Face to face to face

I spent the past year sustaining something of a virtual relationship with all the important people in my life — the ones I love, my friends, my family, even the people I work with, clients and other associates.

This year I'm trying to make-up for lost time by seeing more people face to face. Face to face to face to face. I gained a newfound appreciation for the importance of human connection and intimacy. Simply sitting in the same room as someone, even if it's in silence, is an act of intimacy and sharing. Physical presence is hard to measure, but it's worth its weight in gold. The expression "to be there for you" strikes at the heart of this.

I met many new faces over the past year; mostly travelers and other local web developers (primarily in Spain, Kenya and Turkey). They were all fantastic, lovely people who were kind enough to share their homes, their time and their kindness with me. And though an influx of new faces is healthy and necessary, I'm thirsty for the familiar. The faces I missed most were the people I know and love.

I'm in Washington to spend time with my good friend before he moves to Michigan, to get married and to live there. Everything happens all at once all of the time; sometimes you catch it like a wave and other times it knocks you flat, sending you through the spin cycle. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Susan Sontag —

“Time exists in order that everything doesn’t happen all at once…and space exists so that it doesn’t all happen to you.”

I'm looking forward to navigating this upcoming year, through time and space, in familiar places and familiar faces; face to face to face to face.