The Experiment - Day 18

Day 18 of The Experiment where my 10-year-old daughter assigns me tasks I must complete was a good day!

Yesterday was pretty good, too. I know I minimized the egocentric talk in the conversations I had, but we had a dinner guest, so his visit really was comprised of several conversations. I know I did a much better job listening than I usually do. But my recollection is a bit blurry, so I don't think I can quantify my performance. I think I did pretty well.

Today, I continued a bit with this task, and when speaking with one of Rebecca's classmate's mothers, I put in the extra effort to listen much and speak less.

Beth and I went down to the church's garden as instructed. The yield is waning, as would be expected at this time of year. There is a sign near the garden stating that the food is for the neighborhood and to feel free to harvest something - still, I felt sheepish when Beth took a few eggplants - why is that? Permission was explicitly granted and yet I wanted to hesitate. We will put those eggplants to good use - Beth has already made an amazing eggplant casserole, which I know she will repeat. But if it weren't for Beth, I would not have taken them - I'm glad she's bolder than I! Maybe I need to work on feeling more deserving?

I doodled, too (dle). But it was more of a cartooning endeavor - and some ideas came to my head for some satirical graphics, so I jotted them down, too. I felt impatient and didn't want to labor over any one drawing, choosing instead to hash them out quickly. But I completed the task!

I felt like adding some color to the page, so I have posted another photo of a flower in our yard that I shot yesterday morning - this time, a Mexican Cigar Plant. I think I want to give myself the task of taking a photo of our Hickory tree every morning at the same time, starting on Saturday, October first. I want to document its daily changing of color and shedding of leaves until it's bare. Hope it's vibrant this year!

OK, onto today's task (Rebecca gave me just one, because it's a hum-dinger!):

1. THE ELEMENT TASK. Throughout the day, try to discern all four elements (earth, air, water, fire). Really connect with each element; take your time; no quick afterthoughts are allowed.

Since I'm posting this late in the day, I can tell you that I have already completed this task and Rebecca has informed me that I went "above and beyond".  I felt a swell of pride when she told me that. I know she works hard thinking of these tasks, so it's gratifying to know that I nailed one!

So what did I do? You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out!