30 Day Writing Challenge: 10 Interesting Facts About Hayley the Brave

This prompt feels completely self-serving, but whatever.

1. My husband and my daughter are my best friends. If I could, I would spend all day every day snuggling with my two favorite humans. My husband is honest, loyal, hard-working, funny, and a perfect complement for me. My daughter is hilarious, energetic, adorable, and every time I look at her, my heart overflows with an indescribable love. I am an extremely blessed individual.

2. I want to be a writer. This should come as no surprise to anyone, considering you're reading my blog. I guess I already am I writer. I mean, I have this blog, and I write for SheTraveled.com (and actually get paid for it!), but what I really want to be is a published author. I want to have my own table at Comicon with a poster above it with my face on it and my website and all of my book covers. I want to create characters and worlds that people fall in love with and talk about with all of their friends. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at crafting a story. I'm working on it.

3. I live for Comicon. Speaking of Comicon, it is my favorite event of all time. Whether it's Phoenix or San Diego, I love Comicon. The energy that courses through my veins when I roll up to the convention center is incredible. The adrenaline that comes from dressing up as one of your fictional heroes, being stopped for pictures, meeting celebrities you grew up watching on TV... there's nothing like it. I've written entire essays about how much I love this event, so clearly I am passionate about it. It is an amazing outlet for geeks like me.

4. I'm a little bit country, and a little bit rock and roll. In music and in life, I have diverse interests. I can mosh, crowd surf, nod my head to an acoustic guitar, chillax to some Keith Urban, or drop some bars of Eminem if called upon. I like any genre of music if it is good, and I like any person, any human, any activity, any hobby if it is good. I try to be eclectic, a veritable cornucopia of experience and interests.

5. Society stresses me out. I can't stand humanity. That sounds awful, but it's true. You know that quote from Men in Black? "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it"? That quote is like my life mantra. I love sitting down one on one with people and getting to know them, but with the advent of social media and especially with this latest presidential election, I have become more and more convinced that our society is doomed. There are just too many stupid, ignorant, bigoted, angry, biased, stubborn individuals out there that buy into mob mentality and it is ruining the world. As Jane Austen wrote, "the more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it"... Call me cynical. I simply find that I am too perceptive to overlook the darkness.

6. I want to join a band. I used to record songs and perform them as a solo singer/songwriter. It was great, and I frequently miss it, but with my family and my career it is hard to keep up with the hobby. Now, I play bass guitar on a regular basis, and I dream of being in a cover band that plays late 90s/early 2000s pop punk/punk rock.

7. I love my job. Despite how often I complain about low pay, crappy treatment from the general public, the consistent slaps to the face by the government, my several apathetic and some downright awful students, I really love what I do. From the structure of my day to the "summers off" (lol), I love it. I'm grateful for the opportunity I'm granted every year to make a difference in someone's life. I love the autonomy that I have, or what autonomy I have left, and the free food during Teacher Appreciation Week ain't half bad.

8. I'm extremely opinionated. I have learned, in my ripe old age, how to better control my tongue, how to be more compassionate, and how to be more understanding of others. But truth be told, I am extremely opinionated and I often feel, believe, and sometimes say things that others would find controversial. I am very strong willed and it is difficult for me to not scream my thoughts from the rooftops, but I have learned that I don't have to share every single thing that I think. It's a process, but I'm getting there.

9. I have generalized anxiety disorder. I've had signs of it since I was about sixteen years old. Every person's anxiety manifests itself differently. Mine causes very real and devastating physical issues, from sweating to severe stomach pain to dizziness to nausea to blurry vision and headaches. I take a very mild dose of medication to help me get through my day to day without being extremely sick. Anxiety is not the same as being nervous. Being nervous implies there is something to be worried about. Anxiety means I can feel anxious about nothing at all, that I can consciously feel confident while my subconscious brain attacks my body. It is awful, but a burden I am learning to cope with each day.

10. I did not give myself my nickname. My moniker, Hayley the Brave, was given to me by my father. When I was a kid, I remember him calling me from work during the day and when I would pick up the phone he would say, "Is this Hayley, the brave and strong?" It never meant much to me at the time, but as I got older and battled anxiety while attempting to start a music career, I wanted to choose a name that said I was more than my anxiety, that I could do hard things, that I could be successful. Hence the birth of Hayley the Brave. It has been my username on all forms of social media, my email address, my musical persona, and now my writing persona. Thanks Dad!