Late Love (Virgin Version)

The past two weeks, I've attended at semi-university affiliated event entitled Late Love, which is a gathering of Jesus lovers to sing loudly and with gusto.

My chauffeur and partner in crime to this event is Miss Kiera Mitchell.

She's been my ever-valiant friend and Belfast connector since October now, but we've not had much one-on-one time to really get to know one another.

Last week, she very kindly and bravely came to karaoke at Robinson's Pub with my Americans and myself. We shut the house down with TSwift's "You Belong With Me." And yes, mostly that involved us shouting loudly without any rhythm or tune into the mics and dancing just as boldly. Twas a blast.

We left the pub just in time to attend LL, which felt only semi sacrilegious, but we hadn't had any alcoholic beverages, so it was quite right in our minds. Even if we had, though, who better to be in church than drunken sinners?

I met a few of her friends and we ran into a guy from church.

Yesterday, she picked me up early and we went out for Starbucks before the gathering (good idea in theory. bad idea in practice. old woman here should NOT have caffeine past 2 pm).

It was there that we had the shocking realisation that though we've been friends for a good long while, we neither of us really knows one another at all.

So, we spent our extra hour asking some super basic questions, like "How many siblings do you have?" and "What is your favourite colour?"

It was very nice.

I often complained last semester at the fact that I didn't feel known by anybody here or have friend chemistry (pardon me if I've already discussed this).

However, that's not a fair assessment.

I did not behave like myself, gave them nobody to work with, and never opened up, not even to tell them my siblings or ask after theirs.

I didn't make last semester any easier on myself by shutting down like that, but I also think (along the same lines of a recent post of mine involving the redefinition of failure) that I wasn't at a place where I was ABLE to succeed in that way.

I needed to grow up and get settled into myself. I needed to get to a place where I didn't need other people anymore. Not in the flippant way I used to, but in the way where the only one I truly need is The Lord and the loves in my life are wonderful complements instead of necessities.

It's a lovely place to be.

*In case you thought I was joking about the laundry...