Each New Friend Is A New World

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ~Anaïs Nin ☀️ While birds of a feather might flock together, I am not convinced that they are having more fun! ❤️🤣We could not be more different! An afternoon café, an open agenda and candid talk revealed how profoundly different and, sometimes opposing, our views and beliefs are. But our intention was the same: we want to be better and do better. 

So we came to the table with a desire to learn from each other and the respect and open-mindedness that allow people to stretch beyond comfort and grow.

We weighed in on topics like punctuality, time and culture🧐; IG strategies; sensuality vs femininity🤔; image and success;  definitions of “proper” attire👠; communication styles and social expectations. We tried to answer questions like: Can conservative and genuine co-exist?🦄 Is pumping breast milk while driving being efficient or being too “aggressive” around women’s rights?😳 We analyzed how family upbringing and gender roles either plant seeds of self-limiting beliefs or encourage resilience. And, of course, we ended with a topic we all agree on: food. 

Whether we wear pearls, ripped jeans, 3/4-length sleeved blazers (yes, I learned the detail is THAT important🤣), bow ties or stilettos… who of us doesn’t like a late-night run to eat chicharrones on the side of the road? 🏃🏼‍♀️😍 

As each of us shared our personal experience or perspective, the collective soundtrack of the group’s reactions played like a loop of phases of internal processing: (1) the initial gasp (usually caused by some unexpected mix of horror, delight, disbelief or admiration) followed by awkward silence broken only by (2) squeaks as the listeners shifted in their chair and leaned in. And finally by (3) a tempered, contemplative “woooow… okay, okaaay… so wait,” which invariably cued one of the other listeners to take the lead and dig deeper, “So lemme see if I understand you.” And so it went. 

pLoThoughts™ on… Your world is as big as you are brave. Dare to look through the lens of others. Who helps you see your power? Tag them below. ❤️