What's Your Average?

I am in an entrepreneurial class this semester (which, by the way, is my excuse for tardy posts). This class is perfect timing as my sister and I are starting a small, all-natural body product company. Sharing ideas, creativity, and a partnership is a very fulfilling experience.

One of the guest lecturers in my class this week spoke about the importance of partnership and that so much of our life success depends on it. Our character, intelligence, and motivation, he said, is largely contingent on the kinds of people we surround ourselves with. In fact, research shows that we are the average of the five people we interact with the most. Like water will do for rock, those in our immediate circle will shape us. They affect our attitude, opinions, and experiences. And they either add or detract from our happiness.

As important as it is to surround ourselves with amazing, elevated people, it is equally as important to be that person for others. Each time we speak to someone, we have the opportunity to leave them more confident, inspired, and joyful than when we found them. Their life can be better simply because we were in it—for five seconds or fifty years.

So here's to increasing the average.

The Magnolias

This Fall, my sister Morgan had her first child—a daughter named Magnolia. Each niece or nephew in our family has their own playful flavor. But something about my sister's pregnancy and birth changed me. Almost like a twin, I wanted to experience everything along side her. When the baby moved or she couldn't fit into her clothes, I wanted to know. When she found out the gender, opened every baby gift, or put the final touches on her room, I wanted to see. And now that Magnolia is here, I am equally fascinated with her awkwardly short arms, her buddha belly, her yawns, and her milk-drunk stares.

If there was ever a moment in my life where I've wondered if God exists, it isn't now. There is a layer to life that is deep, omnipotent, and spiritual. The Magnolias of the world create a tangible feeling of love, and it helps us feel close to the people we cannot see and the God about whom we wonder. With her too comes the opportunity to grow alongside her. Grow into a mother, a caring aunt, a steady father, a good person, a better contributor to the world.

One day Nola will be a mother, then a grandmother. And hopefully I will too. We are part of a powerful circle that has more weight and purpose than we realize, and we are all part of something grander than ourselves.