I’m really not that interesting
This week I have probably met a total of 200 eighteen year-olds and have gone to five different classes with completely different people. I do not think I have ever introduced myself more than I have in the past five days.
Immediately, people say their name and where they are from. It is interesting to me to see how people identify themselves as to where they live. Why not by their favorite color, or even the TV show they are currently into? Subconsciously, I think there is a part of us that is digging deep into our minds to find something that would make us stand out from the other thousands of people that person has met.
It’s led me to think: What makes me so intriguing? No matter what you come up with, there’s always someone who has done the same crazy thing as you or has the same silly characteristic that you do.
It’s exhausting.
Maybe it’s just me, but I am always thinking, ‘Why would anyone want to be friends with me?’ I know it sounds sad, but really, what makes me sound so fun and inviting?
What I have come to find is that you can go on and on about your time in Paris last Summer, or that funny thing your friend did last night, but the only thing that can connect you to a stranger is a shared or common experience. Something that I have noticed is that the people I have introduced myself over and over to are the people I have never actually spent time with. Once I go out for a night and get into a real conversation with this individual, the connection grows exponentially.
Another way that we identify with people is if we know the same person or have done the same things. It’s the experiences that you have shared either together or separately that connect us and make a lasting impression. This way, they have something to remember you by and you have it also.
The real question at hand though is this: What makes me unique? It isn’t all the countries you have been to or how many siblings you have, but the combonation of the small, simple stories that make you who you are.
I am me because more than one time, I ate pickles for breakfast.
I am me because I hate when people hold the door open for me for too long.
I am me because the smell of lavender is my favorite essential oil.
I’m not saying that these are things that we should share right of the start, but there is nothing normal that you could say to make you stand out that is not totally and completely random when introducing yourself.
