SRCD

This is a few weeks late, but I need a break from this paper I'm writing.  So in the spirit of procrastinating, it's time to update my blog.

I went to the Society for Research in Child Development a few weeks ago in Seattle.  It was super fun and enlightening in a lot of ways.  First of all, Seattle is pretty cool.  It was, of course, gray and rainy most of the time I was there.  But my travel/office buddy Wendy and I made the best of it.  (Just as an aside, let's all take a moment to give a shout out to Wendy.  She is awesome, and was a lot of fun to travel with.  Not everyone makes a good travel companion, but Wendy was aces.)  Most of you won't be interested in the research that I heard about or what I learned academically.

There were a few other take-home-messages for me though.  First, listening to smart people argue is a trip.  My family - and no offense to you guys, you know I love you more than anything - has a hard time disagreeing with one another.  Someone ends up taking something personally and getting upset.  The disagreement becomes about the person rather than the ideas.  It was so different watching these really smart people disagree.  It was very professional and, even though sometimes things got a little heated, it stayed about the ideas.  And afterward everyone was able to go grab a coffee together and chat about normal people things.  I think there is a lesson in there for most of the world.

Second, every one you meet has a story.  I got to know some new people, and got to know some other people better.  I am always amazed by how rich and varied our experiences on this planet can be.  Perhaps I'm betraying my initial training in narrative research (thanks Cecilia!) but I love listening to people make meaning out of their experiences.  One of my life goals is to be able to appreciate that more, and subsequently be more sensitive to what may have contributed to someone's worldview.  I was talking with a friend the other day and she said that what she was most intolerant of was intolerance.  That really resonated with me and I think this will help with that.

Now I've procrastinated long enough...I've got two single spaced pages to go.  Back to work!