Our team was standing in a circle one day. One person piped up and said “hey, let’s write a blog about and introduce the teammate to the right of us!” So we did.
The person standing to the right of me was the beautiful teammate and friend Diane Kelly. And what an honour it is to introduce Diane to the world! From what I learned about her in the past week I feel like I could write a 20 page essay on the subject of Diane, but that would take too long to upload sooo….
Our relationship began online. I saw her in a video. Our squad was tasked with posting an 11 second “intro” video on our FB page to introduce ourselves to 40 people we have never met in person before. Diane’s video was my favourite out of all the videos (well, except for mine). The screenplay could have taken Woody Allen on a run for his money and the choreography of the dance moves was out of this world. But the video is just the tip of the iceberg, talking with and observing Diane in person has uncovered so much more of who she is.
I’m pretty sure that over the past 5 years, Diane has spent more time on water than on land. She says she is from Pittsburgh, PA and has a house there, but has been working in the Pacific Northwest and has worked in Hawaii, has been to Thailand, so she only spends a few days a year there. Are you sensing some sort of Jason Bourne thing going on? Yup, so am I. And with her knowledge and experience of world travel and her natural ability to navigate local markets in Cambodia I think that just about proves it. She was a server on a boat/cruise for people with lots of money, but has recently given up her extravagant career to pursue things closer to her heart like Christ and people.
Diane, because of her easy going personality, is a great fit to team Boldly Present. Being a patient communicator Diane excels at negotiating and talking with the locals. Not only is it beneficial when we find ourselves in an awkward situation with a tuk tuk driver it is also a huge addition to our team.
Diane makes people comfortable. You could talk with her about anything because of her listening ability (yes, listening is a skill) and easy-going/up-for-anything personality. Like when she was the first one to tell others about some of her quirks to the rest of the team spurring on others to do the same. And it turns out that MOST of the team has similarly strange quirks leaving me the odd one out and self-proclaimed normal person.
Diane has a knowledge of holistic medicine. I learned this after she told me that she uses home-made toothpaste that she made out of coconut oil. Coconut oil has so many uses! Who knew? Diane knew.
Diane loves coffee. She purchased a French press for $3 yesterday.
That’s all I got for now. I can’t wait to learn more!
PEACE
