Seven years ago I relocated to a new city and state. Once I recovered mentally, emotionally, and physically from the transition, I began to desire friends of similar age and like mind. I met a woman who told me about a meditation group not far from where & lived. After contacting the leader of that group, I gathered my courage and determination and I ventured into an unknown neighborhood, in an unknown town, to join people I had never met. My heart pounded as I got dressed and prepared to leave. Walking into a room, not knowing anyone, has always been a challenge for me.

As the daughter of a military man, the wife of a military man, and eventually as a single-again woman, I have relocated over and over again throughout my life. This experience of walking into rooms of strangers is not new to me. It has never become easy or second-nature to me, however, because part of my fundamental nature is shyness. I also am extremely comfortable being alone. I know the value of...