Gift of Life’s DonateLife Walk 2020
Sophie Makes New Friends has been out in the world for a couple of months now. I love how the book is resonating with readers and am so grateful to those who have shared their stories with me.
Sophie is reminding adult readers of their school days and how it was for them when they were the new kid and wanted to make friends and fit in. I was lucky that my schooling occurred at one primary school and one high school. I do remember being the new kid at high school. We came from a small primary school in a small suburb where we all knew each other. Going to the huge local high school was terrifying. And being a quiet, shy, bookish young girl who wore rather thick glasses made starting high school even worse!
Most of us have ‘new kid’ experiences, whatever it is we are doing in life. If someone had told me that later in my life I would be writing books and attending events and markets, putting myself out there and being a ‘new kid’ author, I would have laughed.
I still have shy moments. Recently I read Kitty Flanagan’s book Bridge Burning and Other Stories and had a lightbulb moment on page 242.
‘I reckon I use up all my confidence on stage and have none left for real life. It’s not a great theory, but the bottom line is, it’s not really that big a deal. Lots of people are socially awkward, lots of people get anxious about talking to strangers, so I should just shut up and stop worrying about it so much.’
This makes so much sense to me. In my working life I have had many front line customer service jobs. I put on my ‘work’ hat and have no trouble chatting with the people who come my way. As an author I have the ‘author’ hat, which goes on at markets or events. The hats allow me to become that person in that role. When Kerry walks into a room full of strangers she reverts back to the shy young girl who wants to hide in the corner. I need to find my Kerry hat!
What are your ‘new kid’ moments? I would love to hear your stories.
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