Shelter In Place: the perfect time to START

By Amy Dee

You don’t have to be great to start: You have to start to be great.

The Covid19 shelter- in-place order creates opportunities to develop new skills. Don’t allow inexperience to stop you.  Start. 

Both embarrassing and hilarious errors occurred while I learned to speak Norwegian. 

After a few weeks of Norwegian lessons, I expressed my affection to my father-in-law by saying, “Jeg elsker deg.” 

Turning bright red, Knut quickly left the room. His reaction confused me until I discovered that “elsker” refers to a romantic/sexual love. Obviously, unless you are on the Jerry Springer show, this is not ok to say to your father-in-law.

After many lessons and lots of practice, I become comfortable enough to chat away in Norwegian. 

You don’t have to be great to start: You have to start to be great. 

Believe me, sewing isn’t my thing. Discouragement hit me in middle school when my home-economics short pattern ended up looking like a beach bag with legs.

Despite this initial failure, the coronavirus inspired me to make masks, so I bought a cheap sewing machine. My first seam looked like a two-year-old’s plate of spaghetti. After six hours of instructional YouTube videos and a creative blend of bad words, I managed to thread the machine. 

The first mask looked like a doll diaper with strings. My second mask fit Tia, our toy poodle. The third mask covered my entire face and neck, so it may become a pillowcase. 

After several more epic fails, and despite crooked seams that resemble my bite before braces, I created masks that work.

The shelter-in-place order allows you to hone brand new skills such as writing, pole dancing, or bread baking. No matter what you choose, START, because… 
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You don’t have to be great to start: you have to start to be great.

Looking for your next healthcare speaker? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to make your healthcare event a success!