My Free Associations

A few weeks ago, I read a post by Yvonne that I really liked. The post is called "Freewriting Activity." It's the product of a class assignment she had -- to write about her name via free association. I thought it was a brilliant blog idea, and I wanted to try it myself.

So here are my free associations to my own name:

Sara. A princess without an h. Aitch. I remember when I heard that the girl who lost the spelling bee lost it because she spelled the letter h wrong. No one believed it. Who knew it was even a word? But sounds can be words. Onomatopoeia. If I were in a spelling bee, that's the word I would mess up. That would be my losing word.

Actually, I think I would do pretty well in the national spelling bee. That's the kind of pressure I like. The kind where you use your brain and spit out facts. The kinds of activities where you use your brain to quickly strategize and move your body in coordination with other people's movements -- I'm not so good at those. Softball, volleyball, basketball -- forget it. Performative talents that require body movement are no good either.

Sports = pressure.
Describing the physiology of muscle movement during a test = no pressure.

People who are comfortable with their bodies and who can talk confidently are neat to me. My mom is like that. She thinks she can do anything, so she probably can! I wonder if I'll ever be like her when I'm 57.

My dad speaks with confidence. People think he speaks with such ease, but I know that he practices his speeches over and over again in front of the bathroom mirror. He practices while he tightens the Windsor knot of his tie in the morning. I'm like him a lot, but he's good at sports. Maybe he practiced that, too. I don't know.

Thing I'm thankful for: being home.