More Observations From the Rock

Michele, Cammy, Sharon and Karen at the "Little Rock"

October 8, 2011

I'm still basking in the aftermath of the wonderful weekend with Cammy, Karen and Michele.  If you missed my last post, you can read all about it here.  You might also enjoy reading what Cammy,  Karen, and Michele wrote about our blogger meet-up in Little Rock.  Before I start planning the next one (LOL!!), I wanted to share just a few observations and lessons I learned from these fabulous women and maybe even a few I learned from myself!!

1)  The ability to share deeply personal things with another person isn't always directly proportionate to how long you've known that person.  There are friends I've had for years that know less about me than the three women with whom I spent last weekend.  

2)  We four are as different as night and day (I mean, really....just look at the picture!), but that makes no difference when there is an established mutual respect for the thoughts and feeling of others.  The flip side of that is the immediate discovery of how much alike we really were.

3)  Those of us who had shared with others back home what we were doing all were met with disbelief or shock that we would actually travel to another city or (horror or horrors) spend the night in a hotel with people met through the internet.  Now don't misunderstand me - there is a time and a place and a circumstance where that might not be appropriate, but this was not it and those of us who blog in this  community or many of the other tight-knit blog communities understand that. 

4)  I learned that there is safety in opening up at the right time.  For me, there were some major breakthroughs in thought processes, emotions needing to be expressed and internal anger needing to be explored.  It becomes easier with six eyes full of understanding and compassion looking at you as if you could talk for hours and it would be o.k.  

5)  I am still totally amazed that we moved almost as one amoeba from Friday evening at 6 p.m. until Sunday morning at 10 a.m. effortlessly and seamlessly.  My heart still fills up when I think about it.  I believe these are friends for a long, long time.

I cannot let this reflective post end without a huge thanks to my sweet friend, Tish, because it was exactly one year ago right now, that she became the first blog friend I met in person.  She is delightful, she is genuine and is the consummate hostess.  We talked, hiked, talked, rode bikes (for 33 miles, I might add), talked, shopped, talked, ate, talked, introduced our spouses to each other and then we ALL talked.  It was a perfect first meet-up experience and set the stage for my comfort level in initiating future blog friend meet-ups!  So thanks, Tish.  Sure hope we can work something out soon cause I can't wait to see you again and cannot BELIEVE it's been a whole year!

There's some stuff going on with my weight loss trauma journey that is frightening, yet exhilarating.  I'm up a few pounds and that is upsetting, but the inside stuff is taking priority right now.  I sense a shift of some sort coming.  Right now, I'm seeing nothing clearly, but I've always felt that the night is darkest just before dawn.  Those six eyes stayed right with me while I talked - I hope you'll stay with me as I continue to talk through my fingers.  There just simply has to be an "ah-ha" moment when things suddenly make sense and one begins to use food correctly not because one has to in order to lose and/or maintain weight, but because one wants to.