Who are you?!
Below are some excerpts from orangemoonhoneydew’s blog. She wrote these nearly 5 years ago, but they echo an experience I had recently.
Have you ever had an eye-opening conversation with someone that made you look at them in a totally different light? This happened to me today. I went to the second meeting of my support group. Unbeknownst to me, someone I knew from the summer program I completed before starting my Ph.D. walked through the door. We had spent a lot of time in the big group of folks together, but I had never had a real conversation with her. I thought she was ok, but not my type of person to hang out with.
I never knew how much we had in common. I’ve changed in the past 3-1/2 years since we first met. I’ve learned how to be a little less guarded, more open, and genuine with my feelings. So maybe this is why we connected today. It was like getting to know her for the first time all over again. And we hung out for most of the day, which is totally unprecedented, talking non-stop the entire time. I just think there is a lot more to her than I ever realized. We probably learned more about each other in six hours than we had that entire summer.
A lot of 2010 and 2011 were focused on growing my friend collection. Maybe 2012 should be not so much about cramming as many gems as I can into my box, but for dusting off my very first gems and polishing them.
This experience of mine is unprecedented as well, and I just wanna say this: When I started seeing this person differently, they surprisingly became a source of support and inspiration for me.
I’m not saying we’ll be bff’s. Maybe we’ll be closer friends or maybe this was an one-day dealie, but I’m glad I got this opportunity. It was refreshing to encounter a similar soul.
