The Girl in the Red Rubber Boots

Category: Thoughts About Life

  • Why Personality Tests Always Misdiagnose Me

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    I struggled through years of taking personality tests that gave me absurd results. They told me I was an ENFP, a Sanguine, a 9 on the Enneagram, and then I’d read the description for what “I was” and it never sounded anything like me. “Don’t overthink it. Go with your gut,” people told me. So…

  • The Death of a Beautiful Place

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    Emily Sara Smucker
    in

    When people die we remember all the meaningful moments we had with them, even if we didn’t know them well, and when beautiful places die we do the same thing. As the horrible Eagle Creek fire destroys the Columbia River Gorge, I remember the last time I was there, and what I felt, and how meaningful…

  • August 2017 Life Update

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    As I close out August, I thought I’d do a quick post with a few updates on my life. My Poor Computer The internet on my little laptop is not working at all, EXCEPT Youtube works. And Google. But not Gmail. So, needless to say, being limited to the family computer and my little iPhoney…

  • The Great Switch

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    Emily Sara Smucker
    in

    Two things I desire with a ferocity that nearly overwhelms me: To create To live an interesting life I know “interesting” means different things to different people, but to me it means new places, new ideas, new interactions. Traveling, reading, exploring, learning. College was a constant parade of interesting ideas. There was always a robotics…

  • Friendships, Etc

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    When my friend Esta and her daughter Eden came out to the coast with me for my birthday, I was surprised by how many people commented (both in person and on social media) about how awesome it is that we remain close friends despite the fact that I’m single and she’s married with two children.…

  • 27

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    I have a weird relationship with aging. Every year I get a little older and feel a little younger. Ten years ago I turned 17 and thought that the good times had finally arrived. I was a senior in high school, I had a driver’s license, and I was going to the BMA convention for…

  • Graduation

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    For seven years I’ve been composing graduation blog posts in my head. For seven years I’ve been waiting for the day when I could say, “I struggled through chronic illness and depression, I never bought myself new clothes except for a couple times, like for a friend’s wedding, I went to four different colleges, I…

  • A Quick and Pithy Update

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    Emily Sara Smucker
    in

    I’m finally traveling again! Tomorrow I’m flying to Michigan with my grandma, where I’ll attend my cousin’s wedding and then road trip home with my brother and cousin. “And you’ll…just…leave your grandma in Michigan?” asked my friend Matt when I told him this today. “No, she’s flying home with my parents, who left today, so…

  • MOP April 21: Little Sister

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    Emily Sara Smucker
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    “Hey Emily, guess what?” My little sister stood in my doorway at 11:02 last night. “What?” “This may be the last time you’ll see me as a 16-year-old.” Maybe not so little, after all. “Not if we hang out for a while,” I said. She sat on my bed and we started chatting. I don’t…

  • MOP April 15: Tricking Myself into Getting Up Early

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    Emily Sara Smucker
    in

    I have a bad habit of putting off my homework until the morning its due. I’ll start big projects early, but I won’t finish them until the last available morning. Today was one such morning. I didn’t have class until 10, but I got to school at 8, checked out the textbook I needed, and…