A Series of Awkward Conversations

It was the last day of my first year of graduate school and one of my professors was leaving. I don’t remember why we were talking or how the subject even came about but she said, “My best supervisor once told me, therapy is a series of awkward conversations.” I remember the complete sigh of relief I felt. As if everything I had done up until that point had new meaning.

I remember this moment so well because I relive it all the time. I have come to believe that most conversations worth having are awkward or at least have some awkward moments.

In a world of consumerism where things are continually dressed up or pitched in a calculated way, being truly authentic is awkward. Our brains have been trained over time by the television to consume production value and price points.

The key isn’t avoiding the awkward it is re-framing it. That awkward feeling may actually be authenticity. Those moments that have a level of discomfort are often the deepest and most fulfilling. And the moments that are truly worth something won’t feel like a smoothly executed scene in a movie.