Earrings as a metaphor in networking

Ahhhh earrings.... my favourite way to decorate my ear. 

My daughter's been asking me to pierce her ears and I keep thinking about the wonderful world of earrings that's going to open up to her soon. 

Got me thinking about earrings and in particular, the back rubber part of the earring, you know the one that's the tiny plastic piece that keeps the earring attached to your ear? Not all earrings have this, but most of the ones that I buy from the smaller independent boutiques have those plastic backings in a bag, ready to be dispersed. 

Here's what I realized: that tiny plastic piece is the most non-tech, behind the scenes, un-updated thing in my decades of being alive. AND that without this back piece, that earring's got no chance of seeing the light of day - ask me: I've lost plenty of earrings, thinking that I didn't need a plastic backing. The other big AH-HA (if you can call it that), is that while the earring is useless without the backing, the backing is useless without the earring. Seriously, who needs the tiniest plastic piece known to (wo)man? 

So here we are, at a new metaphor: what's the earring that's on display and what's the backing that makes it happen?

I recently was attending a networking event and I thought about this metaphor. If the earring represents ME, then I need to know that not everyone is going to (a) like earrings or (b) like the design of my particular earring.

IE not everyone is going to (a) like me or (b) like what I represent

What a gift!

The connections that I do make are the connections that stay are the connections that matter.

And what of my backing? Well, it's what keeps me standing - invisible to all, but present to me. Intimate as it keeps my earring in place THROUGH my ear. Talk about personal... But my backing is the sureness with which I hold myself, the vulnerability that I carry within, the oneness that I know we are all around.

As I entered this networking meeting, I trusted the beauty of my earring to draw in connections that matter and I gave space to what keeps me steady, unwavering and upright. 

That's the power of a metaphor - it can support you in a situation where you need just a little bit of perspective. So here we are, at a new metaphor for the week: what's the earring that's on display and what's the backing that makes it happen?