Or a person from the first few pages!!!
I almost feel a bit mean, admitting this and I really hope it doesn't hurt anyone's feelings. When I first started reading Kate Spicer's book Lost Dog with the notion of having her join us at a Boozy Book Club Meet, if I am honest, I kind of thought I didn't want to invite her before I even got half way through.
We all have our insecurities, our methods we use to protect ourselves and thank goodness I persevered and finished the book, because by the end of it, my heart was opened not just to Wolfy, but to Kate too. She's so bloody honest in the book and I have to take my hat off to her, because in being so brutally honest, mostly about herself, she is also incredibly brave. There are not many of us who would so openly admit our inner flaws and thoughts without fearing the consequences of being judged or upsetting others.
Personally, I have always just been big and clumsy. From Primary 1, I was always the tallest and by 1st year at high school I was 6ft tall (taller than most of my teachers). I was never elegant with it, just felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb and in those excruciating teenage years when you just really want to blend in, I always felt so uncool and so noticeable.
I didn't get the chance to flourish into myself in my 20's either, pretty much becoming a Mum straight from school (which I have always loved by the way) but when all my peers started having careers and seemed to be succeeding at life and finding new confidences, I stayed at home and poured myself into my kids. So successful, cool people frighten me a little bit, I feel inadequate!
I think the minute I think of someone cool, elegant, sharp witted, intelligent, efficient and straight to the point, ( I feel exactly the opposite of all those things) I shrink back to that bumbling, uncool me and want to hide. I once remember being at an after party in my late 30's and arguing in my drunken state with a trio of very hip people I was chatting with that "No, I was definitely not cool, I was nice, but I had never, in my life been cool!" I think they told me being nice is actually the coolest and I've tried to hold onto that thought ever since!
Authenticity, vulnerability and showing our true selves is how we genuinely connect. I think it's these three elements in Kate's book that are what makes it so endearing and of course she is sharp, witty and intelligent with it too. It truly is a love story and I am so looking forward to having her join us, but if I come across as a bumbling fool who talks too much and is nervous at our online meet, please forgive and help me.
My eldest daughter made me this ------>
I believe it to be true.
Oh, and Kate Spicer sent me three tunes for our listen to playlist - She's definitely cool!!!
Want to get this month's box with Kate Spicer's Lost Dog in it, then click here.