Author’s Note:
I genuinely hope you find your people. Out of all the 8 billion (and counting) people, you will find the ones that resonate with you.
The People You’ve Met and Will Meet
Growing up, most of the people that you get close to are by association - friends from your class, neighbors on your street. Naturally you don’t go out of your way to meet these people and your judgment of others is not adept.
In your formative years, you become open to the idea of “good friends, bad friends”. Maybe you had your first falling out with a friend who you dropped because they did something that didn’t align with the values that you currently had. You start gravitating towards people or groups that have similiar interests as you. But maybe your parents told you to stop hanging out with a certain group of kids because they could be a “bad influence” on you.
When you venture into the real world and break free from the grasps and ideologies of your parents, you realize that there is no such thing as good and bad friends. The difference between the people you like and don’t like (as much) are simply your values.
Signs of Interesting People:
Written to highlight the qualities I’ve found in interesting individuals. Not to be used as a checklist or guide.
Patience to understand- When faced with a new topic or viewpoint, they have the patience to listen and eventually understand your words despite their own thoughts on the topic or view.
Noticers- People who are sensitive and notice subtleties (i.e.- change in your mood, tone in text) are often times more caring and inclusive of others in larger group settings.
Have low expectations, give generously- While most relationships are transactional, these people are not overly calculative in their give/take accounting. They don’t expect to anything in return when they give generously. Perhaps it’s innately part of their nature to give.
Deep talk- Willing to ask questions on end and help each other break out of their shell. Less small talk and more provoking thoughts are shared.
Reciporcate timely- You know when you recommend a TV show or a book to someone and they just throw that thought into the abyss and never bring it up again? Yeah, not that.
Quotes:
“When you’re young, you believe that there will be many people with whom you’ll connect with deeply. Later in life, you come to realize that it only happens a few times. A few moments, frozen in genuine beauty, where you look at someone and you know, from a place deep within yourself, that they are going to mean something to you, that they are rare. - Biana Sparacino"
"Don’t be afraid of people coming and going out of your life. Once you meet one person that you connect with, you can meet their friends and their friends of friends and so on. All of a sudden you have exponentially increased the chances of connecting with likeminded people just by meeting one person. - A random friend”