Finding Your Posse

When I was growing up, I was always more interested in people than my peers were. I wanted to know about people’s lives, to support them. I felt weird because no one else seemed to be that way. “There must be something wrong with me,” I thought.

Then in college I met a girl who was just like me: remembered details about her peers and had a sincere interest in their lives. She was the first person I met who made me realize that I am not the ONLY person in the world who is like this.

After college I met several more people like this. As well as people who were sensitive and inclined to spiritual growth. Again, these aspects of myself which I was ashamed of growing up since I felt alone in bearing these qualities.

Later in my twenties I attended several personal growth retreats as well as wellness coach trainings—again I connected with people just like me.

Growing up is hard. When you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to just fit in, who hears their inner voice and feels their unique rhythm and actually wants to listen to and follow it.

I always felt like the odd one out, until I discovered others just like me. And over the past 15 years I have connected with upwards of 100 people with these qualities. I no longer feel alone. I feel connected to a greater community, as well as have cultivated deep friendships.

Note: I am blogging about this now because I recently met someone in my local Jewish community who was sincerely interested in me and my husband’s background, what we do, and how we came to living in this community. I could tell he was one of those people—like me—who has a keen interest in learning about others. He remarked that I have a positive, open energy—I’ll take that as a compliment!