Similar Feels So Sweet POEM

Posted on by Prior...

Connecting with Rebel Guy’s Calendula Patch: 

 

This photo reminded how absolutely wonderful it feels after connecting with “like-minded” folks.

“Similar Feels So Sweet”

For me – this is how I feel after leaving blog land – to where I have connected with virtual friends but we share similar outlooks on life. Ahhhh – so refreshing.

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After a super busy holiday season this year – did I mention that we felt a little “clobbered” for about 60 days (November-ish to early January-ish)?

During that clobbered time, which was not all bad, we connected with various groups for things like holiday get-togethers, activities, a shower, family visits, various classes, work stuff, neighborhood activities and other community things.

A couple of times I came home completely drained.

Seriously – it was the opposite of refreshment.

It was not necessarily a need to “heal and repair mode” (well twice it was) but as I decompressed I was reminded that sometimes life circumstances have us connecting with people just because of circumstance.  We end up connecting with folks who very different in a way that drains. There are times to grin and bear it – and suck it up out of love or because it is what we feel led to do – and so we genuinely give and handle the drain with maturity and grace. There might be other times when we draw boundaries and choose not to mingle – and it would be wrong to force things. 

However….

there are other times when social connecting is a complete refreshment – and we leave the interaction edified, inspired, and refreshed.

I call it sweet refreshment. 

Then, I was reading (here) about Denver, Colorado’s  growth and how residents wrestle with “changing stability” versus “stagnant sameness.” 

So yes – sometimes sameness can be stagnant. 

Yes….

I am all for diversity. 

It is needed….

Shapes outlook

Seasons the soul

Cultivates critical thinking

Helps us leave comfort zones

Sheds light on bias and can strip down stereotypes.

Celebrating and embracing diversity can bring healthy tension that leads to new insight without rigid prejudgment.

We don’t want stagnant.

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Now I guess we could get caught up in defining “diversity” or describing the context in which diversity is crucial –

but sometimes, my friend, sometimes sameness just feels so darn good.

And even though I left some activities drained and shaking off annoyance – I also had the opportunity to leave some activities completely refreshed because I was around like-minded folks. 

 

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30 thoughts on “Similar Feels So Sweet POEM”

  2. Definitely refreshing! Beautiful words put to a lovely photograph. Gosh, I just know what you mean about sometimes being in a group and coming away exhausted versus another group literally reviving and exciting! Such is life! Hugs and wishes for a very refreshing weekend! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for the abstract Linda.
      and if I was asked to sum up my thoughts it would be cutting what you just said:

      “sometimes being in a group and coming away exhausted versus another group literally reviving and exciting”

      hugs back atcha amiga

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Wow, you make me think hard, Yvette. Maybe it’s not “think” hard; maybe It’s emotion working hard. Or is it something else? Hmm…
    How true that similar feels so sweet. For some reason, I honest don’t know why, I am thinking of an article that I had read before (author unknown). It says: “In some way, however small and secret, each of us is a little mad… Everyone is lonely at bottom and cries to be understood….” Maybe this, somehow, tells us why similar feels so sweet?
    Thanks for inspiring us. Good night.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thanks for taking the time to read – and I do wish I could have edited this a bit more – but maybe that would have been over editing – ya know?
      but i also did not want to be redundant –
      and the funny thing is that I almost posted my flower power post last week – when I first saw the photo – and it would have literally have been about 20 words.
      and then chewing on it for a few days had me chomping away… ha
      and what you wrote is beautiful and kinda feels like that mental chomping I had here too.
      and the quote you shared relates and also brings in another angle… so thx for that – and thanks again for taking the time to read and chime in
      🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. thanks so much Amy and I wonder if the photo also appealed to me more because it is so cold and the glisten of sunshine can be felt in those blooms…
      who knows!
      (and side note – I am still thinking of your nice orchids from your WW post)

      Liked by 1 person

  6. ‘sometimes life circumstances have us connecting with people just because of circumstance’ I have to agree with this, and you said it so eloquently. Catching up with people can be hard as you grow older since everyone has their own lifestyle and their own circle of people. It’s probably why many say your circle of friends gets smaller and smaller over time. When time permits and there’s a catch up, I usually say why not and go with it – because you never know when you can all catch up again. I do notice that when I catch up with others, all the catch ups happen at one go – and so like you, can be draining.

    Thanks for the shout out, and for shouting out the book too. It is amazing how diverse the authorship is, and we really all come from different walks of life.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi M – enjoyed your comment – and yes – the authorship was diverse – but as you know – i truly was not trying to get a bunch of culture mix – now with gender I did try and have a balance there – but all else was because I feel connect to the author and we share a similar approach to some areas – or they inspired me – ya know

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      1. We are all diverse in our own ways, and it was probably luck and fate that made the book and the authors as they are. It is through your book I also discovered some new bloggers. Amazing.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. well that is great to hear – and you know me – and I would say “Divine Appointment” all over it – ha – and the good news is that in my heart I believe there is a lot more to still unfold with Lady by the River…
          (wink)
          xxoo

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  7. Sameness is sweet and comfortable 🙂 But I have noticed that once you get closer the different-ness becomes more marked, not that it’s such a bad thing 😉 A thought provoking piece Y. Have a grand weekend

    Liked by 1 person

    1. oh I get your point exactly – and that different-ness is a beautiful part that also weaves in and out
      always – ha
      thanks for reading DawD

      Like

  8. Ah, what a refreshing post! And the photo is just so relaxing. Every morning on my way to work, I pass an orange Calendula Patch, and I just have to stop a bit and look at it. I hope you’re having a great weekend. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thanks for the comment and how fun that you pass flowers each day on the way to work – what a nice thing to pass – and after this post I started thinking abot what calendula is good for – and I guess it is called a miracle herb – have you ever used it for anything?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It always makes me happy to walk in God’s nature playground as I communicate with Him. Seeing those flowers on mornings is a big fat bonus. See, now you taught me something for I had no idea about it being a miracle herb. I have never used it; I just love admiring it.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. and nice to look at it… indeed.
          and I think I might have skin gel that has calendula in it- but I am going to look out for it this coming year

          Liked by 1 person

  9. Wonderful post. So much of it resonates with me. I, too, enjoy diversity, probably require it. Some of the things that people enjoy or do, it’s one of those things where it’s opposite what I enjoy or do, and I find myself sayin things like, “That’s so her,” — that’s a real joy in life, enjoying the differences of others, being happy on their account.
    Too much of that feels like adversity, and I don’t like that. That’s draining, as you wrote, as grace and maturity are required, and who on earth prefers that maintenance? We all want to be ourselves, let that figurative hair down and just be. I despise that feeling of being in a room trying to find connection.
    We need people, some of us more than others, but we all need people, and I do so enjoy the like-minded, or at least open-minded, able to reciprocate my own happy-for-you happiness. I enjoy our blog chats, too, thanks for the mention.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. well thanks for the wonderful comment –
      a beautiful and dense piece in and of itself.
      and I just have to respond in chunks…
      first
      this speaks for itself:
      enjoy diversity, probably require it.
      (moi aussi)
      second
      “being in a room trying to find connection”
      I like how you worded that because that was exactly what I was trying to get at it when I noted I left certain events.
      no connection
      third
      chewing on the point about open-minded –
      ahhhh
      and don’t we sometimes have some of the best conversations with folks who are not
      “like-minded” but “at least open-minded”
      and that reminds me again of how you said, “enjoy diversity, probably require it.”
      and fourth
      “We need people, some of us more than others, but we all need people…”
      so true, so true

      have a good night and ttys

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