Took my son on a bike ride downtown today. It was the first time we’ve done that which is really exciting. He’s been coming along with me occassionally for bike rides but we always go out a country road, the one in this picture. It’s nice and peaceful.
But, I’m trying to get us out and about more often because he’s struggling lately with being social. I did too, frankly, for a very long time. Decades. A lifetime really. The person he sees is much different than the person I’ve been most of my life: introverted. He sees me now and someone who talks to everyone. I had to learn how to do that. So I’m trying to model it for him. Hopefully some of it can rub off on him.
So we’re sitting there and we’re approached by someone I don’t recognize, but he knows who I am. My son knew right away. Turned out to be his math teacher. Pretty wild coincidence considering he goes to school 20 miles away. We got a kick out of that, and my son said, “I regret nothing” in regards to being forced to come with me downtown and suffer the indignities of socializing. Mainly it’s children that bothers him the most. All the noise and chaotic energy.
Last night my town’s theater company posted about an upcoming festival on poetry and storytelling. It immediately reminded me of the book I read last year called Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks. It was such a good book and I was immediately inspired to want to join some kind of storytelling jam. And it looks like it’s happening in my podunk town! I have two months to come up with something. I’ll need to re-read the book because I forgot some of the techniques for generating ideas for stories.
I think one of the things you’re supposed to do is think about something each day that happened to you which fundamentally changed you, even just a little bit. The only thing I can think of today was just taking my son doing what I just mentioned, socializing in public. I hope we keep on doing it.