Friends and Strangers

Let me tell you about my past week, and about two people who’ve made it special. One is a dear friend, someone I’ve known for years. The other is pretty much a stranger, only briefly met. Both have, through their words and actions, restored not only some faith in humankind to me, but managed to boost my self-value as well, and for that I thank them here and now.

About a week ago I opened up a bit here. The next day, on top of many kind comments in the blog, I had an email waiting for me in my inbox. Like the comments, it was from a knitter and blog-reader, someone who I had met briefly at the Yarn Harlot booksigning a few weeks back. But this knitter’s email offered me more than kind words: she offered my an opportunity for an interview at the publication company where she worked! I was thrilled, but also shocked: this doesn’t happen to real people, I thought. But it does, on occasion, and it had happened to me. I had written that all I wanted was to be able to prove myself, for someone to take a chance on me: this knitter offered me that chance*.

That same day, I received a letter from my good friend Kelly, something that always cheers me up (you know me and my love of Good Mail). This letter was full of encouragement, including a story about how 30m of pink satin put her on the path to her e-business, and how she was sure that I just needed to find my own “pink satin”. I took these words to heart, and was glad for them, never expecting anything more. Mid-week, however, there was some internet communication from her of a cryptic nature. She said she was having a good week (and mine had picked up a bit too); I asked her if her “good thing” was fibre-related and she said no. So, when on Friday she posted that “someone left something at her house” and included a close-up shot of a spinning-wheel on her LiveJournal, my first thought was “liar — that’s fibre-related!”…. I’m dense like that. I never thought to have such a friend as to find some “pink satin” for me; that if a free(!) spinning wheel was to fall into her hands, that she would pass it onwards. I am truly still in awe at her generosity and faith in me. And I can’t wait to “meet” my new wheel!

These two experiences have shown me that friends and strangers are often more aware of what you need than your are yourself. I needed to see that there was more to myself than my own low opinion, that people externally could believe in me even when I barely believed in myself. I needed to see that I was not alone. I have received all this, and more, from these friends and strangers. I wonder now if when I opened up in writing, if I was opening myself to new possibilities as well, making way for the good things to come in.

*I had the interview earlier this week, and am in communication with the company still. Since then, I’ve also received another interview elsewhere — two in one week!

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