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Monday: dentist, MLK day
Jan. 18th, 2021 12:50 pmI went to the dentist today. Traffic was light; the visit was uneventful and, as these things go, enjoyable — it’s nice to see people who you are familiar with, in person.
I’ve been thinking lately about maintaining long-distance friendships. With in-person dangerous and/or difficult, once you are committed to some kind of not-in-person, in many ways, reconnecting with distant friends is more rewarding than ones physically closer. Plus if feels marginally less weird. I have long made a point of continuing friendships across distance, and it has been an important part of continuing to feel good about life during the last year.
I have noticed that every month or so, another person from my past — not yet completely dropped as an acquaintance, but someone who has maybe dropped down to the FB friend, holiday card and, oh, hey, I’m in your city, want to have a beverage level — has started to participate more consistently in connecting with me. Mostly that has been through Fancy Friday, but sometimes it is through text or email or a phone call or an individual zoom call.
It’s nice. It reminds me of the wide range of wonderful people I have gotten to know and love over the years. And in some cases — I’m thinking of someone I am chatting with now — I am struck by how resuming the kinds of mostly synchronous but sometimes asynchronous rambling conversations seem to pick up with little change. Years, and children intervene, along with plumbing disasters, but the same themes are present.
The world has changed a lot, but in many ways, not so much. In this one respect, that is a good thing.
In other respects, there are Dreams as yet unfulfilled. Today is a good day to reflect upon how much further we have to go to attain the Dream of MLK Jr.
I’ve been thinking lately about maintaining long-distance friendships. With in-person dangerous and/or difficult, once you are committed to some kind of not-in-person, in many ways, reconnecting with distant friends is more rewarding than ones physically closer. Plus if feels marginally less weird. I have long made a point of continuing friendships across distance, and it has been an important part of continuing to feel good about life during the last year.
I have noticed that every month or so, another person from my past — not yet completely dropped as an acquaintance, but someone who has maybe dropped down to the FB friend, holiday card and, oh, hey, I’m in your city, want to have a beverage level — has started to participate more consistently in connecting with me. Mostly that has been through Fancy Friday, but sometimes it is through text or email or a phone call or an individual zoom call.
It’s nice. It reminds me of the wide range of wonderful people I have gotten to know and love over the years. And in some cases — I’m thinking of someone I am chatting with now — I am struck by how resuming the kinds of mostly synchronous but sometimes asynchronous rambling conversations seem to pick up with little change. Years, and children intervene, along with plumbing disasters, but the same themes are present.
The world has changed a lot, but in many ways, not so much. In this one respect, that is a good thing.
In other respects, there are Dreams as yet unfulfilled. Today is a good day to reflect upon how much further we have to go to attain the Dream of MLK Jr.