In Honor of my People...

It feels good to be back, offering unsolicited advice on the internet.

             How ‘bout you, girl in the front row? Yeaaaah, you glad to be here?

I  feel like a bad comedian when I try to think of an opening line for each post. It’s so hard. Maybe we could have a contest where y’all submit potential opening lines and I have to make a post out of them.

    No? Okay. 
   
    “Airplane food! What’s up with that?”

     Today’s post is actually going to be serious. We'll talk about transparency, the importance of authentic friendships, and (inadvertently) chips.

        Don't focus on the chips too much, though.

I’ve said before that I’m an introvert, but really just a little bit. I love people. I love hearing all the different laughs melding together, bumping each other’s knuckles in the chip bowl, and revisiting all the embarrassing stories of the past- the ones that made us friends.

I recharge by spending time alone, yes, but there are few things I love more than a night with my people. I love the feeling of connection, the laughter, the way I can’t stop smiling afterwards. Some dear friends came back to town for the holidays, and I got really spoiled at being able to say, “See you next week,” or “Let’s get coffee Thursday,” or “Wow, it felt so good to say that. I haven’t been able to be my most horrible, honest self in a long time.”

And that’s a rule my people and I have. There’s an understanding that we can call each other at our most horrible, needy moments, and it be okay. Because there will be a time when we'll have to return that favor. We give each other the freedom to not have to have our acts together. It's free therapy.

Note:  I get to be horrible and honest with Robin, but sometimes I just need to unleash that stuff on some people with estrogen. Bless him.

              I’ll keep today’s post short, but I want to challenge you to think of who your people are. Who are the people you call when you can’t stop crying? Who are the people whose phone call you answer in the middle of the night? Who are those people who you haven’t seen in a while, but when you’re together again it feels like not a single day has passed?

Those are Your People. Call ‘em up, and maybe start that pact that you will be honest, you will be horrible, you will always answer, and you will never judge.

You can’t do this with too many, 2-3 gals has always been my limit and if you go too much higher you might be making yourself too available to too many and need legitimate therapy. Be uber intentional with those few, be loving and be honest.

To close, I’ve been reading a prayer from the Seven Sacred Pauses each morning this week and it has been so good. Here’s one for you, my little blogging tribe. ;)

Prayer of the Hour (Dawn)

O Light of God…

Anointed by your morning light I lift my spirit to receive the gift of this new day. Open my eyes to the beauty that surrounds me that I may walk through this day with the kind of awareness that calls forth grateful living. In all of creation let me see the brightness of your face. Shine in my heart and on my life, filling me with joy, creativity, hope, and laughter. Draw me into the radiant glory of your presence and into the small lights of those with whom I live and work. Inspire me to take time for those who are discouraged. May I live with the kind of presence that makes others to feel at home. Great Dawn of God, hear my prayer.

-          Macrina Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses

 

xo,

Cate