Name Meaning: Katherine

My mom used to love to watch the show “Beauty and the Beast,” a show that aired in the late 80s. The female lead character’s name was Catherine, and that is partly what inspired her and my dad to give me that name (though with an alternate spelling).

Ask what the name “Katherine” means and most sources will tell you that it means “pure.” This is true, if you associate it with the Greek word katharos. What many people don’t know, however, is that “Katherine,” which really comes from the Greek name Aikaterine, could have several different origins and meanings, including being related to a word that means “torture.”

Pure and torture. Talk about two completely different meanings. But the meaning of a name is what you make it. It could mean a soul who appears pure but is tortured on the inside. Or maybe I find pure enjoyment from torturing other people.

What does your name mean?

Why I’m “Quiet”

Confession: Sometimes I feel too lazy to talk. It’s a waste of tongue-muscle. I think of things that could contribute to the conversation, but I don’t always say them. If I don’t talk in a conversation, it’s not because I’m angry, shy, or trying to be flirty. Sometimes I just prefer to not talk. I just like to spend time with a person.

I have one friend whom I’ve spent a bit of time with this summer, and when we get together sometimes we just like to sit in silence, listening to the birds singing. When we do talk it’s normally about something substantial, like relationships (of any kind), growing up, or life in general. That’s another thing about me. I’ll make small talk, but I don’t really like it.

When I’m in a group of people I try to let other people talk. In fact, if the group is big enough so that more than one conversation is happening at one time, I feel overwhelmed, so that’s when I can get really quiet. I feel like my brain is being overloaded with information and it’s hard to keep up. So sometimes it may look like I’m bored or I might not have anything to contribute, when really I feel like I’m shutting down from trying so hard to take everything in.

If I don’t talk to you it’s not because I don’t want to spend time with you. It’s more likely that I want to give you space because I would hate to bother you. If you want to talk to me then I’ll listen. I may not have much to say, so you’ll have to forgive me. But I can still be there for you.

Mom…

She gave me hugs when I was little. She kissed my boo-boos, and rocked me back and forth in her lap when I was sad.

Moms are awesome. A mom will cook dinner, wash the dishes, and clean the laundry. She can give you advice when you’re confused, or take you out for ice cream just because.

Mom will piss you off. You need to wash the dishes a certain way or they’re not clean. And you better be home by curfew or she’ll be up waiting for you. She has rules – common sense rules, picky rules, annoying rules.

Mom is emotional – she’s a woman, why wouldn’t she be! She’ll yell if your room isn’t clean, and she’ll cry if the toilet is broken. Just because her dinners are amazing doesn’t mean her mood always will be.

Mom is insecure. She won’t say that, but she is. She desperately wants her children to be safe and happy, and is afraid of failing to provide that safety and happiness for her children. She’ll forget to take care of herself because her first thought is to take care of her family.

Maybe you woke up one morning and she wasn’t there. Maybe she never was. Maybe she’s there and you wish she wasn’t. But any woman who pushed an entire human being out from between her legs is a woman worthy of respect.

Tell her she’s beautiful. Make her proud.

Summer Adventures: Don’t Drown!

I didn’t think of myself as much of a control freak until I stepped into water.

Yes, it’s true. I didn’t learn how to swim when I was younger. And people are shocked when I tell them that. But I decided it was time to change that. It was time I learn how to prolong my life for another five minutes in case I was stuck in deep water, since that’s a pretty useful skill.

I went to my friends’ house a couple times, where I learned in their four-foot deep pool how to doggy paddle and float on my back.

And it was awesome.

The hardest part for me was being able to relax. I felt a need to keep my head completely above water and my feet on the ground; otherwise I felt like I lost control. But when you’re swimming you have to give up control. You have to trust the water to carry your body, and you have to trust yourself to stay afloat.

My friend Joanie told me repeatedly, “You need to relax. Once you can relax, everything will become so much easier.” And it did. And it felt amazing. Yes, I felt out of control. But being able to accept that I wasn’t in complete control helped me to enjoy the experience more. Now I can’t wait to get back in the pool and learn more!

Relax. Enjoy life.

Summer Adventures: Zip Lining

I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this many bruises on my legs, but it was worth it.

Recently I went zip-lining with some new friends made this summer, and it was awesome. That combined with the rock wall, vertical playpen, and flying squirrel swing was enough to get me pretty beaten up, but it was a great workout and a great rush of adrenaline.

One of the things I loved about an activity course like that was the people who helped me through it. I’m talking mainly about the workers who held the end of the rope so I wouldn’t fall while I was climbing. And the people who encouraged me to make it to the top of the wall/course. Sometimes all it took was a single person telling me, “You can do it!” to motivate me (or maybe even, “I bet you can’t do it!” in which case I was determined to prove them wrong). Something about encouragement while climbing is more instantly gratifying to me than in other situations.

Of course, there was nothing like concluding the day with my final ride on the zip line. I was tired, I was sweaty, and I got to just sit back and relax as I flew through the air.

Summer Adventures: Hiking

Trees are good at keeping secrets. The ones in this forest have years of experience, and years of memories, especially the ones with carvings of people’s initials to mark a special sweetheart spot.

Well, my friend and I aren’t sweethearts, but suffice it to say we are more or less co-adventurers for the summer. She and I went hiking in the Brandywine Creek State Park, where the woods provided a private haven and time stood still. We walked along about a 2-mile long trail, which wound up, down, around, and everywhere through the woods. Rocky, muddy, hilly, smooth. The trail led us next to the creek, where we stopped to eat a picnic lunch. We sat on a huge boulder on the water’s edge, shaded by a canopy of leaves. For a long time we sat in silence, allowing the current of the water to carry our minds away from everyday life.

Something about the shelter of the trees made it feel okay to talk about whatever we wanted. Okay, so maybe we didn’t solve the world’s problems, but we did talk about why we enjoyed certain books. And we talked about various happenings at a faraway place called school. And we talked about things that confuse us about life, things that make us happy, and things that hurt. Things that maybe we don’t talk about on a daily basis, but things that make an adventure all the more memorable.

And then of course after the hike we ate ice cream, because what adventure is complete without ice cream?

Summer Adventures: City Boardwalk

I didn’t know water could dance until I went to Atlantic City. The Pier Mall has a water fountain that leaps and lights up to music – a show that lasts not even 10 minutes but it runs every hour. And it’s free.

(image from nj.com)

A lot of times my most favorite adventures involve free stuff. I loved walking along the boardwalk that night – watching a light show, talking to strangers, and stepping out onto the beach to howl at the moon shining down on the water. Because sometimes the adventures that don’t cost a lot of money can be the richest experiences of all.

Things I Love: Rainy Days

The world is taking a shower, and I’m trying to stay dry. It’s been raining all day, but I love it. I’m spending the evening inside sipping green tea while listening to jazz piano music.

Stuck indoors? No. The rain makes me feel free. Free at the end of the day to relax and not feel guilty for not spending time outside in sunny weather. Free to stretch the imagination to find an adventure in my immediate surroundings instead of searching long distance for something fun to do. Even free to be productive. Wait what’s productive?

Never mind. Excuse me, I have an adventure to discover.

This Is the Title, Because I Was Trying to Think of Something Clever But Failed.

I think I might be writing too many posts about why I write instead of actually writing. But I could be wrong. It could just be that that’s something I think about and not something I write about because I haven’t been posting regularly.

I write more for me than for anyone else, although I do appreciate people’s feedback. I write to sort out my thoughts. I have a lot of thoughts that get jumbled in my brain. It’s hard for me to focus on anything, but writing helps me to get stuff off my mind. That way I can see what I’m thinking and maybe make sense of it. Or I can forget it for awhile and read it later.

I write to become a better writer. It’s just a hobby for now, but I’d like to get better at it. Who knows where it will go in the future, if anywhere. It’s just something I like to do.

I think I can write the most when I can’t focus. That way I just write whatever I’m thinking. So it’s hard for me to write when I want to focus on something. And sometimes I don’t even know what to focus on. And even when I have an idea of what I might want to write about it’s hard for me to focus on writing about it.

At this point in the post some bloggers may have a moral to the story or a spiritual meaning to their words. Writing could be a metaphor for something. One could ask, “What are you focusing on?” Yeah, I don’t really have a moral or a metaphor. You can make one on your own if you want. Something to think about for the day. (By the way I don’t mean to insult any bloggers who do this. In fact sometimes I enjoy reading blogs that have a moral to the story)

This is the point in the post where I would challenge you to do something. Take action. So this is my challenge for you: I challenge you to read to the end of this post.

Good job.

Summer Storage

I get home from school and BAM. My bedroom is now a storage room because we’re renovating the house. I’m cool with that, but it makes me want to get rid of more stuff.

Yup. It’s time for a bit of summer cleaning. I was so proud of myself for being able to fit almost everything from college into 2 boxes, 2 suitcases, and a book bag. Exceptions would be items like a printer and a trash can. For the most part, I thought I’d condensed everything pretty well.

I follow a blog made by these two guys who call themselves The Minimalists. The title pretty much says it all, and I’m inspired to live more simply because of their minimalistic lifestyle.

I’m the kind of person who would love to pack up everything and be able to go anywhere, anytime. I don’t like to be bogged down with stuff. It wears me out.

So it’s time to clean out this summer storage room. I hope my Dad isn’t reading this because he’ll probably want me to start cleaning the basement and the garage as well.

Oh, hi Dad.