Figuring It Out and the Talented Triplet

“The joy of writing. A chance to make things stay. A revenge of a mortal hand.” Wistawa Szymborska, “The Joy of Writing”

[That quote has nothing to do with this post. I just liked it a lot. Sue me. (Not literally– but if you do, joke is on you).]

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Here we are, one full year after everything seemed to pivot in a new direction. What have I been up to? I have been publishing and conducting some interviews I am really proud of on the Modern Witnesses site. (Head over there for some serious inspo). I have been reading sometimes three books at a time. I am determined to meet my Goodreads challenge number of 50. I am currently on #21. Hopefully, soon to be 23. I have been learning a new language. The little app can be addicting– especially since there is a leaderboard, and I am always striving to stay on top. (I put a time limit on that app because my desire to learn cannot be quenched; gonna stop there before I sound more pathetic).

This language app is interesting because it doesn’t really lay things out for you, you know? It doesn’t teach you the alphabet or tell you what sound letters make. No, it just throws you into the pool, and you swim for dear life. There is something to be said about this method. I am amazed at how much I have been forced to figure out. I had a migraine for two days as I was soaking in the script [letters are not like the English ones]. I am good now. And here I was being like, Oh, I will just learn how to speak it. Nope. I am literally writing sentences about birds eating apples, guys. No joke. I am learning with the education curiosity blade at my throat, so to speak.

In a world where so much is at our very fingertips, it feels really good to exercise that “figure it out” muscle. I recently read an article that said that washing dishes by hand was great for the brain because it forces it to focus. (I love this because I personally think dishwashers are lame. By the time you rinse everything to put it in, you might as well have washed it).

Focus. I think that’s my theme for this spring. I have a fun Think Week coming up in April (stay tuned on the Modern Witnesses page). I can hear one of the triplets next door playing “See You Again” by Charlie Puth, a wonderful soundtrack to this idea of focus. Life is fleeting (and you know those Fast and Furious drivers need their focus, or else…).

When was the last time you really had to focus, where you weren’t doing something routine or methodical? When did you have to figure out something new and piece together the little morsels? …Now I want a cookie. Ok. I am off to clap on the other side of the wall for my talented neighbor. (We are close like that. I have discovered that the triplets buzz me to let them in when their mom locks them out. Cute kids).

Go find something to figure out. Sometimes, practice and routine makes perfect. Other times, we need to face something that we absolutely can’t get right the first or second time. It makes us humble. It makes us smart. It makes us human.