When my blog turned two and I invited four readers to join me for lunch to celebrate I didn’t know what to expect. I had the cupcakes, the champagne and the great food. But in essence we were five strangers about to sit down together in circumstances that perhaps to someone looking in were a little strange – a blog birthday.
Leading up to the lunch I tried to keep my planning simple and keep my thoughts and energy flowing. Breathing in and breathing out the flow of excitement, flow of positivity and the flow of being open to all possibility.
The Saturday of the lunch everything seemed to just fall in place. Somewhat effortlessly even. As I stood back and looked at the beautiful flowers arranged on the table, surrounded by the cupcakes and heard the pop of champagne I thought “this is exactly how it was meant to be.” Almost instantly the door opened and in walked Pip with her beautiful new baby boy.
The very first time I met Pip was at a #voicesof2013 event and within moments of saying hello I spilt hot coffee all over her (and almost all over some very expensive art work.) Thankfully this time there was no hot coffee, but it did feel like old friends catching up again. Sometimes we connect online and the connection spills into real life. Pip is one of those treasured connections.
Within moments the door opened again and I met someone I have been aching to meet for a very long time, Louise. I have sat here trying to remember how our paths crossed and how I stumbled across her blog but I just cannot pinpoint the moment. It seems insignificant really, now that I have met her. I wholeheartedly believe that in life the Universe draws us to the people we need to be part of our journey. I don’t know what the connection with Louise is yet, but there is a sense that this is only the beginning of something.
The beautiful Sarah and Vicki walked in next completing our reservation for five. With them walked in the aura of the online blogging world, like comic speech bubbles that only I could see were flashes of blog posts, comments, Instagram posts and tweets. With them walked in an energy that I could almost touch. Their stories lifted their heads from the two dimensional words I knew them in and came to life.
Lunch was all of my favourite things at one of my favourite restaurants. The conversation flowed with the champagne, the laughter was contagious and as Vicki quietly said to me at the end of our date “look at that, we have sat here five strangers chatting for four hours and barely stopping for a breath.” Yes, that is how it was, five women chatting away like they were long lost childhood friends.
I walked away knowing something good happened that day, something that I couldn’t quite define in words. Four incredible women humbled me with their presence and joined me for lunch to celebrate my blog’s birthday. Over the few hours we spent together their stories, their passion, their voices reminded me just how incredible we all are, how in our differences we share the essential flame that makes us all the same and just how important it is to keep speaking our voice and telling our stories. Our lunch date left me wanting so much more of that real life connection.
Thank you to Pip, Louise, Sarah and Vicki for joining me for lunch, a perfect afternoon celebration for my blog turning two. A HUGE thank you to my dear friend Belinda from Baked by Belinda who made these delicious cupcakes for everyone to take home with them on the day xx
Tell me, who is someone you have a connection with online that you would love to meet in real life?
