I learned a powerful lesson about people in my mid-twenties. I was supposed to meet my sweetie for happy hour at a hip bar downtown, but he was running late so I sat on the terrace and waited. The gal sitting next to me was waiting for someone too, and I glanced her way out of habit. In seconds I had her sized up: Huge diamond earrings. Lots of makeup. Expensive shoes.
She didn't look like the kind of gal I would hang out with.
Moments later Eric showed up! He kissed me on the cheek and then motioned to the girl next to me and happily declared, "Oh good! You two have already met!" Turns out she was a friend of Eric's, and he had arranged for her to join us for happy hour believing that we would hit it off. What a genius my man is, because we DID, in fact, hit it off. Afterwards I confessed to Eric my guilt on the drive home: I had judged her. Her appearance had intimidated me. Closed me off. Eric scoffed at the idea: "Why would you be insecure around her? You're gorgeous too. And you two have so much in common!"
And while it's unfortunate it is often true: we ladies LOVE to judge our fellow ladies based on appearance. So much so that often times, we allow those material things that cling to a girl's body to actually help us distance ourselves from women who could potentially be wonderful friends.
I suppose this is why I like skinny dipping so much: without diamonds and fancy shoes and makeup, we only have our eyes and our smiles to offer a friend. Stripped down- literally- we must rely upon our hearts to tell people who we are. There is no distraction that gets in the way of establishing the fact that here stands a girl. Just like me. Worthy of friendship and kindness. No matter who she is.
By removing the wardrobe, the accessories, the things we add to our body, we are removing the pretenses. We are just who we are.
I love this. And you.
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