Because I've been struggling this winter to keep a positive attitude, I decided that it would be good for me to take up Sparkgirl32's challenge to work on a positive attitude.

Today's step in the challenge is to blog ten things I love about myself (or video blog, but I don't even know if I have a web camera and I would rather write my thoughts than speak them anyway).

So... ten things that I love about myself. In no particular order.

1) I am stubborn. Or determined, if you prefer. I don't give up easily.

2) I'm a loyal friend. I don't make friends easily as a rule but I tend to keep my friends a long time.

3) I'm an intelligent person and highly educated. I'm fairly widely read, I can understand and hold my own on a range of topics, and tend to examine issues-political, social, academic, etc.-- as multi-faceted and contextual.

4) I like to learn new things. Some people are afraid to try new things, but I like the challenge. I'm not always good--especially at first--but I like learning. Over the years, I've beaded, knitted, bead crocheted, done kumihimo and lucet cording, sewn, played the clarinet and hammer dulcimer, danced multiple folk dances (Scottish, Irish, English country, Rusian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, etc.) plus a bit of ball room dancing (mostly Latin), embroidered, I've shot archery, fenced, and learned to spin. And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. And while I'd probably be better at any one of those things if I'd focused, and some of the things I've tried I like better than others, the point is that I'm not afraid to try something that interests me. A life lived in fear is a life half lived. I hope I can look back and say that my life was fully lived, not lived in fear.

5) I write. I write fiction. I write non fiction. It's something I've spent years working on, refining, and I spent many hours every week on my writing (mostly non fiction these days, but some fiction.) I tell stories in my head all the time. It's something I love and it's something that I'm good at.

6) I guess looking at number 4 I would say that I like it that I'm multi-talented. I like doing different things and I'm pretty good at a number of the things that I do--especially beadwork and the kumihimo. I'm also good at research; not surprising, given my academic field. I'm at least a decent fencer, considering that I've been fencing for about a year. I have a long way to go but I can hold my own against people with comparable experience (though I'd be a lot better if I could make more practices!)

7) I genuinely care about people.

8) I have to come to like the fact that I'm a bit eccentric and probably more than a bit geeky. I've gotten comfortable in that skin.

9) I like it that I have an open mind and can--and am--friends with people from a wide variety of beliefs/perspectives, and that I am comfortable enough with myself and my personal beliefs (whether political, religious, etc.) to learn from people who don't necessarily share my beliefs.

10) I like it that I dream big. Sometimes my dreams are a little overly big--I have unrealistically high expectations for myself a lot of the times which can be both frustrating and stressful--but I like it that I dream--and live--big. I don't tend to start with small projects; no, I'm the person who thinks "wow, look at that complicated but awesome project" and then thinks "how can I do that" rather than "I can't do that." I like it when I'm a positive thinker; I'm not always a positive thinker and I'm constantly fighting that little negative voice (sometimes neither little nor quiet) that says "I can't" or "that's impossible" but I like it when that side of me wins out. And I like it that I can look back on any number of accomplishments and say, "look, I did these things because I said I could, not because I said I couldn't."


So, um, there are 10 things. That was a lot harder write than I expected... boy it's really uncomfortable writing up ten things I like about myself-- it feels too much like bragging. And I had to keep catching myself from putting qualifiers in--like "reasonably smart" instead of "smart," for example. I mean, it's a fact that I'm smart. I'm not saying Think-Tank smart, brilliant-smart, genius-smart; I've known true geniuses and believe me I'm not one. But I know I'm smart. Why is that so hard to say?