A Little Bit About This Mary Catherine Roden Thing
So, I kept seeing this name, Mary Catherine Roden, pop up here and there. People talking about her ideas on, I don't know, genuine connection or something. Sounded like a lot of hot air to me, mostly. You know how it is with these names that suddenly everyone is an expert on.
But it got me thinking, you know? I was stuck with my own stuff, trying to figure out how to share things in a way that felt, well, real. Not like all those polished posts you see everywhere. It felt like everyone was shouting and nobody was actually connecting. Just a lot of noise.
My So-Called "Practice Session"
So, I decided, alright, let's give this "being genuine" or whatever a shot. My big experiment for the month. I told myself, I'm just gonna put down whatever comes into my head. No second-guessing, no trying to make it sound all fancy. Just get the raw thoughts out. My "practice" was basically trying to be less of a control freak with my own words for a change.
- First, I started by just letting ideas spill out. I mean, truly spill. On scraps of paper, into my phone notes, didn't matter. Total mess.
- Then, the hard part. I'd sit down and try to make some sense of it all. Not editing like a maniac, just… trying to find a thread.
- I even dared to share some of these rough, unfinished bits with a couple of trusted friends. That was pretty uncomfortable, let me tell you.
And boy, was it a disaster at first. Most of what I churned out was pure nonsense. Stuff I wouldn't want anyone to see, ever. I thought, "If this is what that Roden lady is on about, then it's not for me." Seemed like a waste of good paper.
What Really Went Down
But here’s the kicker. After I kept at it for a bit, just slogging through my own brain dumps, something tiny started to change. It wasn't some big revelation about "authenticity" like you read in self-help stuff. It was more about just… stopping the overthinking.
I figured out that all these folks, maybe even this Roden person, they can talk about ideas all day long. But the actual doing of it? That’s never as clean as they make it sound. It’s just you, wrestling with whatever your particular struggle is. There isn't a secret handshake or a magic pill.
I began to spot a few little pieces, buried in all the junk I was writing, that actually sounded like me. Not some perfect version, just… plain old me. And that, strangely enough, felt more solid than any big theory I'd half-listened to.
So, this whole "Mary Catherine Roden" business, for me, it ended up not really being about her specifically. Her name was just sort of a mental bookmark for this little period where I tried to do things differently. I didn't even really dig into what her specific deal was. The name just floated around and I attached it to my own little project of just… trying. Just getting on with things, even when it’s clunky. Most of life is like that, right? Just muddling through.
It’s like all those productivity courses or inspirational speakers. They paint a nice picture, but at the end of the day, it's you who has to do the actual, sometimes boring, step-by-step work. No fast track. I didn't suddenly turn into some master of "genuine communication." I just got a tiny bit better at hearing my own thoughts, the real ones, when I wasn't trying so hard to fake them. And that’s something, I suppose. Better than nothing.
