Comfort Zones

Every so often, I have to force myself to do things I wouldn't normally do because I've noticed myself leaning toward the safe and familiar. Since moving to Baton Rouge, I've had to put myself out there more than I used to. The husband and I packed up our house, left our circle of friends, our family, and our financial solvency to go on this trek of his (he decided after 10+ years in the IT industry that he wanted to get his PhD in Political Science). Enter new friends, new (and much smaller) living spaces, and new routines. Comfort zones suddenly get smaller as everything around you is unfamiliar or uncharted.

I've spent the last two  years stepping out of these comfort zones (new friends, new state), but recently I've started a new round (school and projects). This time it hits both literally and figuratively.  Here's my Comfort Zone Smackdown:

Volunteer Work
I've helped out the International Hospitality Foundation at LSU with a new letterhead, and now I've volunteered to help with Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week (BREW). Why is this hard? By volunteering to do something for someone, you're admitting you have a skill they want and can help them. In a weird way, I believe it takes some measure of ego to volunteer. It's similar to being a freelancer; I'm still getting used to being my own advocate.

Running
I've set a goal to run a 5k by next August. To some, this is no big deal; but to someone who's never been a runner, it's a lot of work. I'm not exactly an athlete (understatement), so working up to a 5k will take me a while. I'm using this app based on a series of free podcasts called Couch to 5K. It's the first app I've paid money for ($2.99) and it was worth every penny. I'm going to stay on Week 5 for a few weeks to build up strength and maybe a little speed.

School
I've decided to try going back to school. People have been telling me to do this since I got to Baton Rouge two years ago. Problem is, you have to put yourself out there to do it. It's likely something I've dreamed up in my head, but I feel going back to school at my age puts added expectation on my skills. I feel that not being the "typical" age of a graduate students means I shouldn't be turning in "typical" work. When I was an undergrad, I absolutely despised having non-traditional students in my classes. They worked harder, asked more questions, and always made us "regular" students look bad. I don't want to be that person to my theoretical cohort. The comfort zone smackdown comes when I get over this and just do the $(%*@&#(* work to the best of my ability, right?


This Blog
This is my first blog, primarily because I've never felt like I had anything to contribute to the blog-osphere that wasn't already there. I don't mind sharing the occasional musing on Facebook or Twitter, but a blog, again, takes a bit of ego to start. You're just sure there's an audience out there who wants to read your golden words. In my head, it's the equivalent to "those people" who post their every. flipping. move. on Facebook. I'm fairly certain the world doesn't care when I go to the grocery store, just like I'm fairly sure they don't care about the comfort zones I'm writing about now. But the smackdown comes as I get over the fact that I think I'm being vain in writing this.