadically list “interesting” thinks about me as they come to mind. After all, life doesn’t always have to be so serious, does it? If only we could all just lighten up a bit.

Okay, Oktoberfest steins aside, I’ll offer another interesting thing about me: if you want me to do something, tell me I may never have the chance to do it again. That’s the thinking that led me to plunge 30 feet into a Vermont quarry last summer. On our vacation, we were told about a local swimming hole in a nearby quarry. My oldest son had already been there. It was an unseasonably hot day for northern Vermont – in the 90s. So we journeyed to the quarry. When we got there I was shocked to find out what exactly one had to do to enjoy the cool water contained within the quarry – JUMP! When I checked out the 30-foot drop, my eyes immediately widened as I murmured to myself, “That’s really far down.” Water doesn’t scare me (I’m like a fish in water), but heights do. What to do? In the end, I figured what other time in my life would I be able to say I jumped off a cliff and lived to tell about it? So I braced myself and jumped. The freefall only took a few seconds, but I felt as if I was going in slow motion the whole time. Nevertheless, it was awesome!

Okay, two interesting things about me I’ve listed. Not vanity, just an exercise in building positive attitude and self esteem. Interesting. Kind of fun. More stuff to follow as it comes to mind!