First Person Friday.

by

carla1505

Why yes.
That IS a photo of me up there and not an image of my more animated, caricatured self.

Fridays they are a’changin’ around here.

For now.

For a little while.

And for later?

We’ll just have to see what happens (if by what happens you mean if I adore this as I think I shall—which I do).

Ive been blogging for a while.

I started back in 2001 as a blogger-for-hire writing for a fitness website (I know. And now I work for free. Im doing something so, so wrong uniquely.).

Back then we called ourselves online journalers & the majority of people thought we were freakin’ odd for posting daily updates on the minutiae of our lives.

(I still look back on that time and laugh. One guy used to post a daily photo of himself in order to illustrate his muscle gains/fat loss.  Back then this was regarded as “highly irregular.”  Ten years later we, the royal, post pics of ourselves/of our daily food intake & no one bats an eye. Time have certainly changed.)

After my ‘online journaling’ stint ended I became a mommy blogger.

For about two and a half years I posted daily about Life with the Tornado (not the name of the blog) & only stopped that when I found I couldnt maintain two blogs simultaneously (do any of you?  If yes: how on earth do you do it?!).

Since then Ive been MizFitting.

Only.

My day job is freelance writing yet Ive found Ive missed WRITING.

I miss doing posts like the one I did on Tuesday which are more personal in nature.

Posts which are far more my voice/my struggles than focusing on the external and talking about doing.

(Translation: posts about how Bikram yoga kicked my ass was a challenge versus, say, a post about the benefits of incorporating Bikram yoga into a well rounded workout routine.)

And First Person Friday was born.

(*cue confetti shaped like ME*)

One day a week of My Life Minutiae (which is seriously all that I need. Any more and even I tend to doze off.).

Sometimes rhyming (so Marianne doesnt have to do all the work)—sometimes not.

Sometimes whining—sometimes not. (yeah, I wont single any of you out fer the whining linkage. any volunteers?)

This was all sparked by the quote: You are what you repeatedly do.

After Tuesday’s post I had a moment of thinking that I give lipservice to many things (Im a tween fiction writer  I write silly rhyming poems which will be compiled into a book called Giggle & Grow are but two examples) which Im not actively doing.

You are what you repeatedly do.

After Tuesday’s post I had a moment of thinking that I see myself a certain way (I volunteer a lot. Community service is really important to me) yet my actions arent meshing with this vision.

You are what you repeatedly do.

After Tuesday’s post I decided to Carpe MizFit and take Fridays as a day to mull my shit life in an open forum and, in a sense, work toward connecting what I repeatedly do with whom I strive to be.

You are what you repeatedly do.

So I ask you, oh reader, who are you?

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Comments

  1. ooooh YAY what a bloomin’ marvellous idea! I look forward to Fridays even more now! WOO!

    And to answer your ever so eloquently posed question, i guess I am, currently, ever striving to be better (thinking positively OR allowing my fears that it will never work and I’ll never get ‘there'(wherever the bloody hell ‘there’ is!?) to take over and demotivate me (thinking negatively)

    Hmmmm….thought provoking as ever dear Miz!!!!

    (PS have also just twigged about the play on words of ‘mizfit’ – Miss Fit/Misfit – because fitness isnt about fitting in – oh dear lord am i really that stoopid!?)

  2. You know we love you and will always be here reading! I think this is a fabulous idea and it will make MF even better. Cute pic of you by the way and happy early fourth!

  3. great question…working on this do, which is why Fitarella is being redone…it wasnt “meshing” (as you so greatly put it) with my life. Love reading your work in the 1st person 🙂

  4. The “tornado” reference cracked me up! What do I repeatedly do? There’s not enough space in the comment box to answer that one. 🙂

  5. Hey Miz,
    This is kind of like seeing another side of you…and it’s good. It’s good, because I think many can all relate – not with the same answers to “who am I?”, but to this concept that we’re more than what meets the eye.
    – I am a writer (some days that’s easy, and some days it just way way hard)
    – I am a father (there’s much joy in this role, yet some days offer the biggest challenges of all)
    – I am a husband (having a life partner is good for my soul and keeps me grounded in love)
    – I am an athlete (my body, my health are important. Sometimes, I forget.)
    – I am a thinker (thoughts bounce around in my head, sometimes it’s like a ping pong game up there. No worldly problems are solved, but sometimes I understand me better)
    – I am human (surprise, huh!…and sometimes I just mess it all up…)

    Looking forward to your Fridays Miz!

  6. Fabulous idea.
    I adore this quote as well and have been pondering it since you tweeted it recently 🙂

    I am what I repeatedly do and much of that is NOT how I would define myself if given the chance.

    It is this word that you use LIPSERVICE.

    Great post and I look forward to your fridays!

  7. Hey Carla! Love it! 🙂

    Who am I?
    I don’t really know. I was talking about this with a friend yesterday. I don’t think that I have finished developing yet. The obvious is there, mother, wife, sister, friend….but the part that is just me, is still very much a work in progress!

    Like Lance, I’m very much looking forward to the new Friday!!

    Have a great 4th!

  8. I know I’ll enjoy Friday even more now!

    -I am a Mom to seven and a wife to one (probably good those aren’t reversed!)
    -I am proud I lost 150 pounds and think it’s interesting that I get a lot of questions about skin
    -I am serious about my faith
    -I started blogging this year and am enjoying it, although it takes a lot of time!

    Thanks for making me think about who I am – I think I may ask my family the same question – about themselves, and about me!

  9. OK
    I have been thinking about and wondering if I am misunderstanding.

    I took the quote as

    I AM WHAT I REPEATEDLY DO AND THAT IS NOT ENTIRELY WHO I WISH TO BE. I NEED AND WANT TO CHANGE WHAT I REPEATEDLY DO.

    is that right?

  10. Woo-hoo – check out those open hips Miz…impressive! 🙂

    I’m a wife, a massage therapist, a mama to 2 adorable pups, a walker, a hiker, a yogini, a music listener, a reader, an eater of almond butter, a member of the Bumbling Band…need I say more?

    Love this idea for Fridays!

  11. quick run past the computer.

    YES.

    for me, Becca, it is currently entirely this. you nailed it here:

    I AM WHAT I REPEATEDLY DO AND THAT IS NOT ENTIRELY WHO I WISH TO BE. I NEED AND WANT TO CHANGE WHAT I REPEATEDLY DO.

    For me it was a shock thinking

    MY SELF DEFINITION IS XYZ. I AM **DOING** RTY.

    I want to BE what I repeatedly DO.

  12. Love the pic and the idea of FPF. It’s tough at times to figure out the balance of sharing lessons already learned and those currently in production. I’m glad you’ll have this outlet.

    I’m a student (always something new to be learned) and a writer. I’ll be starting at least one more blog, but not until I’m out of ‘student’ mode on a couple of technical issues.

    I love that we can change. I don’t always love that we should.

    Happy 4th!

  13. Totally great idea for Fridays! I may have to steal that someday.

    I am struggling with this exact same dilemma. I think of myself as an aspiring book writer who happens to have a blog; yet the reality is I am a blogger who does not seem to be getting any books written!

    I either need to change my perception of myself or change my priorities.

    I’m so looking forward to first person fridays!

  14. I would say that I am a fit mom who runs as stress release & reads a lot.

    I am a kind of healthy mom who tends to eat as a stress relieved and makes very little time for herself.

    I get what you are saying here Miz and yet it scares me at the same time.

    We are, indeed, what we repeatedly do.

  15. I’m going to print out the phrase YOU ARE WHAT YOU REPEATEDLY DO and plaster it around my house and especially on my refrigerator. I’ve never really looked at it like this before and its so very easy for me to whine “but I’m really trying” when my repeated actions scream otherwise.

    I think I’m gonna really like it around here on Fridays!

  18. I am excited to travel this human path with you.

    I don’t comment frequently yet I read daily and enjoy the posts where you should us your human side most of all.

    Pat

  20. If I am what I repeatedly do I am a cherry coz I just about 50 of the little red fellas.

    Looking forward to the Fridays and enjoy the writing, yay 🙂

  21. I don’t comment often either yet this post sparked me to.

    Remember when someone commented you were their Fitness Guidance Counselor (do not remember who and don’t want to take credit ;))?

    This post is why for me.

    I hope fridays focus on fitness and more.

    Happy 4th Miz!

  22. Love love love the new Friday & love the journey you took to get her! Me? I post for sanity. Yes, pretty sure if I wouldn’t be sharing with the world, it would get bottled and I myself would blast into a gazillion little messed up pieces.

    I can’t wait to hear more Miz!

  23. I like the idea–look forward to more on the woman behind the caricature.

    What I repeatedly do changes too often to find a definition of me. Being a mother is the only thing that’s been consistent in the last 7 years. Otherwise my passions change way too often. So if I am what I repeatedly do, I’m changeable. Huh.

  24. that quote up in the comments is amazing. i’m going to write that down and ponder it over the weekend on the boat!

    LOVE this idea for fridays miz

    ps- that was my friend holding the cake 🙂 but we’ll see what i can do about ‘me’ pictures!

  25. Mizfit, I love this idea. Like others, I can’t wait to read more.

    If I am what I repeatedly do, then I guess I am a lot of work right now. 🙂 J/k, I think I am a fit, healthy person that is about to break free.

  26. Excellence therefore my friend , is not an act, but a habit.

    I love love this quote.

    (Now we’all know why Miz is so “excellent”..).

    I am repeatedly trying to evolve into a better person and lately all I can think of is ‘Shine, shine as a human being”.

  28. What a great idea! And, I love the YOU in the picture too 🙂

    I am what I repeatedly do. I’m a wife, mother, blogger, friend, bargain shopper, lover of laughter, lover of running, and all around bad arse wannabe 🙂

    Some days that stuff is so NOT exciting but I’m blessed to have it all!

  29. This feels like a flower opening to me.

    The pose in your photo.

    The unwrapping of a more private piece of Miz.

    I love it.

    You look so happy calm and zen.

  30. Hmmm… that would make me a typist who exercises a lot and cooks and cleans in all her spare time. I hear you about the service. It’s one of the most meaningful things in my life and yet I only devote one evening a week to it. (Maybe I should start a service blog?? Kidding.) Thanks for the great post!

  31. I hear you about the service. It’s one of the most meaningful things in my life and yet I only devote one evening a week to it.

    thats pretty damn repeatedly in my book, Sister!

  32. I am what I repeatedly do… so that makes me a technology-addicted, health-food-cooking, spanish-teaching, rarely-exercising-but-being-active, mama-duck to 2 cats, a dog and 10 campers. Hmm… not bad.

    P.S. Must get itinerary for BlogHer for sashimi date 🙂

  33. Thank you Miz. This post spoke to me more than you will ever know.

    I’m struggling with major life changes at the moment and my Boy is challenging me to become the person I say I am – a writer and a photographer. I put those big sides of me away while I worked at my career and while I love what I do, I miss who I am.

    I’ve been given a chance to get back to it and I’m scared but excited.

  34. I am so happy that you will be writing about your real life – I’ve loved the glimpses into your world and am looking forward to getting to know you better on Fridays!

    Who am I? I’m just a person who is trying to be. Taking life one day at a time, open to new things, doing what I like to do in order to become a healthy, confident woman.

  35. This is funny. I loved your Tuesday post. It was my most favorite post ever. I’ve thought about it for the last couple of days. Haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to do it.

    I’m glad you’ll be posting more like this, more of who you really are…a very cool and wonderful person. YOU are beautiful!

  36. LOVE this!!!! It’s so freshing/moving to hear not only sage advice (which is great, don’t get me wrong) but personal spins on things, struggles, and challenges.

    Totally looking forward to hearing more! Thanks for letting us in! 🙂

  38. I think you’ve hit on what so many of us are struggling with. I talk about crap and like to think of myself in a certain way, but if we don’t do the things we speak of, do the things we want to do or that show how we think of ourselves are we really that way?

  39. I love this- it had me going “Yes, that’s it!” this morning and then rambling my thoughts into a post. Now to get dressed and out to those bleachers, it’s what I repeatedly do!

  40. I’m with you on the service thing.

    For a while, I’ve been making little squares with leftover yarn. Those squares become blankets for homeless shelthers and domestic violence shelters. I’d like to be able to make little blankets to line the cages at animal shelters. For a while I toyed with making an Etsy shop for others who were less knitting-inclined to pay for the yarn and postage, but it felt wrong.

    As for who I am, reading is the thing I do the most in my spare time. Then it’s working out.

  41. What a great post to end the week and what a great question to make us think about! Who am I? Right now, I spend most of my time being a mom to a teenager and a toddler and I LOVE it! But there is of course so much more to me, so I’ll peel back the layers this weekend and take a closer look at me and how my vision matches up with what I do. One thing I know I don’t do enough but is in my vision of me is yoga. So I’ll definitely work on that…

    Have a great weekend! 🙂

  42. Woo… I loved Tuesdays post, so this makes me excited

    Me? I’m a student, I’m a teacher, I’m a *good* example (I hope), I’m a dreamer, but I’m not much of a do-er… but I hope to change all of that!

  43. I’m a mom, a blogger, a wife, a cook, an on-line shopkeeper…

    What I need to be:
    a writer (I MISS writing, but I haven’t worked on my stories in ages.)

  44. First Person Friday? I’m soooo excited. I love your blog but I love you more. Of course I’d rather read about you, and you, and more you.

    Sometimes I wish I mulled less about me and more about others. If I am repeatedly what I do, I feel very self-centered, very, very, all about me. Yes, I should think.talk.mull.write. less about me.

    BTW, Life With the Tornado is an awesome blog name. If I ever become a mommy blogger I will steal it. All little ones seem like tornadoes.

  45. I am reminded of this quote, one of my favorites:

    “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
    –Excerpt from the notebooks of Lazarus Long, from Robert Heinlein’s “Time Enough for Love”

  46. Ooh this is excellent. And part of the reason why I DID start up the second blog- because writing is what I am and I just want to keep doing more of it.

    Of course, when university starts up again in the fall, I haven’t a clue how I’m going to maintain both blogs. I’ll figure out that hurdle when I get to it 🙂

  47. Oh I am practically having a (miz)FIT of excitement about this! I am stoked you are going to do this and look forward to it wholeheartedly.

    In terms of your question — gee. I don’t like it. Can I just pretend you never asked it?

    Ok, ok, I’ll grow up. Tantrum over. I was going to say that I am a struggle-r…but, on second thought, I’d rather believe I am a fighter. Every day I find things about myself that I don’t like, but just as equally as I do that, I also say to myself “f’ that” and fight through those negative thoughts to truly live a happy and healthy life, fighting tooth and nail to make my health goals a reality.

    What a question, Miz!
    Much <3 to you!

  48. Ummm… I am what I repeatedly do. So I must be a Twitter. I just installed a program called “Leechblock” on my computer which will only allow me 5 minutes of Twitter per two hours. So I am hoping that will help me be just a bit less of a Twit.

  49. Brilliant. The blogger should not be obscured by the blog! I will look forward to more Friday MizLernin’.

    As for me being what I repeatedly do…that’s a toughie!!! Maybe that would actually make me a counselor – I feel like every day I end up (trying) putting something in perspective for someone else, in some capacity. Hmm, that is actually good news, if true!

  50. excellent idea! Tuesday’s post was awesome and i really look forward to the new 1st person friday 🙂

    as for your question, i’m still working on figuring that one out!

  51. Great idea, Miz! Always interesting to hear about other people’s struggles and triumphs.

    As for who I am – if I am what I repeatedly do, I am a slave to cows, cats, dogs, man.

  52. Also: I really really really really miss writing too, which is NOT what I have been doing (other than blogging) as of late. So something has to change. Because writing is as important to my health and being as exercise is, and while I have been getting healthier and fitter, my writing self has atrophied into a little shrunken pea. That needs to change and something has to give. I am thinking more and more that it might be my day job. (HUGE EXHALE) Which I also love. But still.

  53. I love the picture! And I’m excited about the Friday Minutiae!

    I’m a blogger, a foodie, an athlete-under-construction, a wife, a reader and a friend. But I’m not a website developer, which is really what I want to be doing at this stage… The only way I can do that is to limit some of the time spent blogging and twittering, but so be it!

  54. Looking forward to more personal writing, Miz. Love it!

    I am a helper.
    I am a creative thinker.
    I am a girlfriend, daughter and sister.
    I am a friend, mentor and advisor to some.
    I am a cat owner who loves her pet 🙂
    I am an overachiever, a worry-wart and sometimes a paranoid person.
    I am getting healthier and stronger.
    I am ME, and I am enough.

  55. Interesting idea as I, too, have found I’ve lost myself in blogging.

    Not found myself.

  56. I am what I repeatedly do, which means I am not the vision of my future that I wish to be.

    I am often frozen in fear.

    I am often distraction by busy-ness to avoid real work and progress.

    I am too much alone when I desire community.

    However, I am not doomed to continue this path. I can change.

  57. Nice, Miz. I sort of pondered this same dilemma when I wrote that post about my grandfather earlier this week. Am I just a food blogger or am I person to my readers? Can I cross that line?… It’s an interesting question to ponder who we are vs. who we appear to be.

    Who am I?
    I’m a writer of food, yes, but also of poetry and creative fiction and nonfiction.
    I’m a wife to a loving husband, a daughter, a sister, a friend.
    I’m inspiration to people, even when I forget that I am.
    I am a healthy person. Despite what my scale sometimes says.
    I am passionate about people and their stories and I want to help others find their paths to healthy living (in the way that people along my path helped me.)

    Nice post. 🙂

  58. Im enjoying your thoughts immensely. Thank you for making the time to share.

    Im surprised by many, saddened by some, and too too much resemble a few.

  59. I always, always try to really put the real me out there when I blog. People either love that or hate it. They email me thanking me for being real or cussing me for the flaws I admit. But I will never hide myself. I will remain my true self on my blog, faults and all.

  60. My head hurts!! Yes, you make us think hard!!! I don’t know who I am.. that is the dilemma right now! Maybe I never knew who I was. Lots of changing thru all my years trying to find out who I am & still trying at 51!

    Looking forward to your posts!

  61. ‘you are what you repeatedly do,’ great statement !but…OUCH! I need some ‘tweeking.’ It’s not ALL bad but some work is needed!! I guess there is always room for change and growth. Thanks for the challenge!!

  62. These days, the things that I do repeatedly are not what I want to be. Except loving. I do these things with love, and I am loving. But the rest of it… I just can’t define myself by what my days are now.

  63. I am a cook, housekeeper, vet, support group, taxi driver, and school parent (volunteer), a nurse, sometimes a motivator.

    But, I don’t want to always be defined as a ‘mom’, because, where will that leave me (and my marriage) when the nest is empty? I have some thinkin’ to do!

    I love this post!!

  67. Miz, this reminds me of one of my favorite sayings that I have tried to take to heart (put into practice.) Its by Annie Dillard and goes something like this:

    “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

    It is too easy to revert to what is easier or more comfortable for us. In one area of my life, for me, this means that I am not going to knit anymore AT ALL for a while, because what I want to be is an art quilter.

  68. I behave as what I want to be. Sometimes this needs adjustment, but it has taken me farther than anything else I’ve tried. Eventuallyl I become what it is I behave as.

  69. to be honest..i was MISSING the mizfit side of life. i love your advice, your recommendations to other products, your ..je ne sais quoi.

    but i missed hearing about YOU.

    i’m glad to read it 🙂

    xo

  70. I am what I am, and I am daily learning more. I know that I want to be more. Life has thrown curves and now more is a must and determination is a demand when time is a question. When going through hell we need to keep on going!

  71. I agree with what many have said and most recently lisa (#71).

    I would love to hear your day to day stuff.

    Struggles.

    Attempts to fit in fitness and health with your daughter around.

    I’m not married yet and have no kids but I still look to you as a role model for when I do and would love to achieve the balance you appear to have.

    HAPPY 4th!

  72. I repeatedly do so many different things that I must be fabulously okay right where I am.
    😉
    good ideas for new posts. Can’t wait.
    Pls I like the photo.

  73. Great Friday idea and very adorable MizFit pic. 🙂

    I want to spend my days in a more CONSISTENTLY healthy manner. Thanks for the words of wisdom to contemplate, as usual.

  74. If I am what I repeatedly do, apparently I am a Green Monster Smoothie of late!

    I love the quote & it gives me lots to reflect on. What I repeatedly do doesn’t match up with who I want to be BUT I am working on this.
    Although without having read this post, I wouldn’t have thought of it in these terms.
    ALWAYS such a great read, Carla!
    Love the Real Person Carla photo & the First Person Friday concept.
    You are such a bundle of EVERYthing good!

  75. I’m a runner, lover, travelor, wife, mom, nana, and reader of Mizfit blog. I love your new idea of Fridays. You’re amazing. Oh and I love to volunteer as well.

  76. Oh, God, sosososo true…I remember Stephen King saying how frustrating he finds it when people come up to him and say “I’ve always wanted to be a writer” because, as he puts it, writers WRITE. If you write, you are a writer. If you don’t, no matter how many people you talk to about it or how many writing how-to books you own, you are not.

    Lately…I am not. And that makes me a bit sad. Thanks (once again and always) for the reminder, Miz.

    And thanks for letting us peek into your life! It’s always good to know more about people we admire. 🙂

    V.

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