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Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone




Stepping out of My comfort zone!


My 75th birthday was upon me, and I had no plans. I felt disconnected, disconnected from who I was, and I wasn’t doing a dang thing to change my situation.

Change wasn’t going to knock on the door and hand me the keys to my new life. I was going to have to make an effort! I sucked in a deep breath of air, put on my tennis shoes, and grabbed my walker. I always heard, “Everything starts with the first step,” so out the front door I went! It was a start!


Okay, I started walking. That’s a good thing for my physical health, now what? What about my emotional health, my spiritual health? I’m still coming home and sitting in front of the TV.

I pulled the controls that had nearly grafted to my hand and punched the off button for the TV. Now what? My arm froze as I reached for my laptop. Go for it, Diane, I heard from somewhere in my head. I plopped into my comfy overstuffed chair and opened my computer to the title page of the next book I had promised myself I was going to write. Nothing happened, so I started freewriting about anything and everything. Then I heard a familiar voice whispering in my head. It was one of my characters from my book. Before I knew it, I was writing again! I might be slow, but I was moving forward. Still, I was stuck at home because of the Pandemic. My spirit was slumping!


My friend, Randa, an amazing, creative friend, invited me to her sculpture class. She said there would be social distancing with only a few of her good friends but what did I know about sculpting? Nothing! I might suck at it, but how will I know if I don’t give it a try. I had always wanted to learn, so Saturday morning I headed to her place. She plopped down a box of clay and some wiring thing in front of me. What the heck is this? Everyone else was well on their way, tweaking their projects they had been working on for a while. I sat staring at this thing in front of me. Suddenly, the screen door opened and in walked the teacher. He immediately took a seat next to me. Oh, no. This isn’t going to go well. He introduced himself and began telling me a little about himself. I finally started to relax. He had drawn me in. He casually picked up a piece of clay, asked the model to pose, and started sticking clumps of clay in strategic areas on this wire structure. “See, how the hips are at an angle?” he asked. I glanced at the model and back at the wire. “Yes.” Little by little, my teacher explained the layering of muscles on the body that would make my up my sculpture. He got up to grab a cookie off the table. Okay, let’s do this. I reached over and took a small piece of clay out of the box and molded it onto my wire. I felt like I had stepped into the Twilight Zone. The people around me were in slow motion. Their mouths were moving, but I heard nothing. I was enjoying this new experience. I was living in the moment. I wasn’t thinking about what I needed to do at home, the Pandemic, the chaotic politics, nor the injustices of the world. I didn’t care if my sculpture was going to suck or not. I had stepped out of my comfort zone, and it felt good!

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