The Star Theory

Ever have a conversation that just sticks with you forever? Maybe you don't remember word for word or verbatim what was said, but you remember the gist of it, and perhaps you do remember some of the exact wording.


When I was in high school, I was hanging out with my best friend and we were sitting in her front yard looking at the stars. What she told me went something to the effect of this: People are like stars. When you look really quickly at the sky you see all the big, bright stars. Those are the loud, outgoing people. The people who are noticed by everyone when they walk in a room. But if you let your eyes focus a little longer, you can see a whole bunch of smaller, not so bright stars. These are the quiet, shy people. These are the people who don't necessarily get noticed by everyone else, but they are just as important, just as lovable, just as smart, and just as human as the loud people. When we take the time to get to know the quiet people, we have the opportunity to meet some really awesome people. People we wouldn't have met if we had just stuck to the big, bright stars.


I have remembered this conversation and the concept for many, many years. Recently, I got an email from another friend whom I have known since college. In it, he stated how he remembered hearing me tell him the Star Theory years ago. Pretty cool how something I took to heart was shared, then taken to heart by someone else.


I think that over the years, I've become less of a small star and more of a bright one. It took me a long time to get here, and I'm certainly not the most outgoing of people, but I'm not nearly as shy as I once was. That's not to say that being shy is bad. Because quiet, shy people have just as much to offer as loud, boisterous people. And you know what they say - it's always the quiet ones you gotta watch out for!