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what’s it like for you when you enter a room of people you don’t know, he asked.
freeing, she said. i mean, it’s still scary for me, too. but i like how i’m presented with the opportunity to be anyone i want.
well, not anyone i want, i should say. it’s more that i’m not held back by other people’s preconceived notions about me, y’know? did you ever get that? when you were around people who knew you for far too long, and anytime you tried to branch out and grow they’d make some kind of comment, like, ‘that’s not you,’ in this really judgy way? i hate that.
yeah, i’ve been there, he said. i hated that too.
it’s why i went to a different high school from everyone i knew back in grade school, she said. i wanted to reinvent myself, i didn’t want how anyone saw me to prevent me from being me. and i was upset when two girls i’d known, one of whom was my best friend from when i was three, and the other who had been my best friend for a couple of years, decided to tag along. i felt like it was ruining my plans to start again, but it was fine.
what is it that scares you about meeting new people, she asked.
that they won’t like me or understand me, he said.
we all have that fear. everyone just wants to belong.
but i can’t relate to anyone nowadays. everyone speaks about what they do for a living and where they went to school and what their accomplishments were and i just don’t care. he sighed.
so, why not say something interesting about yourself to break out of that form of stiff introductions?
like what?
like, i’m writing a novel set in new england about a character who’s growing up, set in the early 2000s.
why would i ever say that?
because people aren’t going to show you their heart until you make them feel comfortable by showing yours. it’s a risk, but i’m telling you, it pays off.
what if they don’t like me?
if they don’t like you, you’re never going to see them again. why do you put so much value on someone’s opinion that you’re never going to see again?
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