think if you could somehow get an overview of every PNW resident in this moment they'd be screaming a collective Alderaan-esque cry of, "auuughhh, it's hoooooottttttt." It's strange because last summer when I was in Austin for the Texas Style Council conference it was 104ºF in Austin and while I remember that it was indeed hot, I don't remember it being anywhere near as oppressively uncomfortable as it's been here in Tacoma the past week. I feel like a dumb PNW person who cries about how cloudy and grey it is all winter and then whines about how hot it is all summer, but I'm telling you, ask anyone. It's been cray. I think the main problem is the lack of air conditioned spaces. Our A/C broke on our car about two months ago, which wasn't a problem at the time, but holy whoa is it a problem now. I may look breezy and carefree in these photos but I was wiping sweat off my face and panting like a dog between photos.
I've been putting myself solidly outside of my comfort zone lately. It's funny to be in a place where I know now that the anxiety will eventually fade and my comfort zone will expand to where I've stepped out of it. It doesn't make the stress or anxiety any more comfortable, but it puts things in perspective. To know that soon the things that are stressful or strange will be natural and familiar. It's a bit odd, really, and very cool. For now I'm stuck waiting for myself to grow. I'm trying to remind myself that the learning isn't always pretty and it's pretty dumb to expect to be amazing at a thing the first (dozen...or hundred) times I do it, but it's in the doing it that the learning happens. Just... take a deep breath and dive in.
