31 Days of Letting People Know...

-
So. Here's the thing.

I've been off facebook for a little while now, and through a series of other circumstances, emotional events, conflicts and other regular life stuff, I have been knocked off my footing a little bit.

Nothing terrible. Just off a bit. Uneasy.

Insecure. 

As it turns out, facebook, while doing its part to pile on the insecurities, also served up an adoring audience of thumbs-up giving friends, who virtually validated me every day. But now that I've left the auditorium...

"26 people like this!" is no longer countering the cries of "I DON'T LIKE SWEET POTATOES."

"Do you know what it's like shopping with three chimpanzees?" ... no one cares.

There's no little comment box that pops up above my head when I voice something hilarious - just crickets. Uncomfortable silence. God loves me, I know. But I'm not sure he laughs at my jokes. And he definitely doesn't eat my sweet potatoes.

Over the last few weeks, as I've read and studied and searched and cried a bit, I keep coming back to this: Within our friendships, we need validation. I need validation, more than I care to admit. We don't tell people enough that we just like each other.

Confession time: With the facebook thumbs gone, I have been having trouble believing that I am liked. I got used to having a quantifier; 37 likes! Stupid facebook and your thumbs. 

But facebook understands human nature. Even surrounded by people who love us, we need to know that we are liked, that our personalities and quirks and gifts are appreciated, our jokes are funny, our friendship is worth someone's time. We need to know that we bring something to the table that would be missing if we didn't show up. Everyone needs to know that the people who love us... also really like us. 

I think maybe, as a Church, we hide behind this love thing a bit. We hear a lot of "Love you, brother - see you next week." But what if actual, Biblical loving looks a lot more like "liking?" And not the thumbs-up, that-was-funny-online-kind-of-liking, but the "Hey, I like you because when you laugh out loud stuff comes out your nose," kind of liking...the kind that only comes from time spent together outside of church?

The up side of the last few weeks? I have had some very real connections with some very real friends who have helped me regain my lost footing. Being more in tune with real life and not social media reality kind of facilitates that. I haven't been "following" them, so I have to actually, you know, ask how things are going.

So, taking a hint from the encouragement I've received from those flesh and blood friends whose time spent with me has let me know that I am not just loved, but I am liked, I've committed to 31 days of letting people know I like them, right here on this blog, for all the interweb to see.

Stay tuned...we'll see what happens. I'm not sure how or if it'll translate well to blog posts...but I'll give it a go.


Intro: Done! 


Day 1: Mom!

Day 2: World Domination, and other family topics

Day 3: My Better Half

Day 4: Did you know I have a brother?

Day 5: Taking a breather...

Day 6: And also, a sister

Day 7:

Day 8:

Day 9:

Day 10:

Day 11:

Day 12:

Day 13:

Day 14:

Day 15:

Day 16:

Day 17:

Day 18:

Day 19:

Day 20:

Day 21:

Day 22:

Day 23:

Day 24:

Day 25:

Day 26:

Day 27:

Day 28:

Day 29:

Day 30:

Day 31:


Comments

Am+a said…
I am just now seeing this on the 11th... and kind of late at night... but I will catch up. :-)

So glad to know that you are building up your friendships with the real-live people around you. I feel honored to have this special glimpse into your life through the blog.

Oh, and I am STILL using that piano music you sent me a few years back! Festival time will soon be upon me once again!! hahaha
October 11, 2014 at 9:30 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where is Mister Rogers When You Need Him?

-
Image
It has been said that I am easily amused. Little things fascinate me. I like to know how things work. I like factory tours and behind-the-scenes stuff and those specials on Discovery Channel. I was definitely brought up this way: I remember my brother telling me about a conversation he'd recently had about "Jet Puffed Marshmallows." Topics covered were: What does "Jet-Puffed" mean? How big-a-jet are we talkin? What keeps the marshmallows from exploding when "jet puffed"? Several weeks ago, the girls and I caught an episode of the rarely aired Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In that one episode, the inimitable Mr. R shed light on two very interesting processes when he visited a sleeping bag factory and a dollmaker's workshop. Have you ever thought about how a sleeping bag is assembled? Me neither, but now I know, and I am a better person for it. So here are a few jobs I would like to shadow for a day (or watch Mister Rogers shadow them), because ev...
Read more

An Open Letter to Everyone's Favorite Morning Radio Host

-
Image
Dear Mr. Morning Radio Host, How dare you, Mr. Morning Radio Host , while thinking out loud on air, suggest that we all turn around and give our tax refund checks to Compassion International? It's an economic stimulus package! Didn't you think of that? How will sending our money to poor people out of the country stimulate the US economy? Huh? That's just an un-American suggestion! You are proposing that we send our economy into further tumult, just to satisfy your whim of feeding orphans! If we don't use our money to consume more stuff, or go on little vacations or invest wisely, then, well, the package will be all for naught, and we will all be guilty of treason, or something. What are you trying to do? Save the world or something? Start a movement? You are a danger to this economy, sir. Sincerely, Amy Wright, who is thinking that there may be something to this, and will soon be investigating ways to encourage people to do it, provided the Senate approves the plan.
Read more

Ask me what I did last night.

-
A few of us have been wrestling a little bit lately with what it means to live in the grace of God. What does it mean to live fully covered by the Gospel? To embrace the freedom Christ secured for us on the cross? For me, last night, it meant big hair and hard rock. See, over the summer, I'd started to get a little self-conscious about my holiness. I was part of a study at church that consisted of mainly older, wiser, more conservative and traditional women. While I still felt largely like a voice of dissent - a raging postmodern compared to this crowd - there was a certain feeling starting to set in. An old nemesis. I can't believe I didn't recognize it, as we' spent so much time together in the past. Guilt. Guilt that I wasn't the teetotaling, perfect homemaking, gentle-speaking mother that I was being mentored to be in this class. I used my powers of wit and sarcasm to mask and suppress it, but with each chapter and interaction the guilt seeped deeper...wit...
Read more