New Things Are Uncomfortable

By Amy Baranski

I completely forgot about the Fourth of July Victrola episode, in which Melissa told me she was nervous to sit and listen to my recitation. Her immediate reaction gave me that reactionary, confusing, and nervous feeling when she first read my slip of paper revealing this month's new thing: memorize and recite a classic poem.

You know, my Mom asked me awhile back how this whole challenge worked. In particular, she wanted to know how we came up with our lists of new things to try, and how we revealed them to each other.

The way it works is that each person thinks of six new things, and that means new things to her. Then the other person thinks of her own new things. Yes, there may be things that are not so new to one or the other. What's new about them is trying the thing for 30 days. It's a 30-day challenge every month. And the feeling is a little indescribable when you've got six things to which you dedicate six of your months. Six new things you did not decide.

We chose our new things independently, wrote them on scraps of paper, and pulled them out of a hat one-by-one over dinner this past winter.

As Melissa drew the slip on which was written "memorize and recite a classic poem" I heard:_____________

I had no idea one of my new things should elicit such a response. Of course I asked her and she said "Sorry, I'm just having trouble getting beyond that word 'memorize'."

New things are uncomfortable at times. New sheets aren't. New clothes aren't. New schools are (at first). New shoes too. New loves are, in that sensationally new and uncomfortable way. New ideas can be uncomfortable. New things disrupt.