I love that my friends live in different places than I do. That sounds backhanded but let me explain. Yes, I miss them dearly. Having to rely on memories and games of text tag is frustrating and sometimes dull. Sometimes you miss the niche inside jokes or just the simple conversations you had in the car going to a concert or to the doctors office because you didn’t want to spend forty bucks on an Uber for a ten minute ride (I bought Nick lunch afterward). But in spite of all that, I wouldn’t have them right next to me. You’ll never have a better conversation than one with an old friend you haven’t seen in ages. When you’re separated, you grow apart in many ways. You meet new people, have unique experiences, find new music, art and food, and when you get together, the stories flow like water running down a mountain. You laugh and reconnect and little by little, you realize the person you used to know has been replaced. In many ways, there’s a new person sitting in front of you. Not better, not worse. Just new. You still love and care for them but now you get to learn about them all over again. You create new meaning with them, meaning that expands the relationship. We may miss the people we’re connected with virtually but that separation is vital for growth to take place.
Final words/prayer
“The point of traveling is not to arrive, but to return home laden with pollen you shall work up into the honey the mind feeds on.” - R.S. Thomas