Brave

I’ve been reading a bit lately about raising boys. How they need healthy ways to fulfill their natural desires for adventure. I need to provide a safe environment for daring experiences, the theory goes, so they don’t seek to feed that hunger in a reckless way.

Paul and I have been discussing how we can become an adventurous family. Camping trips, travel to far away places, canoing, archery…

Those of you who know me well can stop laughing now.

I’m not the most adventurous person you’ve ever met. My anxious nature and my desire to be in control and always prepared (CONSTANT VIGILANCE!) means I generally try to avoid anything out of the ordinary.

But I’m a mom of two boys who are going to need adventure in their lives. So when my local MOMS Club organized a rock climbing trip, I was ready to go. Okay, the rocks were fake and happened to be indoors, but I have to start somewhere.

And then no one could come. Short notice, expensive price tag — it just wasn’t the right time for that adventure.

Instead, another adventure awaited.

There’s a tiny, bright purple bar on a corner in my neighborhood. I’ve always wondered about its much-rumored scene but never stepped inside the door. Until last week.

And until last week, I had never sung karaoke.

It’s funny, really. I was a voice major in college, so karaoke shouldn’t be this elusive prize. Somehow, though, that experience passed me by and ended up squarely on my adventure list.

So last Thursday, some friends and I warmed up with bar food and trivia night (go Team Mittens!). We made friends with the regulars, met the bar owner, and — after deliberating for thirty minutes on choice of song — took the karaoke plunge.

We rocked the house with Dancing Queen.

We were awesome.

I don’t know if we actually sounded awesome, but the very fact that we went up on that stage was awesome. For me, it was a start, or perhaps just a rediscovery, of being brave.

So I did find my adventure in a little corner of East Nashville that night. And while my free nights are usually spent tucked away at a quiet coffee shop, if you happen to stop by the Lipstick Lounge on karaoke night, you might just see me there.