I have been putting off posting because I have been working on three big posts. Well, they aren’t really big but they are heavy so I am trying to edit and remove and figure out what needs to be included and what doesn’t.
But here’s the thing…
SO much has happened and is happening in the next week that I am embarrassed that it has been so quiet over here. I mean at least I could throw up a what I did this weekend post as a marker for me to look back on one day.
First off: Happy Mothers Day!
Last night I went to the Listen to Your Mother Show in Valpo, Indiana. The opera house that the show was hosted in was this magnificent little theatre. I just wanted to move in there. Stephanie Precourt put together the most amazing show. The stories filled your heart up, made you cry and laugh so hard you thought you were going to fall over.
Before the show I had the chance to meet my new friend Erin for dinner. You know when you meet up with a friend and you walk away feeling like you could go out and take over the world? Dear world, I am ready.
Tomorrow I am heading up to Iowa bright and early for the first ever 140 Conference in Des Moines. Not only will I be attending but I will be speaking! Iowa is filled with so many small businesses that wanted to speak to business owners and entrepreneurs on social media and how they can be using it. So. Darn. Excited. (and nervous; oh my!)
Last week I won an award from my college for being an outstanding Philosophy major. I got to bring my family to hear the leaders of the school talk about how smart and wonderful all of the people winning awards were and was handed a large plaque for my wall. This was super exciting because I don’t normally win awards. I was awful at sports and singing and art and well…yeah…pretty much everything you can win awards for doing. So I will take my Philosophy award and stick it directly between my Avon award (for recruiting the most Avon reps during a campaign) and my softball trophy (everyone got for participating). I kind of feel like that is the perfect place for a Philosophy award. On a shelf between the most random un-appreciated awards ever. Socrates would totally see the irony in it.
Also? I am coaching T-ball this summer. More on that later.
AND I was nominated as one of the top 25 blogs on single parenting! You can vote here once a day until May 26th. Or just once whichever works. I appreciate all of the support and love! (I am writing a longer post about this whole single parenting blogging thing but its taking me a little longer than I thought it would)
I have always had a fascination with people and the way that they communicate. I grew up as an only child and spent quite a bit of my childhood by myself. Well…by myself in public. I would ride my bike around town or sit at my mothers restaurant and watch people. I have always been fascinated not by what people say to each other but what people don’t say to each other. Typical thought is that we not only listen to what people say but we also watch their body language.
I like to take that a step further. When we are listening we are not only watching and listening but we are looking at the place and time we find ourselves in for clues on what they are really saying. We pay attention to the social context and the other people we are surrounded by. We listen to the cracks in their voice or the changes of their tone. We can read awkwardness, nervousness, anger, subtle excitement. I pay such close attention to the way that people talk and the social rules in which they are speaking and the expectations that hang on their words that it leaves me responding in an awkward ways that often kills conversations.
This video made me feel a tad less crazy.
Now if only they would make one talking about the way that we communicate online. Haven’t you ever sat their pondering if you should put a . or a ! or a …. when typing up an email? How about if you are IMing someone and you have to choose between lol or LOL or hahaha or ha! or heh? Ok….maybe I am a little crazy.
