There is something so special when we gather together with good friends. My favorites are among the most casual of meetings. Sitting on the floor eating cookies and drinking tea. Meeting up to color together over conversation. Chitchatting while the kids run off the last of their after school energy. These in person moments have made this town that I live in a place I am proud to call home.
There is something so special when we gather together online to connect and share. I am not sure why I have been so lucky to have befriended some really amazing women online. Some of them I have met through another friend, some have approached me, and others over a mutual love of sunshine and rainbows. My online friendships hold some of my very favorite people. The kind you call when you have a bad day, when you need help solving a problem, or when something you posted online was shared by Martha Stewart.
There is something so special when we gather together with people of different opinions. Didn't we learn in middle school that the world would be boring if we were all the same? I have always enjoyed setting myself apart from the crowd, and I appreciate when others do the same. Sure I have some friends who like all the same things that I do - and shopping with them is so much fun! But most of my friends have completely different styles than I do and I really appreciate that.
What makes me sad is when I feel guilty for what I love. When I find myself apologizing for making beautiful cookies to share. When I feel the need to hide the fact that a gift was handmade. That I worry people will feel bad when they walk into my very styled home.
I think those feelings come from the desire to make everyone around me feel welcome. The last thing I want is for someone to think that I feel like I am better than them. That is the last thing I think. I don't make beautiful cookies to show off - I make them because I enjoy expressing myself in that way. Because I like "hanging out" with my friend Alison while we make cookies "together" in her Cookie Party course. I make homemade gifts because there isn't anywhere to shop in my town for the things I like - and I enjoy making things with my hands. And I style my home - not because I am sharing it on Instagram or to impress people or to make people think I live a perfect life. I style my home (paint, rearrange, organize, and keep things clean) because when I am sad it gives me something to accomplish and think about while I process and recover.
We all live differently. We have different styles, different ambitions, different talents and that is what I find so special about each of us.
