Talking to Strangers: An Introvert Hits the Streets: October 2015

Monday, October 19, 2015

Talk to You Later

After noticing that I wrote the name of (deceased) Senator Daniel Inouye in my last blog instead of James Inhofe, a mistake I've corrected, I've decided to take a break from these occasional blogs. My heart has been in them, but my mind has been on the road.

I'm writing fiction again, which was the goal of this last year of traveling around doing weird things. I liked the weird things. The weird things have restored me, and I will probably keep doing them. But the point was to rediscover the compulsion to tell stories that has made my life coherent in the past and will again. That train has at last reached the station.

Many thanks to my readers, whether friends or strangers.

Jo Ann

About Me Lately

When I started this blog in 2011, I'd been living in Bellingham, WA, a new town in a new state, for four years. I spent the first two years getting an MFA in fiction, and the second two recovering from this process. By the beginning of year five, I was walking my dog, worrying about my grown children, and writing with little focus. I got some help with the focus thing (if you need a coach, I know a good one), my kids solved their own problems, and I started coming out of myself a little. I went back to teaching for a year at a local community college, where I loved my students, my colleagues not so much. It probably doesn't take most people six years to fully relocate--to a new place, an empty nest, and life after the MFA, when all that's left is to sit down and write--but no one has ever accused me of moving fast. Now that I have placed my rear end in my chair, my introversion, which has always felt like a curse, feels like a blessing. I still need to hit the streets occasionally. This blog is one way to do that.

How to Talk to Strangers

1. Blurt something out. 2. Allow time for shock. 3. If no response, don’t give up. 4. Make a self-deprecating joke. (In my case, there's plenty of material.) 5. If you see a smile, even in the eyes, ask a question. 6. If no response again, walk away. (It looks better if you do something else first, like bend over to tie your shoe.) 7. Don’t be surprised if, when you run into this person a few minutes or a few days later, a conversation ensues, and this time you won't be the one who starts it. 8. Some people won’t have anything to do with you . . . ever.

Readers!

Monday, October 19, 2015

Talk to You Later