I thought this challenge might be tough as it requires a little more thinking on my feet and not a whole lot of planning ahead. I excel at planning ahead and am not very good at just going with the flow. There are the fallback options of telling my mom that I like that she supports me and my dad that I like that we can tease my mom. Those are being saved though for when I'm really in a pinch on any given day. And yes, Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, you can probably expect a note sometime in the next 30 days.
There is a girl in my office with whom I get along really well. She is only a few years older than me and we have similar personalities and sarcastic senses of humor. She's a bit of a tough girl who can be merciless in her teasing. Fortunately, I can usually give as good as I get so it's fun as opposed to a source of tension. She likes to give me a hard time because sometimes my wardrobe borders on hipster and I like listening to dubstep.
Today I recommended she listen to Alex Clare because I was curious how she would like dubstep that wasn't basically dance music. She has listened to Skrillex, again at my suggestion, and was not a fan. She looked at me skeptically but put her headphones back in and started looking for the songs I wrote down on YouTube.
I walked out of her office and out to the elevators to get some coffee when it hit me that she would be the first person I wrote a note to. I considered the wording and decided on: "What I Like About You-Even though you mock you still have enough general curiosity to try anyway." I wrote the note on a post-it, walked into her office, placed it on her desk and walked out without a word.
I find that having an interest in things that one has a pre-conceived notion about, particularly where the notion is negative, is admirable. A lot of people, myself included, decide they don't like something and go out of their way to never experience it again. I was impressed that even though she has no real liking for the music, she was willing to sacrifice what was admittedly a small amount of time to give it a listen, just in case.
An unexpected thing happened, or rather didn't happen. She never asked me what the note was about. I don't even know if she just read it and threw it away. I hadn't expected to want her to ask me what the deal was, but I did. I don't know what I wanted to feel by explaining, only that I was disappointed I didn't have the chance to. I could have gone in and told her I suppose but that felt uncomfortable. Kind of like making an anonymous donation to a charity and then telling everyone it was you.
What I learned today was that it may be difficult to stay focused on the purpose of this challenge. I'm doing this as a means of stepping outside of my own little bubble to create a more positive outlook on the world and the people around me. I want to be able to put myself aside and celebrate the good in others which exists with or without my acknowledgement. It's an active exercise in observing those around me and taking the time to appreciate the people in my life for what they are. I wonder what amazing qualities those I interact with all the time have that I have been too busy or self-absorbed to notice.
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