COFFEE TIMES SHOUT OUT CHALLENGE

How the Journey of a Lifelong Friendship Started with One Shout out

In response to Coffee Challenge; Why I am a pro-shout-out movement.

I have always compared people entering and exiting from my life to the chapters of a book. As one person leaves, their impact feels like one chapter has come to an end, and when someone new enters my life, I treat it as the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

As one vital chapter of my life did end, I decided I needed to heal. What better way to recover than writing? So, I found Medium, or rather, Medium found me, and thus began the new chapter of writing.

Throughout my journey, I wrote whatever my heart desired. I penned down my past and present life lessons without stopping to think about whether my readers may or may not relate to them. I would often wonder if my stories connected with the reader. Would the reader feel what I have been through? At the very least, I always believed that my writing would be worth it even if one soul could relate to my pain.

It’s strange. I look back and see how I started writing for myself and how I wished that what I wrote would help someone out here on Medium.

Things weren’t picking up through the early stages as I thought it was too early for readers to notice. Until I saw an email in my inbox that said,

‘ Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles mentioned you in a story’.

I kept looking at that email, wondering . . is this a joke?

You see, my Medium feed would show Vidya’s stories. How could I not become her fan? If I could leave the impact she leaves on a reader, I would know that I am a fair writer.

So when I read this email, it was indeed a fangirl moment for me. I still remember — It was my post — ‘Why Crying at Movie Endings Is a Strength and Not a Weakness.’

She mentioned this story in her weekly round-up, and I smiled from ear to ear. I couldn’t believe that someone as amazing as her found my story worth reading. I couldn’t be grateful enough and, of course, thanked her in the comments. But I knew that from her one shout-out that she and I would share something special. I just couldn’t figure it out just yet.

If you have read Vidya’s stories, one thing is for sure; you will take away gems of happiness. Every story has a feel-good element to it. And then she wrote her life story — ‘Second Innings New Beginnings’, which touched me so profoundly that I couldn’t stop myself, and I left her a private note.

That’s where the bud of a new friendship was born. We willingly exchanged our contact details. I realised that similar thinking souls would somehow find a way to each other. We got on like pasta and cheese as our tastes were so identical such as –

• We are both crazy Damon Salvatore fans.
• Share similar values towards life.
• Find joy in the simplest things.
• Crush on the same men.
• Share a witty sense of humour.
• We don’t care about what others think about our crazy thought process.

But what truly got us together was her advice on how I must look beyond fear to try something new, stop worrying about what society says about a 30-year-old unmarried woman and her being non-judgemental about anything that I tell her about my life.

You see, Vidya, though permanently 24, is about two decades older than me. But somehow, she could feel my pain and see me crystal through my words. What started as a private note bloomed into a friendship so unique. Some of our conversations are utterly funny yet innocent –

So, this is how one shout-out led to a private note. One note led to a conversation, which bloomed into a friendship that I never thought would happen in my wildest dreams.

If one shout out can lead to such meaningful relationships, can you imagine what would happen if we made it into a habit?

Because even though the universe will always have the upper hand on what we have to deal with next, what we can control is the act of kindness. Through Vidya’s one act of kindness, I could connect to a beautiful soul, and what better way to realise the importance of a shout-out.

This is only one outcome of a shout-out. As I celebrate my 1 year anniversary on Medium, I have connected with so many like-minded souls and would like to take this opportunity to thank them.

You guys were my first friends and now are my backbone on Medium.

Kim Petersen — Thank you for believing in me and offering me a place at your amazing pub Living Out Loud. When I started writing on Medium, you were the very first who saw the writing spark in me and I kept writing only because you had unwavering faith in me and my words for which I am eternally grateful. :)

Suma Narayan — Thank you for noticing the writer in me before anyone else could. Your faith in me and my words is the reason why I kept writing and could complete one year on Medium. Thank you for being my backbone and I am so grateful to the universe that I had the opportunity to be your student. :)

Diana C. — Thank you for giving me a safe space to write at your amazing publication ‘Know Thyself Heal Thyself’. You and the amazing KTHT community accepted me the way I am and whenever I felt like giving up, the KTHT community always encouraged me to keep going. Thank you. :)

Spyder — Thanks coach for being my backbone through my entire Medium journey.

Joseph Lieungh — Thank you for being my guiding angel and always lifting me up when I lost faith in my words.

Margie Willis — Thank you for being my kindest critique. Your heartfelt response makes me a better writer and for that, I am eternally grateful.

Rose Lee — Thank you for your kind words and for connecting with my writeups. It's what kept me going.

A.H. Mehr — Thank you for pushing me to continue sharing my words. Your support gave me the encouragement to voice my thoughts freely.

Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar — My bong friend with the sweetest words of encouragement — Thank you for being you and I am so glad we could find each other. Your poetic love touches my heart and your comments brighten my day. :)

Hamsalekha — Thank you darling for always believing in me and making me feel that my words are making a difference.

Winston — We connected over an introvert/extrovert write-up, one of your first posts I commented on and since then your growth and writing tips have been a massive source of inspiration to keep going. Thank you so much. :)

Julia Winsa — Thank you for being my sunshine. I could connect with your words instantly and I knew that we would share something special on Medium. Thank you for engaging and supporting me and my words.

Ben Mullen — Thank you for being one of my biggest support systems on Medium. Your heartfelt responses to my post gave me a reason to pen down every thought and share it with the world.

Yana Bostongirl — Thank you for all the love you give to my words and for making me believe that my writing is making a difference. Your feedback and responses make me jump with joy and it motivates me immensely. Thank you :)

Vidya Kasarla — Thank you for making me feel so special with the amount of love you give to my words. You are my little bundle of joy that I hold very dear. Thank you so much and I miss you so much on Medium.

Simão Cunha — Thank you for being a constant support and now my email buddy. Whenever I feel lost, your words help me find my way back. Thank you so much. :)

Ravyne Hawke — Thank you for giving me a place at your wonderful publication ‘Promptly Written’. You have always supported my work on KTHT and my other writeups too. Thank you so much for your unconditional love and support. :)

Also, tagging some of my recent friends. You guys mean the world to me and I thank you for your unconditional love and support. Truly grateful. :)

Myriam Ben Salem🦋, S. Knight, Filza Chaudhry, Aliyana, Eliofotos Orfanou, Aaryaman Nijhawan, Dan J, Gaurav Jain, James L, VOICES OF THE LOST, Fit$, Jennifer M. Wilson, Janine B., Umme Salma, June Y., Beatrice Causey, Teresa Young, Diana Zamoras, Purbita Chakraborty, Art Bram, Patricia Wright, Anurag Jain, Vashni Stories, Neha Sonney, Author, Warda Raza, Camille Grady, Brown Boi, J.Cienfuegos, Fanae-5, MS, simeon mogaks.

Forgive me if I missed out on anyone. If you are reading this, know that it means the world to me that you are here and reading this. Thank you so much :)

Thank you Coffee Times.

One of the reasons I enjoy writing for Coffee Times publication is Winston’s rule of adding a shout out to every post. Such a great way to build a writing community writers support one another. The extra bonus is transitioning into friendships, some of which may be lifelong!

Coffee Times has 1.5K followers today in a span of 4 months; I believe one of the reasons for this is because of the shout out rule which connects writers. A big shout out to the Coffee Times editing team Winston, Yana Bostongirl, Drashti Shroff, Marrisa W., Dr. Preeti Singh, Sharing Randomly, Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles, who interact with the writers here and amplify our posts on social media. Special thanks to Winston for his helpful posts with tips to succeed on Medium and beyond and of course, the incentives from time to time.

Coffee Times is more than a publication. It is a movement!

Thank you Ravyne Hawke, for giving us this amazing publication ‘Promptly Written’ to publish our writeups for the Coffee Times Shout out challenge.