December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans.
I’m writing this essay a few hours early, and not while sitting at my desktop, because I’m helping a friend early tomorrow morning, and have to go to bed around the same time as I did when in high school. I’m a girl who loves her sleep, and am determined to get my nine hours!
Writing these essays have become emotional in the last few days, and I often start crying halfway through; I wipe my eyes and keep going. And posting them? It’s very scary! Your comments have continuously given me the strength to keep sharing my words, to accept them as a truth, and be proud of the discoveries I’ve unearthed.
A few weeks before my move, I was introduced, via Jun, to her friends, a married couple she’d met while in JET over in Japan. We met up for lunch at the Japanese supermarket/mall we all loved, and while walking through the bookstore, I found out J works from home as a children’s book illustrator yearning to define her style and branch out into projects of her own. We got along so well, when J and her husband N suggested we join them for a game night at their apartment.
“We have plans!” Jun moaned.
Which was true - we were set to meet up with our Japanese meetup group for dinner and karaoke - but wanted, very badly, to stay with J and N.
And being the spontaneous woman I am, I decided to lie to our meetup group so we could go to game night instead (and I really am sorry, if anyone from our group reads this!). I rarely, if ever, lie, and was all ready to tell them the truth - that I had lucked into a wonderful new friend and didn’t want our night to end! I wanted to go back to their apartment and see sketches and art and play games! Both J and N are highly creative, dynamic people, fun, easy-going, and fun!
Our night started with Korean tea and Tripoli, a game I’d never played before but loved! Even though I started losing, I didn’t care! The three layers of the game made it tons of fun, and the four of us drank our tea while laughing and joking around and playing!
And then, one friend called, and was invited up. And that friend brought someone. Our game grew by two. Then another friend called and joined us, until there was seven of us in their beautifully decorated apartment, talking about art (one of the newcomers was in an art class and carried sketchbooks, the other, an animator!) and computers (N works with them all day!) and other things. I was able to chat at a level I adore, where there’s substance and learning and truth.
So we ordered pizza and played cards and watched stand-up and then did a game that was a variation of charades … and I discovered I am horrible at charades!
That night is what I want with friends. Spontaneity, new friends, commonality, fun, friendship, acceptance. And I think that’s why I had so much fun, and what made the night so memorable for me: a meeting of the minds. A common desire for fun and laughter. We all simply clicked as soon as we met - with each new arrival, it felt like meeting a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. I don’t know how it happened; maybe it was the energy I was putting out, this desire for a great night, for people I could relate to. Perhaps that had something to do with it. Or, maybe I simple had found the people I was meant to meet.
Yes, it’s unfortunate that I moved shortly after that night. But there’s always email and Facebook and Skype to stay connected. More than that, though, that night showed me where I want to be in my life, a destination I can work towards. I was accepted and brought into the fold where I thought that’d never happen again, not after what happened to me in college. It was a sign from the Divine that it’s time to bring new people in, to tear down those walls and build new friendships. There are people out there to trust, to laugh with, to enjoy life with, and there’s no time left to keep people at arm’s length.