Seeking and supporting.
A friend and I'd gotten together for coffee this morning, as we sometimes do, but it devolved into something else entirely; which, it always does.
Though we were in my dining room, we weren't dining.
Across from me, he sat scribbling on the whiteboard on the table between us. I watched with curiosity as he wrote, drumming the side of my coffee mug with my fingers. When he'd gone with the blue dry-erase marker, I'd been forced to swallow a cough-chuckle since I'd have picked the black one. But then I wondered why something like that even mattered to me—like, why notice it at all?
Who cares?
Our conversation began with the innocent question "what's new?" but, in the almost 15 years we've known each other, surface level has never been our thing. Which is also why I'd started telling him about how I've been feeling stressed lately, more so than usual.
"I know comparison isn't helpful," I'd told him.
He'd said he understood when I described feeling like things were imbalanced. "I just don't know how people do it... get enough sleep, exercise regularly, food shop, meal prep, work, see friends..."
I don't get it. Seriously, I mean, I don't even have kids and I still can't find time for all of the things I want to fit into my day-to-day. So he'd smiled and asked if I wanted to be heard, held, or helped. And after I responded, he insisted we bust out the whiteboard to sort through all that I'm juggling. Which, by the way, is totally my move... but I hadn't done it, even though I've been meaning to for a while now.
When he'd finished writing and looked up, he reflected back all I'd shared with astonishing clarity. All I could do was exhale and smile.
Grateful.
Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
154/365
Who's the person you go to when you know what you need to hear, but still need to hear it?
If you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along. And if something stuck with you while reading, I'd love to know what it was.
onward.
For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here.
See the latest.
Subscribe to specific columns to receive new posts directly in your inbox.