Hot Air Balloon Adventure

Adventure idea: volunteer somewhere cool and get in free.

I quite randomly volunteered at the Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival.  Riding a hot air balloon is on my bucket list. So I didn't get to ride a hot air balloon, but anyway, I got this really cool, big, orange volunteer shirt.

After standing for three hours in the scorching sunlight exchanging cash for admissions, I did not want to wait in line for the tethered balloon ride, which wound around the park. Instead, I got a really big corn-dog (seriously, it was humongous--like twice as long as a normal corn dog) and went camera crazy!

 

Look at all the people taking pictures.

Sitting on haystacks and watching the balloons inflate.

So many people were there!

The tethered balloon.

Filling up the balloon with hot air. See the fire?

Up, up! And Away!

The sun was in my eyes. It was the perfect day for hot air balloons!

As for working admissions, I hardly felt anxious at all. It's amazing how things that would have bothered me for days a few years ago didn't even phase me. For instance, a lady was holding up the line asking me if she could get in for about five times less than the normal admissions price. What was I, shy as I am, supposed to do? I had to keep telling her that she couldn't just come in practically for free. Meanwhile, everyone behind her is waiting. Then this angry guy in a truck behind her shouted out his window, "HEY! I WANT TO GET THROUGH!" Finally, after that, the lady drove off. The man scowled at me as he drove by. I didn't let this make me feel bad about myself. I just thought, "That guy is crazy." And I kept working. The other workers were not judgmental, but understood that some people were hard to get along with.

 I didn't flip out! Score! I made a few mistakes through the whole thing, but I didn't end up feeling pained about it afterward. Everything I had to say to the people was fairly straightforward, so that made it easier.

"Hi! Five dollars for adults, one dollar for children ten and under, one dollar for parking. Have fun!"

It's easier when you know exactly what you need to say beforehand.

This shy girl was successful at admitting people to see hot air balloons! Until next time, keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.

Namaste

Toastmasters Champion

I've graduated. Now I have to do what every graduate, social anxiety or not, fears--job searching. It is a treacherous process of filling out applications, being scrutinized for your skill set --or lack thereof. And then there's the dreaded job interview that you want so bad-but-actually-you-want-to-stay-home-and-hug-teddy-bears.

Everyone, admit it or not, could do with a therapist to survive the job hunt. Society is essentially sizing you up to determine how valuable you are. My therapist, Dr. Headman, suggested sharpening my job hunting skills. So I started reading a self-help book. It said that joining Toastmasters would be helpful for obtaining a job. I didn't actually know what Toastmasters was though. It is a kind of club for practicing public speaking.

I was like, okay whatever, it looks like some kind of perpetual speech class? So I looked on the Internet to find a Toastmasters club. Then I woke up this morning and I was kind of like, "oh yeah, the Toastmasters thingy." I went to the room and sat in a chair.

I was the first one in. A nicely dressed woman appeared in the doorway. "Is she in charge?" I wondered. She furrowed her eyebrows, and squinted at me. She started toward me slowly, concentrating intensely with this weird squint. I started feeling uncomfortable. "Am I in the wrong room?" I wondered to myself. She looked disconcerted.


"Who are you?" she asked bamboozled.

"I'm here for Toastmasters?" I replied.

"I haven't seen you before," she shook my left hand.

"Oh no! Why didn't she shake my right hand?" I thought,"I scratched my eye with my right hand. That must be it. She doesn't want to shake a crusty eye itching hand. Why!? What was I thinking!?"

Around six more people made their way in. They all shook my hand and introduced themselves. "I shouldn't have scratched my eye!" I thought. The meeting commenced. Someone said something about the meeting commencing. The people around the table clapped vigorously. Someone said something else. The people around the table clapped. Then the next person was introduced. This elicited vigorous clapping. "These people are very impressed with the act of speaking," I thought as I clapped along. Clapping was invigorating.

They kept calling this other girl and me their "honored guests."A lady with really great public speaking skills gave a speech on public speaking. Everyone clapped. Then they did this thing where they read questions. They went around the room and each person had to answer one question in one to two minutes. "Do our honored guests wish to participate?" the speaker asked. I looked sidelong at the girl next to me.

"Ok," she said.

I looked back at the speaker.

"Ok," I said.

The lady who had shook my left hand began. She got a most difficult question and she had trouble getting words out of her mouth. She seemed incredibly nervous and repeated things. Watching her stumble made me nervous, but it also made me start thinking of how to avoid doing the same.

Then the girl-- the honored guest, I mean--  next to me spoke. I thought she did well. I went after a really talented guy who had been a member for years. My question was, "If you could know one thing about the people around you in your life, what would it be."

"Thank you Toastmaster" I said...I think that was what everyone else had said?  I continued. "If I could know one thing about the people around me in my life I think it would be--" I laughed, "this is a hard question," I said. Other people laughed in recognition of our common plight."  I thought of a dumb answer. I had to just go with it. I couldn't stall forever. I said something like, "If I could know one thing about the people around me it would be what they love. If you know what someone loves then you know what drives them. If you know what drives them then you can better understand them. That way you can be a better friend to everyone you know." I looked at the time person...Oh great. One minute hadn't even passed. That's all I had. "In addition," I said. My mind raced to find another point. " In addition, if you know what people love, you will know whether you can trust them or not. You will understand if their desires are selfish or altruistic." By the time I got done explaining that aspect of my answer, one minute had rolled around. I wrapped up my speech and said, "Thank you." There was clapping.

"We will now vote on who did the best," the speaker said. Everyone clapped. We all wrote on a piece of paper and voted.

"The winner..." the speaker said, "or should I say the winners, it's a tie, are--" He named the talented speaker. That didn't surprise me. He got up and took his blue ribbon "And," he continued, "Our newest member!" he called my name.

"Huh?" I thought, then I got up and received my blue ribbon.

Until next time,

Namaste