Being unapologetically me
Last week I was meeting up with a group of colleagues at one of their houses and it was a potluck-style gathering. The host kindly made a sign-up sheet to indicate what we would be bringing and I signed up to bring a salad of sorts.
This meetup was in a city I was visiting, not the one I live in, so I didn’t have quite the same access or comfort as at home to make something, so I opted to buy something pre-made at a grocery store.
As I bought it, I imagined handing it over, in its store packaging with sticker and SKU, sheepishly apologizing for not making something from scratch.
Having this thought on my walk home made me stop in my tracks.
I feel like we all know, or know of, those people who seem to live life unencumbered by what other people think or say about them, and they just seem to live so carefreely. I’m envious. And I can hardly imagine myself living that way. But oh how I want to.
As I was on that walk home, having these pre-apologetic thoughts, it occurred to me – we don’t become those wildly carefree people in one snap of the fingers. Like anything else, we work on it. Over and over again. And it starts with the small things.
So on that same walk I decided I would show up, I would hand over my store-bought contribution with a smile, a friendly hello, and leave it at that. I was breaking no agreements, so why was I apologizing?
Spoiler alert: the gathering was an absolutely joy, people brought everything from other store-bought treats to homemade treats to specialty store (purchased) treats and all dishes were enjoyed. The real delight was in our conversation and connection over a couple hours.
Maybe someday I won’t even have those pre-apologetic thoughts pop into my head at all, but in the meantime, I’m taking pride in having made a small effort toward living my own bold, wild, unapologetically-me life.
