I received some hard feedback recently. A family member told me she’d noticed that I wasn’t being a great conversationalist in terms of reciprocating in a conversation she’d witnessed. The person I was talking to asked me how I was doing, and I didn’t really follow up in kind.
Poor social skills can be a cost of social anxiety disorder. It’s not that I don’t know how to communicate or don’t care about the other person; it’s that I sometimes get too much into my own head (even with people I’ve known a long time and care about), and my social fluency takes a hit.
I didn’t like hearing the feedback (who wants to feel like they had a social stumble?), but in hindsight, I appreciate it. It was a reminder to continue learning and practicing, to grow in courage and use my empathy even when I’m feeling awkward. (And it made me appreciate all of my friends who have stuck around even though I am an awkward person sometimes!)
What Else I’ve Been up to:
The two latest episodes of Catholic Women Lead have been great, if I do say so myself (although it’s because of the guests!). Leah Jacobson came on to talk about gender and formation, and Jessica Castillo and I talked about pursuing excellence as an entrepreneur (although there’s wisdom in it for non-entrepreneurs as well). Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
I reviewed Regina Boyd’s new book, Leaving Loneliness Behind, for Catholic Women in Business. I wish I’d been able to read it about 10 years ago! Regina is an insightful and kind Catholic therapist and friend of Catholic Women in Business.
We started growing Roma tomatoes! It will be quite the experiment, because I tend to be absent-minded and have no experience growing much of anything, let alone produce. But I really want to get into gardening, partly for my own sake and partly to teach my children. We’re starting here. (Anyone here grow tomatoes? Advice is welcome!)
Content I Liked This Week:
I immediately subscribed to the Apple playlists of the Poor Clare Sisters of Arundel after reading this article about them at MyModernMet.com.
As someone who loved E. Nesbit as a child and then Jane Austen and Tolkien starting in middle school, I related to this essay on “the very British childhood of Anglophiles everywhere” by Anna K. Reynolds at Inspire Virtue.
Perhaps no other issue illustrates the fact that Catholicism doesn’t fit neatly into any major U.S. political party than caring for the environment—which is why I was happy to read this Aleteia article announcing a new program in agriculture and Catholic environmental stewardship at Ave Maria University.
Given what I wrote above, this Harvard Business Review article on empathetic listening by Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki was timely and helpful.
Books I Enjoyed:
I had the privilege of receiving a galley of Rebecca W. Martin’s new novel, Love in the Eternal City. A full review is coming—suffice it to say I hope she writes more novels, because it was fantastic.
I successfully requested that our local library buy
’s new novel, The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, but I may need my own copy. So, so good.I’ll share a review from CatholicMom.com next week, but I received a galley of Alphabet by Heart, a new picture book by Jeanne and Mark K. Shriver and illustrated by Laura Watson. It’s great for teaching ABCs, rhyming, and virtue to young children.
One of the books at our library’s story time this week was Butterfly Butterfly: A Book of Colors, by Petr Horácek, and I want a copy for our home library now. So colorful and fun! My daughter and I both love butterflies.