Wow! I'm an Assistant Organizer!

I belong to a local scrapbooking MeetUp group and while I was at our all day crop last Saturday (National Scrapbooking Day), the Organizer came over and said they were thinking of offering me that position. Now it doesn't require a lot of work; if MB can't make an event that I'm attending, I'd "be in charge of" paying for the room, making sure we all leave the room in the condition we found it, baby stuff like that. But how nice to be a "part" of that group! And how flattering that they want me to be the Assistant Organizer!

I've met the nicest women in that group, wound up back in touch with a friend from high school, and have learned that I am, indeed, creative in my own way. I do okay making my pages - they may not be publishing-quality, but I'm proud of them. (Yes, there are a few I think could definitely use some tweaking, but for the most part, I like 'em!) I would never have described myself as artistic; I think I mentioned that in an earlier post, but I am! And I get a lot of satisfaction from it!

And now this brings up the issue of group activities. I belong to Weight Watchers. Again, I've met a great group of people, especially in the Ledgewood, NJ, group. They've extended their WW relationship into their personal lives - they cruise together, they have movie nights together, they attend cookie swaps and purse sales together... And they've invited me along but so far I haven't been able to attend; with the work at the lake and the fact that we're only up there 2 days a week, my time is a bit full. But when we relocate, I hope I can spend more time with these ladies. They're a FUNNY bunch of coconuts!

WW, scrapping. What an easy way to find new friends and experience new things. So far I haven't been disappointed!

But I have a friend who "doesn't do groups." She won't attend WW 'cause she "doesn't like that rah-rah mentality." It's not a rah-rah group. Sure, we clap for each other and sometimes I feel a bit silly being on the receiving end of applause for losing a 1/2-pound when there are women in there who have lost over 100 pounds. But the value of the support I get from these strangers-turned-friends is immeasurable. How nice to know that I matter to these people. They really do care that I lost rather than gained, or that I stayed the same rather than gained. And if I gain, they have ideas to help me lose. Of course, we talk about food, and eating, and weight. But we've also talked about children, and in-laws, and holidays, and family, and work...

This friend of mine won't come to my scrapping group, even though she's very artistic and would do extremely well. Why? Because she "doesn't do groups" and because she "can't afford to scrap." Now THAT I can relate to! It IS a very expensive hobby if you get addicted to it! But I've offered her the use of my materials for a day, or even for a few hours, just to see if she'd like it, and as well-read and well-informed and brilliant as she is, "No. I don't do groups." If she just doesn't want to scrap, okay. But she did it for a shower she organized and said she had a lot of fun doing it. She's just, well, rigid, in a lot of ways. She doesn't embrace change. Now, me? I hate change. But I acknowledge the fact that it's inevitable and I sort of have to adapt, whether I like it or not. Sometimes I think she "doesn't do groups" just 'cause she said, a long time ago, that she "doesn't do groups."

And she spends paragraphs and paragraphs on her blog lamenting the fact that she has only a few close friends and too much free time...