i’m a big believer in the “do something that scares you, just a little, every day” adage. i started taking that seriously that a few years ago, and, without wanting to get all preachy or nuthin’, it has made all the difference.

but since i moved to california, there’s something or other in my new job that scares me every day. which means that i’ve not really needed or wanted to pursue other, scary activities in life. working half the evening, then coming home, cooking dinner, writing or zoning out over some tv and knitting, kinda sounds great to me most nights. when the sun was up later i’d go for a hike after work if there was enough light (there isn’t these days, with the winter solstice less than a week away).

but working long hours and hanging out with the cat isn’t really a way to make friends and build a life here. a career, perhaps, but not a life. for a while i was running with a women’s running group, but it closed up shop in october. but with the end of the year coming up rapidly, i was running out of time to do several of the things i had promised myself i’d do this year.

last week i finally checked out a dojo where i think i’d like to train: Aikido of Berkeley. walking into a new dojo, walking in new anywhere, is incredibly hard for me, i’m so fucking shy. but going to class the first time at Shinjinkai was one of the hardest, and best, decisions i ever made. so i went. i’m going to check out another dojo or two, but i’m pretty sure this is a place i’d like to train at.

next on the scary-to-join list is volunteering with One Brick. if you don’t know about One Brick, check them out — they are in the Bay Area, Chicago, DC, New York, Minneapolis, and Seattle*. the idea is that they make it easy for people to volunteer their time – one evening at a time, no long term commitments, and after every event, folks go out for a beer and hang out. do good work, hang out with other cool people. good deal, right? and it was. my burning awkward shyness aside, i did chat with interesting, nice people while we repackaged several hundred pounds of raisins at the SF Foodbank, then went out for Vietnamese food afterward. it made me miss Chicago, where i already had friends and a life and a place and a community, terribly. but it’s not going to get better till i suck it up and find some communities of my own.

next week: going to the community center pool and swimming for the first time in 8 months. i’m not a good swimmer. and gyms are intimidating. but i will persevere, intimidating gym!

*hey, i just realized that i know people in all of those cities.