Mean Girls (2004): "You got your freshmen, ROTC guys, preps, J.V. jocks, Asian nerds, Cool Asians, Varsity jocks, Unfriendly black hotties, Girls who eat their feelings, Girls who dont eat anything, Desperate wannabes, Burnouts, Sexually active band geeks, the greatest people you will ever meet, and the worst. Beware of plastics.
I don't really know why, other than that I was never really in a defined clique growing up. Okay, that's probably a shade untrue; my friends growing up were kind, brilliant and interesting, but we were never cool.
My wild days in college introduced me to a completely different side of the social strata, and these days I am pretty comfortable saying that I can hang with the best of 'em. Any of 'em. Anywhere and anytime.
So, I naturally shrink away from opportunities and experiences that have the potential to further cement me in any given circle.
I'm not a loner. I just want to like everyone.
And it's good to have options.
And when you're not locked in to one specific group, you have the luxury of bouncing between several of them. With the exception of my closest circle of friends, I am grateful to enjoy several wider circles of people... intelligentsia, folks on the scene, my social media peeps who I see online more than I do in person.
I am a horse of many different colors, and sometimes it's fun to play chameleon and try out something that was different than last night.
As a matter of fact, I really dislike hanging out in a big crowd. It's not a matter of hating the hoi polloi, but an inclination toward conversation.
Those nights when you say hi to 40 people but have zero engagement with a single person? Hate nights like that. I'd much rather an evening with five to eight other people sharing thoughtful conversation.
And some silly antics. Always silly antics.
And you can't have that kind of experience when you're high fiving 15 people while shimmying through a bar to get to the restroom.
When I was on vacation last month, I decided I was going to make a conscious effort to avoid the scene this summer. Whatever the scene may be.
Instead, I'm taking the time to foster individual relationships, tackle some personal priorities and goals, and otherwise enjoy moments of quality experience.
And I'm coming to terms with the idea that I don't need to be at the same place everyone else is (though I must say I've been to Japp's twice this week, and that's the delightful kind of place that could make me come out of hiding).
Because sometimes where I am, what I'm doing and with whom is better than an entire night of fleeting hellos.
Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
No comments:
Post a Comment