I found out a long time ago that the way to deal with feelings of "other people are cooler than me" bull crap is to just stop saying things that are negative like that.
Someone asked me at Alt why everyone knew me.
Wow. Everyone knows you Amy.
I stopped in the hallway and said :
nope- I know/meet everyone and then they know me...there is a difference.
I approach people. I stick my hand out. I smile and lean in at the sparkly things in life.
I am here for the good ride. I want to meet and interact with as many people as I can.
It does me no good to feel inadequate.
I have this theory that we are all the same really. Shocking? Yes. {epic}
You will surprise yrself at how good it feels to share yrself with others.
People say they are shy and introverted but I am shy too. I am worried what a bold nightmare that I might seem to appear- but it's important. I am not always looking to gather or glean anything from a new person but inspiration. And honey- that's free.
It's the hottest commodity around and it will take you EVERYWHERE.
I have to talk myself up to be social too at times. I swear. I am at my heaviest weight right now. I feel less than effervescent. It is a struggle to self love. But I have gifts to share and so do you. We all do. It has been whispered for ions. YOU ARE WORTHY. {we are} Start a flipping revolution on yr coffee corner today. Say hello. {to the people who live on this earth with us}
Erin is someone that many moons ago I started dialogue with bc I thought she was a human sparkler.
{i was so right} We have been online tiny friends- you know- you know of each other and are friends on facebook or something similar but you don't really know each other... you hope that they are offline what you fancy them to be and it kicks major ass when you are right.
Erin is this little dynamo.
I love her and I can feel her love coming right back.
What if I would not have reached out?
I would be in a dimmer place bc this kiddo has light shining all around her.
So- let me tell you one of the amazing things she does:
She has these crazy big circles called "resource parties"
where she assembles people in a giant circle in a hotel lobby or outside.
Strangers. Yes.
Shocking. Yes.
{epic}
And we all write on an index card something that we want to accomplish.
Something we want. YES.
And we go around the circle and read it out loud. This is the {epic} part.
SING IT
SAY IT!
And then- people raise their hands if they can help you with this THING.
This BIG thing! Or SMALL thing.
But it is yr THING.
Like someone says: Hi I am Amber and I want to write for _____ magazine. And then someone across the circle raises his hands and says- Hey Amber- I freelance and I will share my contacts.
They look at each other and connect via cards and the world is settled.
It goes on and on and people find assistants and agents and flats in Paris and studios and on and on.
BECAUSE- we are mighty when we are together.
When we don't fear each other.
And sometimes all you get is inspired to do something.
But that will sail you places too.
It will make you a human sparkler.
And Erin will tell you about it.
i will make her do it at blissdom
I hope you are lucky enough to meet her someday.
I hope I am lucky enough to meet you.
41 comments:
you are the sweetest thing ever. the end.
what a sweet post. i love erin and her blog and she has this way of making you feel special and that you're friends. you're lucky to really know her!
thank you so much for this post! (as I get ready to leave for Blissdom today), I really needed to read it. Hope to see you this week!
aw this is so beautiful!!
That was wonderful. You made a couple of points which really resonated with me. Thank you so much.
Amy, this was the most beautiful & honest post I've read in a very long time. I went to Alt { nervously } alone but left FULL of new friendships. Of the many amazing things that happened, Erin's Resource Party was a huge highlight. It was beautiful to watch everyone loving on each other. "We are mighty when we are together." This is beautiful.
I love this: "But I have gifts to share and so do you." I will write this on my wall & shout it from the rooftops.
xo
Erin is genius and lovely and special and the world is better because she's in it.
p.s. i fee the same way about you ;-)
Love it. Truly Love it. I shall take this and keep it with me from now on. I am a human sparkler! Thanks:)
i just found you via a twitter RT and i think i love you. love this post. be my friend?
Amy...I haven't stopped telling my husband about you. About how you made everyone laugh, smile, giggle until we snorted, and you have this personality larger than life but so full of the greatest elements of life. And this post, well, I love it more than I can even say/write because I always feel a bit inadequate when it comes to OTHERS. However, you are so right, we all feel that way {more or less}, but what do I have to lose...I'm going out at this very moment and talking, saying hi and taking the world a by the hand and going to do a happy dance. Guess it is best to always assume everyone can be your friend and each of us has something special to offer ~ I'm starting with a smile and a hello.
Erin...she so rocks this world happy! Tinkerbell has come to life!
So beautiful and inspiring! Thanks for sharing and being so wonderfully honest!! love love love
gosh, i just love this post. it makes me happy, it makes me remember that we all have something to share and give in this world. thanks!
That is so rad. I love that concept.
You're a human sparkler, love. I hope you know that!
Wow...how awesome is that! We can all use a "human spakler" in our lives (for that matter we can all BE "human sparklers" in some way).
I absolutely love this. You are amazing!
You are amazing Amy and I am inspired by you. Erin IS a human sparkler, I had the great joy of meeting her for a tiny bit...and I have a feeling you are too & lovely Karey and other assorted beautiful gals. And you are so right, and I love this post AND I hope I get to meet you one day. :) Thanks for this...
xo
Melis
Erin IS amazing. And love her idea for the resource party. :)
This post, and you, and Erin are so wonderful and inspiring! Thank you.
Getting out there and meeting tons of new people has never come easy for me. I have to push myself knowing that this is the right (and rewarding) thing to do if I can just buck up and get over that first hump of nerves.
Honestly, there was something about Alt that made the meeting and greeting easier and more fun than any other conference I've been to—it has everything to do with the people.
Sparklers like Erin, sweet friends like Alyssa, and sooo many others were kind, genuine, big-hearted, and sincerely curious about one another.
It was a pleasure. The friendships and memories of all those big smiles will last a lifetime.
wow. love this. :)
Bah-now I am going to have to sell one of my children so I can get a passport & come visit you all next year @Alt.
I think the most extroverted & confident people are usually also the most vulnerable & shy. I know people have laughed in my face when I confide my shyness to them. I have always been that person making friends, knowing/wanting to know everyone. I just learned the way to get over my shyness is to give reign to the huge love & interest I have in people & their stories. Then my own fears & insecurities melt away when they respond with warmth too. Kindness is so powerfully contagious!
You and Erin both seem to really embody that joyous interest in connecting & building friendships.
You might not feel right now that you are your brightest/lightest/most beautiful self but you SHINE lady. You are a bright spark igniting fabulousness all over the place!
I just shared your post with all of my friends. It was incredible. Both your part about the sharing of yourself, as well as the resource party...
I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna do that right here in my little town. I'm gonna have a respurce party. Thank you!
people sometimes call other people firecrackers, but usually they just mean they're loud. but you are a firecracker in the truest way possible.....honest and bright and fun and wonderful. i loved sitting in the crafting room at alt while you were in it (actually, i think i forgot to actually introduce myself...hi, i'm annie and i love your blog).
If you don't love yourself than who will. It sounds obvious, but we forget to look out for ourselves.
And if you are a parent it is even harder to do. It is really easy to just get lost in taking care of everyone else. That is good and it is noble, but it doesn't mean that you have to give up on trying to live your dreams too.
I can't tell you how much I love this post. xoxo
YOU are awesome and so is Erin-she taught me how to screen shot like forever ago! You sparkled too @alt!
I couldn't have said it any better myself Amy! Erin is a supernova! But hello, can we also talk about how sad I am without my bunk-mate. This must be remedied soon! xox Ez
this was the best thing I've read in a very, very long time.
What a fabulous post and resource parties sound like such a great idea!
Blue Skies,
Charlotte xo
you have no idea how much i needed to read this today.
goosebumps on my arms reading this. so many lovely people everywhere.
such a positive message...thank you so much for sharing this on your blog
I love this resource party idea. Thanks for posting this -- may just have to try this with my friends.
And you are right, I've had a little bit of contact with erin and she is a human sparkler!
I love this post, it's perfect. I work with people everday and continually tell them that one of the most important things to learn is how to ask for help. It's so true. It really brings people together. I'm a new follower. Looking forward to reading your posts!
wow. new here...that was so great!
Such true words!
I am not familiar with Erin, but that is such a cool idea.
Lady, I really try to keep it klassy and avoid my natural tendency toward the mouth of a sailor that I have but, I gotta tell ya', you fuckin' rock. This post just hit so deep with me and made me wanna plunk myself down a little deeper in debt just to get the chance to run out of damn airport and hug you!!! Smiles across the miles... you, my dear, I look very much forward to meeting one day! PLEASE! Hearting you! :)
On the eve of my first blog conference, for which I have been trying to "meet" people on the Twitter stream and Ning and feeling a bit smallish and inadequate and not-knowing-anyone, this is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you, Amy!
I love this. You have always been my favorite person to see. So excited to see you in just a few days. Also, I feel so much the same as all of this about my weight, my limbo life, my wanting to be a wallflower but also involved, not having a baby or pregnancy to hide behind... big hugs coming your way.
Steph
You are one of my favorite people in blog-land. This is why.
Yup. This is it. Right here. This is how I had SO MUCH FUN at BlogHer10, because I made a conscious choice--a took a bold strategy...ready?
Approach people as I would IN NORMAL LIFE--where I'm warm and love meeting people and not burdened with WHO THEY ARE or WHAT THEY'VE DONE.
And then it's extra fun when you discover after the fact that the person you just fell in love with happens to be a highly successful this or that, because it just makes you like them more.
I didn't think it was possible, but I love that little munchkin even more. Such a sweet tribute to her:) xo
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