Honing a Philosophy

I've thought a lot over the years about what it means to "embrace the awkward." After all, if you're going to have a life philosophy, it's good to know what you really mean by it. I think initially, for me and for my friend Sejal (who actually coined the phrase), embracing the awkward often meant being willing to go out of our way to get a good story: to go on the date with the person you knew probably wasn't right for you, to engage with the crazy stranger who sat next to you on public transit, to dance like a fool in public. I have definitely done all of those things--many times.

There will always be a place for that level of awkward-embracing: being willing to go the extra mile to create some craziness in your life is good for you, and it does make for great stories. But as I've gotten a little older and a little calmer, and gotten into a serious relationship (and thus can't end every weekend with an arsenal of crazy bad date stories), I've realized that the wisdom of this philosophy extends deeper than I first thought.

There are other ways to embrace awkwardness. They're more subtle, but I think they still have the ability to make your life better. As an example, I've just moved across the country to a place where I don't have a job, don't know anyone, and don't have any easy, built-in ways to meet new people. It has been a very long time since I've lived anywhere where that was true. But thankfully, what I do have is a commitment to embracing the awkward. In this case, that means trying to network (even though I hate it and feel like I'm bad at it), putting myself out there and following up when I meet new, cool people, and trying to find ways to make this new place feel like a home. All of that feels pretty awkward. It's hard. It's a lot of work. There are lots of times I'd really rather not try. And that's when this "embracing the awkward" philosophy serves me best: it reminds me that if I show up--if I try, even when i don't feel like it--the odds are decent something really good will come from it. And if nothing good comes from it? Well, I've still got a story I can re-tell and laugh at later, and that's always been a pretty good consolation prize.