A rambling post on my friends
I've been going through a lot of the older blog material in the last month or so, gathering things together in the process of writing the book. There are two things that I have noticed:
- There are some shocking spelling errors in the blog that I probably should go back and fix, now that I know they are there - yes I am that person :-)
- More importantly, there are a lot of little bits and pieces about the activities and talks that I had forgotten.
Jessi ArringtonThe one that struck me yesterday was reading back through the launch post for 30 days of fashion. I had forgotten the part in Jessi's talk about gathering the right people around you so that you can be quirky without fear.This made me smile, because I realise that I do have a lot of people close to me who wouldn't bat an eyelid if I started to become a little quirkier. There would certainly be comments, but I think that they would be incredibly supportive at the same time - and that made me realise how lucky I am.Friends and "friends"I've mentioned previously, in posts about introversion, that I have never had a huge number of friends at any given time, and that's how I like it. I did spend the majority of my youth and teenage years thinking that this meant there was something wrong with me, and that feeling stuck with me for a very long time. Let's put it this way, I've spent the majority of my life not taking chances to make friends because I firmly believed that I was not interesting enough or something else enough for people to want to be friends with me - these are the things that it still freaks me out to write on the blog.When we moved to Tasmania we left a small number of very special friends behind - but we are both used to long distance friendships so we have worked hard to make sure we maintain those connections. For me it's very important because I have lost contact with a number of people over the years who I now really regret losing, and I want to try to avoid that in my life.Back to JessiWhen we moved to Tasmania we knew no one down here, and for two introverts and hermits that is a real risk. I've been fortunate to work with some wonderful people, and out of this I have developed a few lovely friendships.These friends have been very important in my success from my Year of TED. Like Derek, they have been very supportive and encouraging of my crazy ideas. I tend to forget how much I do need other people at times, and now that I have embraced vulnerability I realise that I need them more than ever.It was just nice to be reminded of this, and to remember all of the lovely friends that I do have in my life. Some of them are scattered around other parts of Australia. Some of them I have lost contact with but I still consider them my friends, and if we were to meet again I would like to think we would slip straight back into that.I know I need to make sure I tell people how important they are, I've learned that lesson, but there is still a tentativeness around it.This is a bit of a rambling post really, but I think that it is important. I can't be the only person in the world who takes my important friendships for granted. When was the last time you really appreciated your friends? When was the last time you even thought about how much they impact on your life, in a positive way?This article is © Copyright – All rights reserved by Kylie Dunn.