Lil' life lessons this week. . .

Three things that grabbed me this week:

ONE-
Doctor Keller, a psychologist, a therapist, a teacher. . . not real sure what he was.
Came to speak to our FHE group about communication, developing relationships, love. . . . I'm not real sure what he was talking about. He made a lot of good points, talked about love languages, but for the most part it felt like the chapel had become a college lecture hall. We were all squished in watching a powerpoint, almost everyone was messing around on their phones.

At one point he played this video.

He was talking about communication with kids, being available to them, listening to them.
And in the still of the chapel mason started to whisper the words of the song. Then John who is his twin started to join. Then Joey, then Erica, then it was obvious to the room that people were singing along, more joined, and this just encouraged whoever was singing to sing louder. By the time the clip reached it's climax everyone was in full song and voice singing the last note.

The clip was over and the room went back to silence, you could tell the Doctor was taken by surprise, and jumble through what to say. So funny.
I've been thinking about that moment all week, I have the greatest friends who sing when they want to sing, they don't need a "Dance like nobody is watching" in vinyl letters in to remind them, it's just who they are.


TWO-
This card:

Was giving to me by this adorable girl that was interviewing for a job at Experticity, the card read.  "I think it is so cool that your collect bugs" and "I love how you went from managing Macaroni Grill to working at Expertcitity" and "You seem to care about those you work with"

What. The. Hell?

I don't think I can tell you one thing about her, she was blond, she had an adorable smile, but thats about it. Did I collect information from her too and just not care to retain the information? OR did I just spit out crazy things about myself the entire time? Maybe she was collecting information about people she was interviewing with so she could make a huge impact with these adorable, handmade watercolor notecards. Maybe she is playing the edge to get the job. But it really touched me, I thought that was so sweet of her to care, to listen, when I am the one running the front desk, and I should be pulling information from her, making her feel important.
People can be so kind. I want to be one of those people.

THREE-

It's hard to write about this and capture how incredible it was, so I'm going to give you a brief overview.
There is a girl in the ward who is quite the odd ball, (I'll leave it at that). She advertised on Facebook that she was having a birthday party, it would be African thymed and at the party she would be reading a comedic dark short story that she wrote. My heart couldn't not let me go. Reading a short story? African thymed? What if no one came? What if the party was a flop? I can't. So we went, Drew Aaron and I. It was hosted at the Relief Society President's apartment. A girl who I had pinned as a self righteous daydreamer. We walk in to the smell of delicious food, food on food. The birthday girl was cooking a dish and so was the RSP. We were handed decorations to hang, and there was African/Middle Eastern music playing from CDs that the birthday girl had borrowed from the library. As we helped set up people came, and more people came and the apartment was hopping with all the ward friends. Everyone excited to see the birthday girl. We sang, we ate, the food was amazing, everyone agreeing that the Birthday girl's dish was the best.
Then she read her story, she flopped down on the couch with her laptop, and a bottle of water, and as she read the entire room was captivated. It was a really emotional thing to watch. She is an extremely talented writer, with imagery that took us to another place. There was about 30 people all gathered around, Erica and her loud-giggly-self was still, Drew's A.D.D. left, and no one pulled out their phones, we all sat while she read and was moved by what an amazing writer she is. She read for a solid 45 minutes, part one, part two, part seven, part twelve, with Joey making a point to laugh at the funny parts, and stopping only to take a sip of water or re-adjust.
There was something so magic about friends coming together to support her. After the story we applauded, and applauded and broke unto "For she is a jolly good fellow!" and then packed her full of questions, and complements "I need to smell like citrus musk!"
It just was a win for the world that night, I was wrong about the RSP and captivated by her kindness and the effort she went to. I was happy our ward would love her. She was so happy.
It resorted some faith I didn't really realize I had lost in a ward family. I get caught up in how the ward is benefitting me, and miss the chance to grab opportunities to reach out to others. I wonder if her parents worry about her, I wonder if they will know about what an amazing night that was.
It maybe was one of the greatest birthday parties I had ever been to.

And lastly, but not another life lesson, but something to blog about:
I shot oysters for my first time, and it tasted like I was standing at the ocean, and it rocked my world. I also gained a better understanding of the word aphrodisiac.
Just saying.

Life is good, this week I feel alive and in love with myself and this beautiful weather. I played chess in the park and got my nails did on Saturday and I think every Saturday should start that way.