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The last few weeks, I’ve had moments of profound awe that I get to know the people that I do. Perhaps it’s from looking at the images from the webb telescope and realizing how improbable our planet is, let alone the fact that I somehow managed to find people I connect with on a deep level. It’s everything from working with people in 90+ different countries at Automattic to the ability to stay in touch with childhood friends across great distances to meeting newer people far from where I was raised. It all has felt very unbelievable in a way that evokes fragility and appreciation all at once.

I have this image of another life/lifetime where I only know those in my immediate area and find myself starved for the greater connection I now get to have. When I was a kid, I have a memory of praying so hard by a small creek at a beloved spot in Western NC to essentially find my people. Even at that age, I felt that very specific longing and didn’t know what to do with it other than to pay attention. That longing has turned into a superpower as I’ve gotten older, able to recognize and act when connection arises, almost to a fault.

Nowadays, I catch myself marveling at the lives that somehow, against the odds, criss cross my own. For someone who isn’t always attached to this life, it feels like listening to my own life’s steady heartbeat.