What Do You Bring To The Friendship Table?

I just returned home from an incredible girls’ weekend in Savannah, Georgia with the other four members of the “Listen To Your Mother” national team. When the LTYM project ended last spring, we had talked about figuring out a way for all five of us to be in the same place for a couple of days one last time, just for a sweet wrap-up of our professional union. (Of course, the actual friendships will endure far longer than the time we spent working together.) We chose Savannah and on Thursday made our way there from Oregon, Wisconsin, Maryland, Florida, and Tennessee.

We hung out in an adorable AirBnB home halfway between Savannah and Tybee Island hosted by an invisible-to-us guy named Jimmy (the host with the most!), and as we sat around talking and eating and laughing and eating I thought a lot about the different personality characteristics we all bring to the table that make us get along so well. Spending three days with the warmth, wisdom, humor, and kindness those women exude did my spirit a lot of good.

I think we all bring something to the table in our friendships. and while we all have characteristics that are more visible and consistent than others, we can shape-shift a little bit depending on the circumstance and who we’re with. I also believe that in our friends we see the characteristics we need to see and feel at any given moment. I bring a lot of energy to the table: creative energy, physical energy, all kinds of energy. Some of my favorite people have laid-back, easy-breezy personalities that leave me feeling balanced and at peace. At the same time, I have friends who are also highly energetic and spending time with them motivates me to go! and act! and accomplish!

Have you ever thought about your most prominent characteristics when it comes to friendships? What do you think people see in you, and does what you think you bring to the table match that? Is it something you work on, or have you always been that way? I know: lots of questions. See? I BRING THE ENERGY. Told you!