Are you in love with the world?
Do you love your town or city? Do you love your mother’s pie? Do you love your boy/girlfriend? Do you love your friends?
I hope you do. At least you *know* them.
You know the streets and squares in your own town/city.
You know what your mother’s pie smells like when it comes out of the oven, and what it tastes like.
You know the great character traits your boy/girlfriend has, what he/she looks like, and his/her opinion on, let’s say, your mother’s pie. You know your friends, with all their crazy plans and funny stories, all the difficulties you went through together, and the amazing adventures you lived with them.
And you love them.
But what if you didn’t know them?
If you’re new in town. If you’ve never tasted your friend’s pie, for example. If you didn’t know that handsome man/beautiful women you see at work/in the bar/at your friend’s dinner party. If you had never met your best friends.
Somehow, knowing something makes it easier to love it.
My first weeks in a small town in Italy didn’t exactly leave me breathless
On the contrary. Moving from a bigger, historical city, I was hoping to find more art, monuments and intriguing stories, but instead it made me wonder if there was something more to it than a supermarket, some bars and a shopping street. And I didn’t exactly love it. At the time.
Because as soon as I met amazing people at work, they started showing me the harbour and the beach, taking me to authentic films in the cinema, and to cosy bars, actually just lightening up everything with their presence. It opened my eyes, and I started wandering the smaller streets, discovering an amazingly beautiful children’s bookstore, stunningly colourful balconies (might do a post about them), and I met wonderfully nice people in their little shops.
When I left to move back to my old city, that little town hadn’t changed. There were still few monuments, not a lot of art to contemplate upon, but it had opened up to me – or at least, I opened up to it – and I left loving it!
White. Chocolate. Pie. “Bah!”
Let’s say there’s a new bakery shop in town. You discover it while shopping with a friend, and the display just makes you drool like a fool. The colours! The shapes! And Oh God, the gorgeous smell coming out of the open door! You can’t help yourself but to step inside.
And there it is. A White. Chocolate. Pie. “Bah!”, you think. You never liked white chocolate, especially since it actually hasn’t got any cocoa… What’s the point of chocolate without cocoa, right?
But your friend convinces you to try it, and you give it a shot. With a nice cup of tea, of course, so you can easily flush things down if you don’t like it. Turns out, no need flushing anything down! The pie tastes like heaven!
That White Chocolate Pie you thought you’d hate, turns out great.
Ever since, I’ve been trying to make it at home!
F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
I can say I’m blessed with a bunch of great, trustworthy friends, all with amazing talents and grand projects in their lives, inspiring me every day to chase my dreams. Most of them have passed my Friends-Test during high school or at university, but there are some special cases.
After high school, I stayed in touch with a girl that was actually a friend-of-my-friend. At school, we didn’t talk often and hardly knew each other, and I probably wouldn’t have called her a friend back then.
But when I was meeting up with my Friends, they would bring their Friend. And so we met again. And again. And it was always a lot of fun! I would feel energized after meeting her, because she is such a great listener, and has clear insights, and above all we share our dreams and joke all the time.
I never realized it when we were in high school, but now that we got to *know* each other better, she has since become a very dear and valued friend, and I gladly add her to my Walk of Friends!
Get to know the world…
… and love it!
All of this to tell you to *go and discover* all that is in your reach. Visit that country close to you that you never saw. Actually, just hop on the train and visit a city near yours, one you’ve never been to. Taste that dish people serve you, even if you think it looks weird, or you *think* you won’t like it. Give that person a chance, go out and have fun, and you’ll get a completely new view of life!
Did you ever experience this process of “getting to know something/-one before you can love it”? Share your thoughts with us!
<3 Miss Ellen
