a social week
This week is a fairly social one. I met up with a college friend last Wednesday for dinner and drinks, a high school friend today for lunch, and am doing a video chat with another college friend tomorrow night. (I also had a really fun lunch at work last Tuesday, because I got to talk to a handful of my coworkers who share my geekier interests.1) I dread social occasions maybe 75% of the time, so I'm surprised at how much I've been enjoying this week.
I realize I still hold onto old notions of myself of being extremely socially anxious and awkward, and I never expect to be able to relax in a social situation. True that I still want to exit big groups and parties where I don't jive with anyone as soon as possible, and I visibly mentally check out if my social battery is dead. (Not the best habit.) I can't even begin to get into my peculiarities when it comes to interacting digitally.
But I'm recognizing now that some interactions are... easy now. Unexpectedly. Things like conversations with people I think are too cool for me, catchups with old friends I haven't seen in years, and long calls with people I've barely interacted with in person don't have to be scary or difficult. It definitely helps that all these people are just... good to be around. But I think I'll give myself a pat on the back too for all the work I've done on myself to get to where I'm at socially2. I'm quite happy with my progress.
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