Pinegate Road Challenge: Schedule a date with an old friend 

This week has been an interesting one. Todd has been away on a family vacation, and I took this opportunity away from girlfriend duty to schedule a few out of the ordinary weekday activities. A la, going to a fashion show tonight! Hah. Anyways. There was a bit of a theme with this week. Both Tuesday and last night I met up with two friends who I hadn’t talked to in years. And I’ll let you know, I was nervous! All of these weird self-doubting thoughts came to me before we met up — I was worried I’d have nothing to talk about, or that I wasn’t going to be the same kind of person that they remembered me as. Have I ever run out of things to talk about? No. Has my personality changed so drastically in the past years that these friends would not see me as the same person? No, and yes I sound crazy. Did I almost want to cancel both of these meet-ups because the anxiety of the unknown told me that it was easier to stay in my sweatpants and work on freelance that night? Absolutely. I felt like I was online dating all over again.

But I showed up. And you know what? These were two absolutely needed, thrilling, exciting, and inspiring chats that I can’t believe I was even fearing. I feel so motivated to keep these two women in my life for so many reasons, and I can’t believe that we had gone so long without each other in our lives. It just goes to show that when you do have had a connection like these in the past, there’s probably still going to be an awesome connection years later.

This week I learned the importance of having support from friends outside of my day-to-day life situations. It’s easy to get caught up in the here and now and not make time for things that are out of the norm. At least it is for me. As I go about my creative journey, I realize that it is so much more than sharing artistic ventures, and so much about how you go about living your day-to-day life. It’s in these conversations that I found so much creative potential and joy to just laugh and live and explore new ventures. Happiness support.

I thought for this week, my little personal ‘lesson learned’ could turn in to something more. I’d love to challenge you to set up a skype date, a coffee date, or a dinner date with a friend that you haven’t talked with for a while. Remember that lady who always used to bring a smile to your face, that had that contagious laughter, or the one you could sit around and talk about anything with for hours? Yeah? Shoot her a text, and see how she’s doing. You’ll probably be surprised to find out how invigorating and inspiring that hour chat can be!

So, who’s with me? Use the hashtag #PGRchallenge to keep me updated, and let me know if you’re up for this weeks venture!