So Many New Friends

On Twitter! You probably think that following @JimmyFallon does not make us friends. More likely it makes me a stalker and him still woefully unaware of my existence. I believe otherwise. Just knowing that Jim (all of his close friends call him Jim), Kristin from Watch With Kristin, and some 80-odd others are there for me got me through a long night of cold-medicine-induced misery.

And now you’re thinking this is just the cold medicine talking. Perhaps. Or maybe not… May we never know. I say let me have this, please. Just this one little delusion. The rest of life is so very real.

In all reality, I am honored by the amazing reaction I received yesterday from friends and family after announcing plans for Wonder, Friend. It turns out that my mother and one of my oldest, dearest friends are both experts on everything. Everything! According to them. So I won’t be needing the rest of you.

I’m also completely panic-stricken. As I mentioned in a comment on the previous post, it’s moderately terrifying that you all know I’m doing this. Earlier today I told our four-year-old that it’s okay to be wrong and it’s okay to fail occasionally. I explained that falling on your face is part of the learning & growing process. What a load of crap. I don’t want to fail, okay?

Due to the cold I whined about above, I did not get much work done today. I have a stack of emails that beg replying and what I believe may be germinating seeds of the first official Wonder post. I was struck by two things yesterday:

1. How willing so many of you are to share your areas of expertise and join me on this journey; and

2. How many people said, “I’m not an expert on anything that anyone cares about.”

Got me thinking… While we live in a culture of total self promotion (exhibit A: this little blog), we are still self-deprecating at heart. Our first reaction is often one of, “Aw, shucks, it was nothin'”. Maybe a little less folksy, but certainly along those lines.

So I wonder, why? Where does that come from? Is it nature or nurture? So I’m putting out a call to any therapists, child development specialists and studiers of human nature. Email me or leave a comment below if you have some thoughts on the subject.

I’d write more, but Joel McHale just sent me a Twitter message and I’m sure he’s waiting for my response.

Tags: Germ of the Week, Gratitude, Human nature, Jimmy Fallon, Joel McHale, Kristin Dos Santos, Twitter