Adam's Story
What's Your Story?
I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell.
This week, I'm talking to Adam Groves. Adam and I work together at my day job. In addition to being one of my favorite co-workers, he's also one of my beta readers. That is what happens to people with MFA's in creative writing who work in IT--they get to beta read for random engineers they work with. And they get to do blog interviews too.
Let's get started, Adam, describe yourself in 50 words or less.
Acquaintances call me peaceful because i'm reserved, but i'm always tired. Even my writing only shows a fraction of what races around my brain. in my youth i tried to love and be loved by everyone but didn't get far. more recently i've sought internal reconciliation hoping to rejuvenate my life.
I think to think of myself as more than just an acquaintance, but I'd probably describe you as pensive, so maybe that means we need to get to know each other better. What do you love most in the world?
i love when people show genuine, non-strategic, compassionate interest in one another. i think that there are few things as magnificent and lovable as people who want to share and learn about one another, unspoiled by either desperation or cynical motives
Yay, genuine interaction with other people is my favorite thing in the world, no wonder we're friends. So what do you fear most?when i was younger i feared stagnation - i never wanted to become stuck in a place where i would stop growing. over the years, having repeatedly changed situations and started fresh (sometimes by choice, sometimes not), my hunger for knowledge and faith in my resilience and charisma have faded. i realize more and more how difficult it is for me to connect with people or feel a sense of belonging. what good is experience without people to share it with? as i struggle to connect with people, it becomes harder to identify things in my life that feel worth knowing or sharing. sometimes i miss past opportunities to "stagnate." i am no longer afraid of an end to learning so much as i am of being alone.
I think fear of isolation is hard, especially for introverts who are slower to develop close friendships. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?
i am a bit shocked to watch myself write this, but i think my largest unfulfilled dream is to find a kindred romantic spirit to share my life with. i am not doing anything to achieve that goal because i am hopelessly bewildered by all the complicated, overlapping and conflicting rules and requirements of modern courtship. i feel like human connection is ruined by all the gender socioeconomics. i feel like there are a million intentional booby traps involved in earning the right to just spend time with someone.
I hope that you find someone to share your life with, because I think you are very worthy of love. But I also admire your independence. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?
most everything feels like a triumph of will in some way. other than math, very few things have come easily to me in life. i should pick one thing, though. it sounds kind of silly, but i think that the hardest thing i've ever done is to stay in one place. i have lived in one city for 7 years and had one job for 5, which beats all records since i was a teenager.
I'm glad you've stuck in one place this long, because it's enabled us to become friends. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?
once upon a time, i decided to fulfill a dream and go to school for creative writing. because i overthink everything and thus overwhelm myself before getting started, i forced myself to focus on one step at a time. it was like a grocery list:sign up for the gre - checkstudy for the gre and english subject gre- checktake the gres - check.choose where to go to school: how about somewhere in a coastal state? okay, gather applications - checklet's write some portfolio stories - donenow send out the completed applications and recommendation letters - okaywait...and wait...and waitonly accepted to one in twelve schools - ouch, that hurts a bit. but hey, at least i don't have to worry about overthinking it!time to look for an apartment - hop on craigslist - this isn't working so well, i'll deal with that laterrent a carpack everything that fits into the car (give everything else away)drive cross-country to a totally new cityno job, nowhere to live, no problem. get a hotel roomwalk around town with a AAA road map, looking for an apartmenta few days later, sign a lease on a pretty nifty place full of friendly strangers, make about half a dozen friends right awaywalk into a random student center at a random college (not where i was going), ask for help moving in, and get it!week two of new life in new city: walk around town some more, looking for a job. walk in and apply at the local newspaper - a few days later walk back in for my first day of work and make a half-dozen more friends. now we're cooking!a month later, start living the dream - lit classes, writing workshops, hanging out in pubs with fictioneers and poets every other night
eventually i stopped running around pumping my fists while eye of the tiger followed me everywhere i went, but i will always remember how exhilarating that season of life was. i seemed to trip over serendipity everywhere i turned. it is nice to know that once in a while life really does help you get to where you want to be.
That sounds like such a magical time. Don't you wish we could stay 22 forever? Thank you for sharing your story, Adam.
So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.
I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell.
This week, I'm talking to Adam Groves. Adam and I work together at my day job. In addition to being one of my favorite co-workers, he's also one of my beta readers. That is what happens to people with MFA's in creative writing who work in IT--they get to beta read for random engineers they work with. And they get to do blog interviews too.
Let's get started, Adam, describe yourself in 50 words or less.
Acquaintances call me peaceful because i'm reserved, but i'm always tired. Even my writing only shows a fraction of what races around my brain. in my youth i tried to love and be loved by everyone but didn't get far. more recently i've sought internal reconciliation hoping to rejuvenate my life.
I think to think of myself as more than just an acquaintance, but I'd probably describe you as pensive, so maybe that means we need to get to know each other better. What do you love most in the world?
i love when people show genuine, non-strategic, compassionate interest in one another. i think that there are few things as magnificent and lovable as people who want to share and learn about one another, unspoiled by either desperation or cynical motives
Yay, genuine interaction with other people is my favorite thing in the world, no wonder we're friends. So what do you fear most?when i was younger i feared stagnation - i never wanted to become stuck in a place where i would stop growing. over the years, having repeatedly changed situations and started fresh (sometimes by choice, sometimes not), my hunger for knowledge and faith in my resilience and charisma have faded. i realize more and more how difficult it is for me to connect with people or feel a sense of belonging. what good is experience without people to share it with? as i struggle to connect with people, it becomes harder to identify things in my life that feel worth knowing or sharing. sometimes i miss past opportunities to "stagnate." i am no longer afraid of an end to learning so much as i am of being alone.
I think fear of isolation is hard, especially for introverts who are slower to develop close friendships. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?
i am a bit shocked to watch myself write this, but i think my largest unfulfilled dream is to find a kindred romantic spirit to share my life with. i am not doing anything to achieve that goal because i am hopelessly bewildered by all the complicated, overlapping and conflicting rules and requirements of modern courtship. i feel like human connection is ruined by all the gender socioeconomics. i feel like there are a million intentional booby traps involved in earning the right to just spend time with someone.
I hope that you find someone to share your life with, because I think you are very worthy of love. But I also admire your independence. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?
most everything feels like a triumph of will in some way. other than math, very few things have come easily to me in life. i should pick one thing, though. it sounds kind of silly, but i think that the hardest thing i've ever done is to stay in one place. i have lived in one city for 7 years and had one job for 5, which beats all records since i was a teenager.
I'm glad you've stuck in one place this long, because it's enabled us to become friends. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?
once upon a time, i decided to fulfill a dream and go to school for creative writing. because i overthink everything and thus overwhelm myself before getting started, i forced myself to focus on one step at a time. it was like a grocery list:sign up for the gre - checkstudy for the gre and english subject gre- checktake the gres - check.choose where to go to school: how about somewhere in a coastal state? okay, gather applications - checklet's write some portfolio stories - donenow send out the completed applications and recommendation letters - okaywait...and wait...and waitonly accepted to one in twelve schools - ouch, that hurts a bit. but hey, at least i don't have to worry about overthinking it!time to look for an apartment - hop on craigslist - this isn't working so well, i'll deal with that laterrent a carpack everything that fits into the car (give everything else away)drive cross-country to a totally new cityno job, nowhere to live, no problem. get a hotel roomwalk around town with a AAA road map, looking for an apartmenta few days later, sign a lease on a pretty nifty place full of friendly strangers, make about half a dozen friends right awaywalk into a random student center at a random college (not where i was going), ask for help moving in, and get it!week two of new life in new city: walk around town some more, looking for a job. walk in and apply at the local newspaper - a few days later walk back in for my first day of work and make a half-dozen more friends. now we're cooking!a month later, start living the dream - lit classes, writing workshops, hanging out in pubs with fictioneers and poets every other night
eventually i stopped running around pumping my fists while eye of the tiger followed me everywhere i went, but i will always remember how exhilarating that season of life was. i seemed to trip over serendipity everywhere i turned. it is nice to know that once in a while life really does help you get to where you want to be.
That sounds like such a magical time. Don't you wish we could stay 22 forever? Thank you for sharing your story, Adam.
So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.
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