Overwhelmed.

I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, 

but can you ever just be whelmed?

-10 Things I Hate About You

I have been a bad blogger. It has been longer than I care to admit since I put even a single word on this blog. Honestly I've thought about writing a couple times but my mind became all crazy and I couldn't pick one thing to talk about because there seemed like so many things to say so instead I just didn't say anything. And as long as I'm being honest, I'm okay with that. I tend to speak before thinking on occasion so this is a good thing.  A little waiting period. That said, this post will likely open the flood gates and I'll have a couple good ones coming out of it all. Now watch as I tie this whole damn thing full circle. 

First, the reason I haven't been posting lately. It kind of gives me a little knot in my stomach just thinking about typing it because I'm scared I'll jinx it. I have been so fucking happy I can hardly find words to do it justice. (Yes, the fuck was necessary there. Sometimes when I can't find appropriate grown up words, I substitute with profanity. But unless you're new here, you already knew that.)  At first I thought maybe it was like a little fluke. Had a good day followed by a good night. Woke up on Saturday and realized I had had a whole week of good days. Went to bed on Sunday and realized that was a killer weekend. And then it just didn't stop. Days went by, weeks went by and then before I knew it months had gone by and I am still happy. And not just NOT sad, I'm over the moon, annoy the piss out of passerbyers because there's such an obnoxious bounce in my step happy. Honestly? There are times I've annoyed myself with how happy I am. And here's the icing on the happiness cake? I did it. I'm not happy because there's a man in my life showering me with gifts (not that I'd turn it down!), or because I stumbled across $20 on the ground. I'm happy because I've put myself first and I've made sure all the things I'm doing, all the people and events in my life that receive my time and effort are worthy of it and make me equally happy in return. I've pushed myself outside of my boundaries to help figure out what I want and when and where I want things in life. 

I have always been happy in my life, but I am feeling now like I had no idea what that was. I realize it's possible to be whelmed and I might have been just living in the "whelmed" category and now I'm overwhelmed. With happiness, with good people, with great experiences, with all good solid things. 

One of the providers of those things...is Twitter. I know I've mentioned maybe once or twice my love for Twitter. And I know those of you who "get it" are all nodding your heads in agreement each time I do. And those of you who admittedly don't "get it" are all, "OH MY GOD. She's talking about that stupid tweeter thing again. MAKE IT STOP." If you fall into the latter category, you might want to gloss over this because, NO I WILL NOT STOP. So here goes, one thing that's contributing to my overwhelmed status. 

Twitter serves as many things. It connects companies to their customers. It allows industry experts to share knowledge. It gives organizations a voice to provide exposure through. It connects people. In the last few months, I have felt ridiculously connected to strangers through Twitter. And not just talking to them occasionally. I have made friends. Good friends. Friends who I have been able to sit and share and converse with for hours at a time. Friends who have introduced me to new things, places and challenges. This is where I start to feel a little spoiled. It's not as if I'm just learning what it's like to have good friends. I have some of the best friends a person could possibly ever ask for. So you can see how I am feeling like I'm hoarding all the good people out there. 

I have found a mentor / coach who will motivate me to possibly run a half marathon and she convinced me over a quick lunch. I have connected with a friend of friends who shares a love for Debra Messing and our affinity towards being a little crazy on occasion. I joined a book club full of women who make me laugh until I cry and can't breath. I met a complete stranger for a happy hour and then saw her two more times the next week and bonded over living essentially the same life, and then over the Hunger Games, and then over a new church. I met a new friend who "gets" me and inspires me and makes me laugh until they move all other restaurant patrons because we clearly have all the fun in all the land. I've decided to marry one of the three Rodgers boys with a friend who makes me laugh at least once a week with fratboy talk of our favorite QB. And to tie in my opening quote (from another favorite 90's movie), I found a group of people who love Can't Hardly Wait as much as I do and turned a night of quoting the movie to each other on Twitter into an organized activity...with nachos. And those are just the people I've met in person. There's literally hundreds of other people who I've connected with at one point or another. 

I know this doesn't work for everyone. Some people don't like the idea of strangers. Some people probably think it's a bunch of shit and it's crazy. And that's okay. It's not for everyone. 

But I can say this with the utmost confidence in the world, it's for me. And it has changed the way I look at things. It has made me more open minded. Feel more supported. Be far more entertained. Take more risks. And feel connected to people all over the place. My life that was wonderful before has been made even more wonderful by the amazing people I have met and the friendships I have just started building with them. And I'm more blessed than I can find words to describe and thankful that those people were put in my life at exactly the right time. 

So I guess in a "nutshell" (the longest, largest nutshell ever), that's why I like Twitter.