Blog a Day

Chris likes to read my blog. He laughs a lot when he reads it, which is sort of strange because he doesn't often laugh at me in real life unless I'm doing something clumsy. I asked him about this, and he said, "I think you're funny. I just sometimes don't laugh because I don't want to give you the satisfaction." And then he hung his head in mock-shame.

Anyway, he thinks I need to write more. I told him I'd thought of trying to do a blog a day for a week to see how it goes, but that I didn't really think I had enough to write about that would be funny, or at least somewhat pleasant to read. He suggested (really helpfully) that I just 'write whatever is on my mind'. I referred him back to a conversation we'd had a while ago in the car...

After we'd been silent for the span of 5 or so miles, he commented that I was quiet. I had been deep in thought and said, "I was just thinking about the baby, and how having a baby is kind of like our major contribution to the world. When you have a child, you're sort of accepting the fact that you'll die someday, but that it's OK because you've left a piece of you behind. It's a natural step in a person's life and something that I think all humans kind of strive for. There was a psychologist named Erik Erikson who had a theory that people start going through these stages of development starting at birth, and almost all of the stages have something to do with striving for independence and being productive at every level of our lives. Having a baby right now is maybe our greatest possible level of productivity at this stage of our lives. It's kind of like accepting that we're like a dying layer of skin, ready to be sloughed off, but it's OK because there's a new layer, and there will still be a part of us left behind when we go."

When I looked over at him, he had a look of shock and annoyance on his face.
"What's the matter?" I asked.
"That's terrible!" he said.
"It is?" I asked. "I don't think it's sad. I think it's hopeful. You think that's sad?"
"Yes!" he replied.
We were quiet for a little while.
"Well," I said, "what were you thinking about?"
"Definitely not that."

I reminded him about that conversation and said that maybe just writing what I am thinking for a week wouldn't work out that well. He said I should maybe just write about that conversation.

And there you have it.
xo