The Power of Simple Questions
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Have you ever realized that you know almost everything about the people around you, but you are still learning how to describe yourself?
For years, I asked questions because I genuinely enjoyed getting to know people.
What do you love?
What makes you laugh?
What reminds you of home?
What could you talk about for hours?
I listened carefully to the answers. I remembered the little details. I learned how the people I cared about thought, what they valued, and what made them feel safe.
But I did not always stop to ask myself those same questions.
That realization became part of the reason I created Nice to Meet You.
The journal begins with simple conversations, but I quickly learned that simple questions do not always lead to simple answers.
Sometimes they uncover memories we have not visited in years.
Sometimes they remind us of the people we love.
And sometimes they help us understand ourselves a little more clearly.
What Does Home Feel Like?
One of the questions that stayed with me was:
What is something that always makes you feel at home?
My answer was food.
Not because food is the only thing that makes a place feel like home, but because so many of my memories are connected to the meals shared with people I love.
When I make handmade fries, I think about my grandmother.
When I need a smile from my dad, I think about scrambled eggs with rice and sugar.
When I need something that feels like a hug, I reach for his favorite ice cream: butter pecan.
A bowl of Cream of Wheat takes me back to the kitchen table, where my siblings argued over who had the most sweetened condensed milk in theirs.
Beans with rice and cornbread make me think fondly of my mom.
And when I make sweet potato pie, I can still hear my maternal grandmother telling me that I have to taste the filling to know whether it is ready.
None of those foods are extraordinary on their own.
Their meaning comes from the people, places, and moments attached to them.
For me, home feels like family.
It feels like calm.
It feels like love.
Sometimes food is simply what brings all of that back to me.
The Things We Carry With Us
Another question asked me to think about an item I would want to keep forever.
My answer was not something expensive.
It was a stuffed animal.
I have two stuffed animals that mean a great deal to me: Theodore and Minnie Mouse.
Theodore represents the adult version of me and the season of my life when I fell head over heels in love.
Minnie is connected to my childhood.
I have had her since I was a baby. She slept with me every night growing up, and whenever I see her, I remember the nights I spent sleeping beside my grandmother.
She was my favorite person when I was little.
Minnie helps me keep a piece of those memories close.
That question reminded me that ordinary objects can carry extraordinary meaning.
A photograph may hold an entire relationship.
A piece of jewelry may remind someone of where they came from.
A blanket, recipe, toy, or familiar scent may help someone feel close to a person they miss.
The object matters because of the story attached to it.
Getting Curious About Yourself
The most meaningful part of answering these questions was not creating the journal.
It was realizing how much I was still learning about myself.
Some of my answers came easily.
Others surprised me.
A few reminded me of things I had not thought about in years.
That is what I love about reflection.
It does not always require a dramatic breakthrough.
Sometimes it begins with a question that seems harmless:
What food brings you comfort?
What smell reminds you of home?
What did you dream of becoming when you were little?
What object carries a story you never want to lose?
The first answer may seem small.
But when we pause long enough to ask why, we often discover something underneath it.
A memory.
A value.
A longing.
A piece of ourselves that still deserves to be acknowledged.
Questions to Sit With
Take a moment and consider:
What is something that always makes you feel at home?
What ordinary object carries an important story for you?
What memory do you hope you never forget?
Do not worry about creating the perfect answer.
Pay attention to what comes to mind first.
Then ask yourself why it matters.
Continue the Conversation
Self-discovery is not something we finish.
We continue learning, changing, remembering, and becoming.
Every honest answer gives us another opportunity to understand the person we are today.
That is the heart behind Nice to Meet You, a free journal featuring 30 conversations designed to help you slow down, reflect, and discover more about yourself.
I answer every question first.
Then it is your turn, Bestie.
Choose the journal style that feels most like you and begin the conversation.
So, what is your bite of pie today?
Maybe it is simply asking yourself one meaningful question—and taking the time to listen to your answer.
