Socially Speaking

I have a confession. I am not the most social person dare I say antisocial. But the fact is I don’t live on a deserted island or in a vacuum so social interaction (particularly given what I do for a living) is inevitable.

A few weeks ago I went out for drinks with a guy. It was our first time meeting and for some reason talking with him sparked the idea for this post and the thoughts therein.

There wasn’t really that special grade of romantic chemistry between us, but we did have a good time talking and getting to know each other. He’s different. Different in a way I can’t put into words, but what I liked most about him was how unapologetic he was about it. Given the fact that it was our first time meeting, people usually dip their toe in first, test the waters, they don’t show you all of themselves, and that can be a good thing I guess. You don’t want to scare people off. But he was very bare, open and upfront, but not in an aggressive sort of way.

I got home that evening and something lingered. The thought that I should try to be more like him. More honest and upfront about who I am when meeting and interacting with people and maybe not try to mold my personality to suit whoever I’m with so much.

I had totally forgotten about all this until today when I was in yet another social situation on a professional level, and I caught myself wondering what makes people gravitate towards one person and not another. It was just one of those pivotal moments where I found myself really studying the situation to try to figure out what draws people to this person, what can I learn from her, what can I emulate?

The point here is that with any social interaction there’s always the opportunity to learn something, there’s always something to take away, an opportunity to grow and improve. Whether the interaction leaves me feeling good or not, there’s always opportunity to learn something. So whenever I’m in social situations from now on I’m going to really be attentive and take note of those characteristics of others that I’d like to see in myself. Try to hone those characteristics and make them my own.