Holly

During a weekend, group dinner outing I sat next to a lovely woman and shared in much wine and conversation. As the night began, I noticed we each took one mussel off the appetizer plate and watched it settle onto our dishes. As I've never had a mussel before, I watched how she worked the shell and followed suit. After all, I didn't want to look like an ignorant mussel-virgin! Soon, the shells gave way to that chewy little morsel of meat and my internal monologue concluded that, "mussels aren't bad!".

As the conversation continued into the night, the new bride sitting next to me shared that she was working on trying/doing 52 new things this year, one new item per week. Now, if you've read my blog from 2011 you'd know that this is my type of subject matter! I immediately got excited, shared some of the contents of my blog and felt like this dinner date was kismet. She then informed me that she had never had mussels before and trying them was on her "try something new" list. I laughed and exclaimed that I had never tried one either and consuming one was on my "scary" list! 

Unbeknownst to either us, we were sitting next to fellow mussel explorers and life adventurers who had just completed an item from our respective new and scary checklists! I've never met anyone who was so like-minded in the pursuit of trying new things and pushing the boundaries of their comfort zone! It was, at least for me, an instant connection and a great affirmation to continue to do "one thing every day that scares you". In addition to the mussels, thank you Holly for being someone new, no matter how brief the encounter, and awesome in my life too. You rock.