There is a sense, in any type of relationship with potential (new friends, new mentors, new lovers), of hope for something. I don't think we work through exactly what we're hoping for, but it's there.
With all hope, there is a sense that we must let go. Be vulnerable. Protect ourselves, sure, but not too much. Open ourselves, but not so much as to frighten someone with the depths of our emotion or being. Our "crazy", if you will.
We are conditioned to add a shrug to each of these vulnerabilities and say, pretending to not care, "What's the worst that could happen?" And then use that statement to imagine "the worst."
Maybe part of growing up is to begin to learn to ask ourselves instead, "What's the best that could happen?"
I've asked myself that question exactly twice in the last five months.
I'll just say that learning to imagine the best instead of the worst makes a difference. And you might like how life will challenge and surprise you for it.
Maybe you think this is all a little deep for TNR, or a little over-the-top for a Monday. Eh, I've had a lot of coffee.