Social Butterfly in training

As with all things in life, relationships take work and in a bid to improve ours, my boyfriend and I have agreed that it would help if I make more an effort to be more sociable. He also has his part to play but being sociable is definitely not something he needs to work at. I am aware that for most people it might seem like no big deal but seeing as I have, in recent months, cultivated my introversion into an art form so for me this is a daunting task.

 I find that more often than not, if given the choice I would prefer to stay home where it is cosy and safe and there all together less people. To give myself some credit though I have been actively pushing myself to participate in social events since we agreed it was something I could be working on. Mind you I have only started very recently and I am not yet working nights so it might be a bit soon as to call this particular plan a success. 

 In this bid to appear like a regular human woman, I accepted an invite to accompany my boyfriend to an Arts related Christmas party last night. I do feel particularly like a fish out of water at these sort of events because I don't even work in a remotely artistic field. That being said I do enjoy the arts in many forms so it's not like I bring nothing to the conversation but sometimes I struggle to get one going in the first place. To combat the mild social anxiety around this event, I decided I would feel much better if I only had something new and flattering to wear. Not needing much of an excuse to go shopping, I promptly went out and bought a dress. I got my hair cut into a shape other than mop and threw a bit of make up on. Then I arrived at said Christmas party to discover that I am the most overdressed person in the room. Clearly I had not got the memo that this was a very casual affair. Initially I felt very self conscious as I thought the artists in the room would immediately know that I was not one of them. Despite me totally misjudging the dress code, the night went better than expected. I joined in plenty of conversations and even initiated a few. I only fidgeted with my hair and jewellery a fraction of the time and I stayed much longer than I expected to. 

 Eventually tiredness overcame me and I said my goodbyes. Who knows, perhaps given time I might actually come to like this socialising business. 

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