Bicycle Lessons

This following is an actual dialogue that occurred between Micah and I as we rode our bikes Saturday:

Micah: "Don't you ever shift your gears on your bike?"
Mare: "No, not really."
Micah: "Why not?
Mare: "I like constancy. I don't like change."
Micah: "So you prefer to it to be more difficult to ride your bike rather than to change?"
Mare: (thoughtful silence). "I guess so."

This conversation was pretty insightful, actually. It's true. I have routines. Patterns. Rituals. I hate it, for example, when Micah wants to change around our meeting place on campus for lunch; I always want to meet in the same spot. I always walk the same way to my classes. I order the same things I always get from restaurants. Oh, and I go through trends with breakfast foods. For almost a year I ate raisin bran almost every day. Then for several months I had an egg on toast everyday. Now I eat a bowl with half honey bunches and oats and half raw oatmeal everday. And, one of the best ones (that drives Micah crazy), I like to listen to my favorite songs over and over again. (I figure, since they're so good, might as well, right?). When I can't do these things just this way, and even when doing these things just this way causes some additional burden or difficulty, I feel stuck. (It's probably not politically correct but I have termed these my "autistic moments" because individuals with autism often have a develop rituals and have a difficult time with change).

From the perspective I'm at right now, it can actually be rather funny, but I'm hoping this blog will serve some normalizing effect. So let me know, world: does anyone else have a similar problem of "shifting gears?"

Peace.
Mare.