by Karen Creamer | Mar 1, 2018 | author, Being BRAVE, Catching women being brave, Interviews, no fear, The BRAVE Interviews, Travel
Here is this month’s BRAVE Interview with Crissy Maier!
WHO are you? Someone who overcomes challenges. Whether it’s my cleft lip and palate, my learning disability, my struggles through the police academy, other health issues, problems at work – I’m not defined by any of them, but rather by my ability to integrate the lessons I’ve learned and to find ways to overcome the next challenge I will face.
WHAT is your One Brave Thing? Sometimes I wonder if I’ve done it yet. I seem to have succeeded at everything I’ve tried, or at least not failed miserably. I might need to try something harder to really be brave. But when thinking about this question, I’m reminded of my first trip to Europe. I arrived in London, almost got lost going to my hotel even though I had step by step instructions. The next day I got on a hop on and off bus and at the stop in Trafalgar Square I wanted to get off the bus, but I was afraid of getting off the bus. In some ways it was an insignificant moment, but it’s a moment that I’ve reminded myself of many, many times. It’s a moment that inspired an entire chapter of my book. It took a minute or two to talk myself into it, but I got off the bus at Trafalgar Square. I didn’t venture too far away from the bus stop, but I broke a barrier of fear. I traveled through Europe for two weeks before returning to London. When I did, I was a completely different person, I was taking the Tube to sites that I didn’t know how to get to and navigating the streets of London like I would the streets at home. It’s one of those rare opportunities in life when I got to see how much I had changed in a short period of time. When I’m afraid of something, I often think back to that experience.
WHEN did you do it? That was in 2005
WHERE did it occur? London and Europe
HOW and WHY did you make it happen? The woman who stepped off the plane in London in 2005 was ready for adventure, to see the world. But she was afraid of the unknown, of getting lost. But she was more afraid of missing out, or being a “failure.” When fear holds us back, sometimes we need to break down what the fear is, and what the realistic ‘bad’ outcome is. When we think of it logically, it’s usually not nearly as bad as it seems. It’s not always easy to do, it takes time and discipline. More importantly though, I think knowing why you want to do something, and the cost of not doing it, can be enough to give you the discipline needed to overcome the fear you have. If I wasn’t committed to seeing London (in one day), then maybe I wouldn’t have gotten off the bus and found out that it’s not so scary to face your fear.
Keep reading by Karen Creamer | Sep 8, 2017 | Adult children, Being BRAVE, Catching women being brave, family, Interviews, relationships, The BRAVE Interviews, Travel, Turning 50
Here is this month’s BRAVE Interview with Sylvia Wesley! Enjoy!
WHO are you? I’m a 61-year-old white woman—wife, mother, nurse, and pseudo-bon vivant!
WHAT is your One Brave Thing? Sometimes I feel like just living every day is a Brave Thing and it is difficult to choose a single event! As a nurse, it seems like so many of my ‘brave things’ encompass caring for people—my dad and my brother, who both died of cancer; my mom with multiple surgeries; friends with HIV/AIDS. As a mom I gave birth to twins who were 10 weeks premature and their first 6 months of life was pretty hectic, to put it mildly. As a wife, still being married after 38 years could be considered brave—but probably the bravest aspect there is that I married a black man in 1979, only 12 years after the Supreme Court ruled interracial marriage was not illegal, and our early years involved some struggles in a very white New England. So, after all that, I decided to choose a joyous adventure as my One Brave Thing—I went to Burning Man!
WHEN did you do it? 8/28-9/1, 2006
WHERE did it occur? Black Rock Desert, NV
HOW did you make it happen? Mostly my daughter made the initial experience happen. She had been going to Burning Man for a few years and always marveled at how awesome it was and she was sure I would love it. So for my 50th birthday, I was given a ticket to TTITD (aka ‘that thing in the desert’). Which meant I would be sharing camping space with 38,000+ other adventuring
nomads for a week in rather hostile environmental conditions, and only knowing one other person. A little scary having to be self-reliant in an unknown situation, camping with my daughter’s friends who only had her assurances that I was ‘fun, non-judgmental, fully capable of taking care of myself, and would not act like everybody’s mother.’ So I packed my bags and flew to LA. We readied all our camping equipment, some party outfits, food and water for a week, and did a 12 hour ride/drive-share to the event with a heretofore unknown person. After 12+ hours, in a very small mini-van, we were all fast friends. Getting to and from is just as much of an adventure as being there!
WHY did you do it? For the adventure! It was one of the best experiences of my life—the bigger-than-life art, the music, the people, the sense of oneness—all magnificent. I came away with a whole new sense of self. And as my daughter predicted, I would want to go every year after that, and did so for the next 7 years. ‘Life’ has since interrupted my annual trek, and I have not been for the past 3 years, but look forward to resuming visits to my personal Mecca in the near future.
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Karen Creamer
