Chapter 17
Finding Home in Unlikely Places
When Valancy had lived for a week at Roaring Abel’s she felt as if years had separated her from her old life and all the people she had known in it. They were beginning to seem remote—dream-like—far-away—and as the days went on they seemed still more so, until they ceased to matter altogether. She was happy. Nobody ever bothered her with conundrums or insisted on giving her Purple Pills. Nobody called her Doss or worried her about catching cold. There were no quilts to piece, no abominable rubber-plant to water, no ice-cold maternal tantrums to endure. She could be alone…
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Critical Thinking Exercise
Environment Audit
List the main environments where you spend time (work, home, certain friend groups, online spaces, etc.). For each one, write whether it generally makes you feel more confident or less confident, and identify one specific thing about that environment that contributes to how you feel. Look for patterns in what conditions help you thrive versus what conditions make you shrink.
Consider:
- •Pay attention to subtle environmental factors like tone of voice, expectations, and whether mistakes are treated as learning opportunities or failures
- •Consider both physical environments and social/emotional climates
- •Notice if you act differently in different environments, even with the same people present
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when changing your environment (even temporarily) revealed a side of yourself you didn't know existed. What conditions allowed that part of you to emerge?
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