I recently started an EMT training program through a local initiative called Freedom House 2.0 and sometime in the first few sessions of class we were working on developing motivational interviewing skills by taking turns thinking of our favorite something while the rest of the class asked open ended questions to ascertain the answer.
Thankfully I wasn’t called upon to choose something, because I haven’t had a favorite anything since I was a kid and have consistently responded to questions about favorites for as long as I can remember with “Don’t do ‘em” or “How can anyone even choose such a thing?” Sad? Maybe. Honest? Definitely.
But last night as I was winding down what has been another full week of life/work/school/something up with my back/BOTH my children losing friends whose lives were so sadly short, I made the decision while being present with my older kiddo and her sadness to indulge in a second sweet thing of the day.
Which brings me back to favorites. And no, this isn’t an ad for Graeter’s ice cream but DANG, have I come across one of the best (which is about as close as I’m gonna get to saying I’ve found a favorite) flavor combos of ice cream this side of the country…any guesses based on the pic?
The funny thing about favorites of anything, harkening back to my class exercise, is that some of my cohorts responses had a fleeting feel – one student responded about a favorite food but also commented that there was something else that she loved as well, a tie really, and seemed to also have the same delightfully and yet agonizing gratitude over there being more than one delicious food item that exists that she gets to choose enjoying.
It’s like this for me with so many things in life. Foods, drinks, books, puzzles, plants, movies, music and on and on.
So….love everything, right?
Yes, maybe some things more than others but just love everything. Why favorite anything? Hmm, just as I typed those words a thought came to me that perhaps one of the reasons I stopped with favorites sometime in my childhood has to do with my attachment style (which seems to have had some disorganized flavor due to an….adventurous childhood) and somewhere in my scattered brain the setting is “Favorite anythings can go away, best not to have any” – which certainly can be and at times is definitely true depending on what the thing is – but….given how MUCH therapy and personal growth I’ve invested into my self over the last oh, twenty-some years, I am finding that I’ve started to really have favorites of things again.
Even though they’re fleeting sometimes, which can be the nature of a favorite thing given the popularity aspect that accompanies this adjective, I am THRILLED to be able to love everything and *really* love some things more than others….like that S’mores and Lemon Meringue Pie combo cone I savored last night.
What something are you lovin’ on a little extra today?
TimeSpaceOne 