Chasing Grace

I was tagged by Harlekwin with a very interesting meme. It caused me some slight consternation, as it would require some serious cognitive function during the weekend. I make it a practice to never think too much during the weekend. Between the Pumpkin Festival and the Pats game today, I’ve only just had time to sit and think. But here we finally are.

The meme: List five things about yourself that you have never shared before.

1. My senses can become overwhelmed very quickly and easily. There is a book titled The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. It could have been written about me. It’s one of the reasons I did so poorly in school. Sensory overload. I’ve been dealing with it all my life, and it makes social situations and adhering to a set schedule very challenging sometimes. It was only after I read that book that I finally understood why I’m the way I am. I still have the same issues, but at least now I understand why and have developed ways of coping.
2. I love action films, sports and the Three Stooges. That statement would be unremarkable if not for the fact that I am also female. I don’t enjoy ‘chick flicks’ even a little. The last one I went to, I was dragged there by a friend and slept through most of the movie.
3. I made extensive use of temporary agencies for most of my working life. I get burned out at almost any job really quickly and have to move on. Back when being a Temp was a legitimate way of being employed, this worked really well. I’d work for six months and then take three months off to read, sleep and lay on the beach. These days, so many companies are using temp agencies for their human resources it doesn’t quite work that way anymore. It is now viewed as a way to get permanently hired. It’s too bad, because that was a really good arrangement.
4. During my childhood, every year we went camping at Yosemite. These trips were the highlights of my childhood. I remember feeding peanuts to squirrels and blue jays, wading in cool mountain streams, toasting marshmallows and hot dogs on an open fire. I remember watching bears dig through garbage cans (from a safe distance) and I remember watching the Firefall with my family. I remember the bazillion stars and the beautiful Milky Way. Those camping trips were very important to me. I developed my love for Nature, and escaping from civilization on those trips.
5. I have very vivid, lucid dreams. I quite often fly in my dreams. Occasionally I have dreams that relate to my waking life, and help me to solve problems and find solutions. I won’t go so far as to say I have prophetic dreams, but there has been more than one occasion where a dream supplied me with knowledge I didn’t know I possessed. I used to keep a dream journal, when I had the spare time to write first thing in the morning. It provided me with a lot of insight into my unconscious mind, and helped me to develop a personal iconic system for communicating with that part of myself.

And there you have it. To be honest I know I’ve mentioned one or two of these things before, but I don’t think I went into any great detail about them.

I’m choosing not to specifically tag anyone with this meme, but if you are reading this and would like to play along, please do so. It was a rather fun exercise. Thanks, Harlekwin!