While walking with Leslie Jamison she mentioned a time during her childhood when she wished to share an observation—“I think it’s really beautiful how rain looks when it’s falling on water”—with her peers, in hopes that they would would agree. It was the summer before seventh grade and, well, things didn’t go as planned once the school year started. But that memory she shared reminded me of all the times I attempted to share something as a child, in a desperate hope for connection. Leslie went on to say, “We share things with other people and want them to like them. That feels very natural,” and she’s absolutely right. It’s one of the things I love about Walk It Off, making room for other people to share things with me that they love. With that in mind, I wanted to ask all of you: What was something you loved to share as a child? It could be a toy, or a memory, or a fact. A place, an idea, or a pet. Anything, really. For example, I was quite fond of showing people that I could roll my tongue not once, not twice, but three times. So let’s share! Let us know what you loved to share with other people when you were a kid.
When I was six, we moved to Oahu for two years for my dad's work. We lived on the beach on the No. Shore, with a little cove in front protected from high surf by a reef. I had two little sisters, age 4 and 1. The one-year-old hated sand on her feet, so Dad dragged a cardboard box down, and set it next to the blanket. The baby cooed in the box, my and other sis swam (no bathing suits) in what we called the pool. Dad put a long bungee cord around a big airplane tire and held onto it while we rode the little waves in the cove. I can hear him laughing, and Mom laughing, and when they laughed, the baby would laugh just because they did. Those two years. Simple, sunny, mostly quiet. Their laughter, and the beach and the little waves. Everything.
I liked to 'share' small gravel from our driveway with our neighbor's very patient dog, Freckles. I was about 4-5, and would get handfuls, walk over to the fence and 'feed' it to her. She would patiently take it in her mouth, wait till I turned to go back, and then deposit it in the grass. She was probably part Border collie, a very sweet smart dog.
This question sparked an interesting reflection for me. I can't think of a single thing I loved to share as a child. I was an only child and pretty heavily (read: overly) protected by my Asian parents and didn't really get to spend much time with other kids outside school. So there wasn't really anyone for me to share things with. And I think my focus as a child was more to get things for myself, not to share them. Thinking really hard about this, I guess I could say I shared the movies I loved with my grandparents every Saturday. I was pretty enthusiastic about playing the movies I loved for them, convinced that they'd love them too. Though I can't really say I loved the sharing. I think the only thing I can truly say I loved as a child is reading (a love I've now lost). Now I'm getting off topic. As I said, your question sparked an interesting reflection. Thank you! I love your discussion threads. 💓
I'd share my parentless house with the neighbor girls so we could dance to the Beatles. My parents would go our, and the neighbors were ready to boogie, LPs on the stereo console. Thanks! I hadn't thought to that naughty activity in a long time!
Apr 1, 2022·edited Apr 1, 2022Liked by Isaac Fitzgerald
When I was a kid, I used to invite people over to listen to CDs. Just whatever I thought was amazing. This later became mixed tapes, burnt CDs and finally SoundCloud streams.
I guess I just hoped they’d have the same experience or reaction I did. However, I probably ruined that a bit by staring intently, studying their face and making them feel a bit self-conscious.
When I was in elementary school, a neighbor boy and I shared Hardy Boys books with each other. I read Nancy Drew too, but he wasn’t interested. We made a “fort” in my garage and read for hours. My mother believed me when I told her we were just reading! Became a reading teacher when when I finally grew up.
I used to share my Pokemon cards with friends :) there are so many different characters to appreciate and love - and I still remember the favorite Pokemon of each of my close friends back then
I once read the word 'discombobulated' in a novel about a young girl who could hypnotise people, and used it incessantly for years, loosely shaping its meaning to whatever I fancied.
Only now as a grown up do I understand that is definitely does not mean 'drunk', 'dancing fast', or 'elated'.
I shared blankets ... to make forts! On rainy days my friends and I would build forts in my basement with all the spare blankets I could gather from around the house and bedrooms. On good days we'd pull all the lawn furniture together on the grass in the backyard and throw those blankets on top, holding everything together with clothespins! I remember we actually made tunnels and various rooms, some for reading, some for talking, some for lying down and pulling open a corner of the top blanket so we could watch the birds and see the clouds. Damn, those were good days. I can still smell the mustiness of the old heavy blankets and see the faded colours of the patterns. I will confess to introducing my three sons to fort building when they were young and not once did I grumble when all the cushions and blankets disappeared into the basement on a rainy day.
I had two things I was always trying to share and still like to share. The first was my family, I adored them, and I just thought everybody’s life would be improved by experiencing my mother. The second was Haitian food, Growing up in Chicago I didn’t meet many Haitians outside of my family so I was constantly explaining my meals to people. After a point I felt like people who have never had a Haitian patty or our squash soup were missing out.
I always had my nose stuck in a book when I was a kid. I would read just about anything, but what I loved were kids’ encyclopedias, books on how to do things, lists of top 10s, etc. I liked sharing little bits of trivia. Sometimes my friends were fascinated…other times not so much. It just made me more selective as an adult who I shared with.
PS: I can roll my tongue just once (would love to see a triple roll!), but I‘ve never known anyone besides myself who can wiggle their ears. 🙂
I had a favorite place that I could ride my bike to. It was always fun to pack a lunch with a friend or two and have lunch there in the summer when we were in middle school. Once I got older I would often arrange to meet someone there. It was a charmed spot along the river in town. No idea why it seemed to be just me that knew about it. After I left town a flood came through and pretty much destroyed the spot. I’m okay with that. Everyone should have their own spot at that age.
I loved sharing my toys. I was a very creative kid and I used to concoct intersecting universes where I could play with them all at once (regardless of size/theme). My brother and I would make a lot of messes that drove our mom mad but I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in all that play. Thinking about it now, I guess I would like to rescue that part of myself; that openness. Now I am so protective of my play and creative projects...maybe I should be as open to sharing those too!!
One of my favorite spaces when I was a kid was a tree house alongside a creek at my grandparent's house that was shared my entire set of cousins. I had little direct involvement in the making of the treehouse itself, but my cousins who constructed it with their dad had no more ownership than I did. It was simply the space of escape, imagination, snacks, privacy from adults.
I liked to share that I could bend my arm in a weird cool way. I didnt think it was that cool but apparently everyone else did! So I did it for the reactions and then everyone else trying to do the same thing. (Basically it’s putting my hand on the table then i bend my elbow inwards? So my arm is kinda a wing and then my elbow touches the table) Bahha
When I was six, we moved to Oahu for two years for my dad's work. We lived on the beach on the No. Shore, with a little cove in front protected from high surf by a reef. I had two little sisters, age 4 and 1. The one-year-old hated sand on her feet, so Dad dragged a cardboard box down, and set it next to the blanket. The baby cooed in the box, my and other sis swam (no bathing suits) in what we called the pool. Dad put a long bungee cord around a big airplane tire and held onto it while we rode the little waves in the cove. I can hear him laughing, and Mom laughing, and when they laughed, the baby would laugh just because they did. Those two years. Simple, sunny, mostly quiet. Their laughter, and the beach and the little waves. Everything.
I liked to 'share' small gravel from our driveway with our neighbor's very patient dog, Freckles. I was about 4-5, and would get handfuls, walk over to the fence and 'feed' it to her. She would patiently take it in her mouth, wait till I turned to go back, and then deposit it in the grass. She was probably part Border collie, a very sweet smart dog.
This question sparked an interesting reflection for me. I can't think of a single thing I loved to share as a child. I was an only child and pretty heavily (read: overly) protected by my Asian parents and didn't really get to spend much time with other kids outside school. So there wasn't really anyone for me to share things with. And I think my focus as a child was more to get things for myself, not to share them. Thinking really hard about this, I guess I could say I shared the movies I loved with my grandparents every Saturday. I was pretty enthusiastic about playing the movies I loved for them, convinced that they'd love them too. Though I can't really say I loved the sharing. I think the only thing I can truly say I loved as a child is reading (a love I've now lost). Now I'm getting off topic. As I said, your question sparked an interesting reflection. Thank you! I love your discussion threads. 💓
I'd share my parentless house with the neighbor girls so we could dance to the Beatles. My parents would go our, and the neighbors were ready to boogie, LPs on the stereo console. Thanks! I hadn't thought to that naughty activity in a long time!
When I was a kid, I used to invite people over to listen to CDs. Just whatever I thought was amazing. This later became mixed tapes, burnt CDs and finally SoundCloud streams.
I guess I just hoped they’d have the same experience or reaction I did. However, I probably ruined that a bit by staring intently, studying their face and making them feel a bit self-conscious.
Terrible jokes. I had a Fozzie Bear joke book. I wanted people to like me. So I shared extremely corny jokes.
When I was in elementary school, a neighbor boy and I shared Hardy Boys books with each other. I read Nancy Drew too, but he wasn’t interested. We made a “fort” in my garage and read for hours. My mother believed me when I told her we were just reading! Became a reading teacher when when I finally grew up.
I used to share my Pokemon cards with friends :) there are so many different characters to appreciate and love - and I still remember the favorite Pokemon of each of my close friends back then
It's probably too on the nose, but I've been handselling/handsharing books since I was a child. <3
I once read the word 'discombobulated' in a novel about a young girl who could hypnotise people, and used it incessantly for years, loosely shaping its meaning to whatever I fancied.
Only now as a grown up do I understand that is definitely does not mean 'drunk', 'dancing fast', or 'elated'.
I shared blankets ... to make forts! On rainy days my friends and I would build forts in my basement with all the spare blankets I could gather from around the house and bedrooms. On good days we'd pull all the lawn furniture together on the grass in the backyard and throw those blankets on top, holding everything together with clothespins! I remember we actually made tunnels and various rooms, some for reading, some for talking, some for lying down and pulling open a corner of the top blanket so we could watch the birds and see the clouds. Damn, those were good days. I can still smell the mustiness of the old heavy blankets and see the faded colours of the patterns. I will confess to introducing my three sons to fort building when they were young and not once did I grumble when all the cushions and blankets disappeared into the basement on a rainy day.
I had two things I was always trying to share and still like to share. The first was my family, I adored them, and I just thought everybody’s life would be improved by experiencing my mother. The second was Haitian food, Growing up in Chicago I didn’t meet many Haitians outside of my family so I was constantly explaining my meals to people. After a point I felt like people who have never had a Haitian patty or our squash soup were missing out.
I always had my nose stuck in a book when I was a kid. I would read just about anything, but what I loved were kids’ encyclopedias, books on how to do things, lists of top 10s, etc. I liked sharing little bits of trivia. Sometimes my friends were fascinated…other times not so much. It just made me more selective as an adult who I shared with.
PS: I can roll my tongue just once (would love to see a triple roll!), but I‘ve never known anyone besides myself who can wiggle their ears. 🙂
I had a favorite place that I could ride my bike to. It was always fun to pack a lunch with a friend or two and have lunch there in the summer when we were in middle school. Once I got older I would often arrange to meet someone there. It was a charmed spot along the river in town. No idea why it seemed to be just me that knew about it. After I left town a flood came through and pretty much destroyed the spot. I’m okay with that. Everyone should have their own spot at that age.
I loved sharing my toys. I was a very creative kid and I used to concoct intersecting universes where I could play with them all at once (regardless of size/theme). My brother and I would make a lot of messes that drove our mom mad but I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in all that play. Thinking about it now, I guess I would like to rescue that part of myself; that openness. Now I am so protective of my play and creative projects...maybe I should be as open to sharing those too!!
One of my favorite spaces when I was a kid was a tree house alongside a creek at my grandparent's house that was shared my entire set of cousins. I had little direct involvement in the making of the treehouse itself, but my cousins who constructed it with their dad had no more ownership than I did. It was simply the space of escape, imagination, snacks, privacy from adults.
I liked to share that I could bend my arm in a weird cool way. I didnt think it was that cool but apparently everyone else did! So I did it for the reactions and then everyone else trying to do the same thing. (Basically it’s putting my hand on the table then i bend my elbow inwards? So my arm is kinda a wing and then my elbow touches the table) Bahha