They say that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results,” and to an extent I can see the logic behind that. That said, I also kinda disagree with the sentiment. Something I’ve learned throughout the course of my life, specifically dealing with my social anxiety, is that everything is a muscle. I know that sounds a little vague and nonsensical, but hear me out. When one wishes to build a muscle, make it bigger and stronger, they literally do the same thing over and over expecting a result. To build muscle, you must do an exercise that engages that muscle. This is a restart.
Now to be fair, when doing an exercise such as lifting weights, one is not doing the exact same thing over and over expecting the same result. The amount of weight changes in order to achieve the desired result but the concept of repetition is inherent. I use this concept in a less literal sense to build up my ability to talk to strangers on the phone, perform in interviews, and generally operate better under social circumstances. I used to apply for jobs that sounded interesting to me just to go through the interview process and practice my answers and strategy for when the job I really wanted came around.
For a time, I also used to go on Tinder dates as another form of social practice. Since first dates are essentially a form of an interview, I was able to try out anecdotes, jokes, and questions that I would utilize under the circumstances in the future. Every time I did one of these practices, it would get a little easier but if I stopped doing it (which I did for a good period) it got harder again as I became rustier and out of practice.
Chapter 3: Restart
This leads me to what I really wanted to discuss in this chapter: restarting. Since the last Notorious Notes, I was granted the opportunity to restart a few things that I had taken a break from. For the past nine months, I was taking a class to get my Private Investigator’s license, which conflicted with my weekly hot yoga class and as a result, I had been unable to attend hot yoga…until this week. Last week I completed the P.I. course and my schedule freed up a bit, allowing me to make my triumphant return to hot yoga!
I’d love to be able to tell you that I was able to fall back into the rhythm immediately and that it was like I never left, but that would be excessively inaccurate. It was hard; my body was stiff and I’d lost some of the flexibility and balance I had previously gained through my yoga experience, but I finished. I hit the reset button and started again. It definitely wasn’t as bad as the first time I tried hot yoga (I couldn’t even make it through a full hour class) and that’s a small victory as I set back on the ol’ yoga journey.
I also had the opportunity to head back down to Salem, OR to wrestle for The West Coast Wrestling Connection (WCWC) after taking a hiatus for a few months. I know, it’s crazy that I’m actually talking about a wrestling show here. Not much had changed about the place since I had left. I saw all the familiar faces, both in the locker room and out in the crowd.
They always treat me well and I’m glad they had me back. There were a couple of glaring changes for this past show though. The first was that a couple of the trainees who had been around doing ring crew and security for the shows were getting their first matches. One of them even had the honor of wrestling me for their first match! I won (of course) but Charly Avell-Cobain did an awesome job for his first match (I have no idea if he has any form of social media. Please let me know if he does and I’ll gladly pimp him out). There’s something poetic in the fact that while I was getting restarted, both of those guys were just getting started.
But that wasn’t the ONLY restart that occurred at this past WCWC show! The June 16th edition of “WCWC: Live” also saw the “restart” of THE CUNNINGHAMS! “The Mane Event” Carl Randers (FKA Carl Cunningham) and “Big” Jack Stevens (FKA Jack Cunningham) reunited and it felt so good! The reunion was not planned (nor necessarily desired) by either member of the formerly defunct team but they took to the concept like a duck to water and it looks like the pacific northwest’s odd couple may be back to stay???
Anyway, I know I talked about how “starting is the hardest part” in the first chapter, and that still rings true in my head, but sometimes restarting something that you’ve let taper off can be just as hard. There can be a certain amount of shame or embarrassment circling around letting something lapse, especially if it’s something that involves other people, and it can feel like you failed the first time.
But, even though those (literal or proverbial) muscles may have lost some strength, once they get going they can fall back into a certain rhythm and those muscles will grow back quicker the second time around. So if you’ve been putting off restarting something like a class, a friendship, or even just a video game (looking at you, Final Fantasy XV), give it a shot. You might be a little rusty at the thing but it may be someone else’s first time doing it ever.
Upcoming Dates:
- June 29: – Prestige Wrestling – Portland, OR
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