Thanks... I think.

Recently, I volunteered with a local theatre group, building sets and props. I'd recently moved to a new city, didn't know anyone except for a few casual acquaintances from school, and was feeling at loose ends. I figured it would be a good application of my crafty jones and make me feel a little less lonely. I did it purely out of self-interest. It had occurred to me that having volunteer experience building these sorts of things would be a good addition to my resume- I tend to take an idea and run it right to the end of what's possible. So I was thinking something like, "I'll start out doing it for free, and then I can apply to companies that make things for film and TV. Getting paid to do something different every day would be my dream job!"

Clearly, my imagination is bit bigger than reality. Long story short, I went, I made. Turned out I spent most of my time alone in a warehouse. So the idea of making friends was a bit shot. Oh well. It was still fun.

After the production's run ended there was a wrap party for the cast. I debated- should I go, and be the pathetic little person sitting in the corner? After all, the actors had all been working together for months. I hadn't even met some of them. They were friends, and I was basically a stranger. Bad situation.

On the other hand, I wasn't going to make any friends staying home.

I went. The actors and crew people were lovely. Fun all around. I was extremely surprised to be the recipient of 4 separate thank you cards for the work I'd done. I didn't expect that at all! So that was a thing.

One thing I heard over and over that night was "we couldn't have done it without you!" Which is a perfectly understandable sentiment. It did trigger a contrarian response deep in my brain. "You didn't even try!" Nothing I did was terribly complicated or scary or required special training or knowledge. Anyone with decent eye sight and hand-eye coordination could have done it.

Anyone who stepped out of their comfort zone and tried.