The crippling anxiety and pain of rejection got to me. As a certified adult, I felt like the new kid in school and everyone else at the networking event already met their friend quota. All the cliques were closed for new membership. But as painful as that experience was for me, I can imagine the other side. I was a stranger, which equals danger, or at the very least discomfort. As I looked around trying to find a conversation partner, they too were searching, but for the familiar. And they latched on to it for dear life. Neither of us wanted to feel lonely. And yet I was the one who did.
It is a strange thing, isn’t it? As much as we (presumably as a collective) value meeting new people, as much as many champion diversity and inclusion, we are unwilling to exercise those values in ways that also count. I don’t care about loving and welcoming you say you are if you won’t even expand your lunch table. I care nothing about your inclusive environment trainings, if you can’t even include new people into your conversations.
We all seek comfort, which is a good thing but how can we go about creating comfort for those around us as well?
A Wren Says 