Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

 by Marjorie Brody

I love challenges and like to--well, not exactly like to, in fact, sometime I kick and scream--thrust myself into uncomfortable situations in order to overcome reluctant behavior. “Reluctant behavior” is so much nicer than the quaking-in-my-stilettos word, “fear”, don’t you think? 

Blogging presents one of those challenges. Just thinking about writing a blog triggers not a casual thanks-but-I'll-pass reaction, but a firm, dig-in-my-heels, not me-no way, resistance. I’ve avoided blogging for years. Why? Because of a psychologically unpleasant association created decades ago. Blogging to me means writing non-fiction and just that word, non-non-non-fic-fic-fiction, sends creepy little critters crawling through my veins. Non-fiction reminds me too much of the drudgery I encountered while completing my dissertation. Note: I didn’t say the association was rational. 

As a result of this odious connection, blogging=non-fiction=psychic, emotional, and physical agony, my creative process locks herself in a room, buries her head under the blanket and refuses to come out and play. 

To the rescue comes the Stiletto Gang, a phenomenal group of writers, who offers me the opportunity to vanquish that twisted thought association--to tear it apart, to slaughter it with dagger or poisoned pen, to stomp upon its mangled shreds, to . . . hmm, maybe I can embrace blogging the way I embrace fiction--with passion, excitement, and an indescribable joy. 

Anyway, I’m sure going to give it my all. So while this may be a short blog, I’ve taken those first wobbly steps and surprisingly, I’m eager to come back the second Tuesday of next month and interact with you. Maybe you'll let me know if you've had situations you've been reluctant to undertake, and if so, how you've handled them. I look forward to sharing my passion for writing with you--whether it be plays or poetry or short stories or novels. Or maybe even, yes, just perhaps, I'll soon be able to add . . . blogging. 

Aladdin's Restaurant in Old Jaffa
overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

For now, I’m going to catch up on jet lag--I spent the last two weeks of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 in Israel--talk about stepping out of my comfort zone! I did manage to catch a connection home before the blizzard grounded all planes out of  New York, but that's a story for some other time. Thirty-three hours after I left the hotel in Tel Aviv, I arrived home. Bet Aladdin's carpet traveled faster.  

                               


Marjorie Brody is an award-winning author and Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her short stories appear in literary magazines and the Short Story America Anthology, Vols. I, II and III. Her debut psychological suspense novel, TWISTED, delves into the secrets that emerge following a sexual assault at a high school dance and features a remarkable teen who risks everything to expose the truth. TWISTED is available in print and ebooks. Marjorie invites you to visit her at www.marjoriespages.com.