sometimes, it really doesn't take much for you to make someone else feel "normal" about themselves.

the past 6 months has been one of the best "feel good" periods in my life. and one of them reasons is Em, who i first met only last year when i attended my very first Minds Of All Kinds event.

about a week before, i caught up with Maddie who told me i needed to meet Em .. and she said the same to Em. so at the event, but at some point later (first time "openly" interacting with the community, so i was, uhm, shy) we did introduce ourselves, but .. side-quest pinged in my head and i spent most of my time during the networking session "side-questing" the food - making sure it's all good, cleaning up after, etc.

and that was it. until the end of last/early this year when she signaled my bat phone, and next thing i knew, i agreed to assist Em with the EA DEI committee .. without the bat mask on.

since then, we occasionally catch up and bitch about everything while sharing stories and ideas. we discussed plans and hopes, we RCS each other about opportunities, we check up on each other, and .. nothing much else really. just normal stuff.

so what's special about that?

nothing.

other than i was allowed to feel comfortable being "me" with her. and not a "controlled me" because i was a boss, a senior, a mentor, or someone with padawans who constantly look to me for leadership and guidance.

actually, even with most of my peers, there is still some control there.

with Em, the "usual me" still applies - i talk over her many a times, go off on a tangent and lose my train of thought mid speech, and go from A to Z and back to K, before finally arriving on "point X exclamation mark".

(heh, maybe at times she may have been annoyed .. but she doesn't show it)

but at all times with Em, i never am thinking "wait, i'm the boss || mentor || leader here. i should reel myself a(bit||lot)". and more importantly, i don't find her doing anything special to accommodate me. she just .. accepted. or at least, that's how she makes me feel.

which is the point i'm trying to make (i know, a bit long winded) .. that you do not have to be going out of your way or do anything special, to make someone feel good.

all you need is to be a good human being who treats someone "different" with respect, empathy, and .. just be listening.

anyways .. we both stepped down from the Engineers Australia DEI WA committee (advising on neurodiversity inclusion) today. Em sent the email, i did not - since she already mentioned in the email i was stepping down too.