Leg Update EDIT: so I think I sustained a thigh splint injury AND failed to convey that here! My injury is basically healed. I’ve been able to jog and run around without pain, so I should be quite ready to continue walking next week.

Last night was a blast with Hearthside Farm owner Maureen, Mike, and Andrea. I was a little concerned with how I might fit in between not really having anything to contribute to the first conversation topic and drinking Kraken in lieu of wine, but once I got enough in me it was no trouble at all!

Soon enough we were all laughing and poking fun at one another. I learned Mike once played a sort of macabre baseball using a blade as a bat and raw meat as the projectile; the intention was to bloody the aprons they were wearing for an art project. As usual I mostly listened, but when I did join in it usually garnered a good laugh or thoughtful discussion, which made me ecstatic!

I don’t mean for this to be bragging. Indeed, this is more of a progress report. I need to make videos elaborating on this, but one of the goals of this walk is for me to be more comfortable with joining social situations with people I don’t really know. This is a skill I never bothered learning because I would rather just stick to what I knew: friends I already had and gaming.

Don’t let gaming, or whatever hobby you may have, get in the way of your trying new experiences. Keep pushing outside your comfort zone and challenging yourself with new things. It will be hard, it will be uncomfortable, and it will be stressful. But this is the forge that produces the precious metals within us, and we are better for it.

You will get used to being in unfamiliar places and becoming more prepared for the unexpected in doing this, and every new front is another way to view the vast and beautiful universe we’re fortunate enough to reside in. As the Buddhist said to the hotdog vendor, “Make me one with everything.” Then upon overpaying and requesting the difference from the merchant comes the reply,

“Change comes only from within.”

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