025. Perspectives

I want to be around people who spark life and inspire creativity.

I have never been one of those people who prefer texting over calling. Considering the enjoyment I find in typing and writing, you would think that it would be a format of communication that would align with. However, my ranking for communication has always been, in-person, video call, audio call, voice notes then lastly, texting.

Whenever I make a new friend or a new connection that I share my contact with, I am always sure tell them that if they wish to reach me, they should just call. Especially if it is a time sensitive matter, just call.

When everyone was getting into texting back in high school, I didn't have the kind or social life that made it necessary for me to refine that skill. The people I actually spoke to, I would be able to get on quick calls with and have a chat. However, the texts would be so dry that I would delete my WhatsApp with the hopes that it would help me stop obsessing over communication that would never come. Looking back, what I find entertaining is the hurt and disappointment I would feel when I would redownload the app and see that no one had been looking for me - like, what did I expect.

It's easier to not want something than to deal with the rejection of not getting it I guess.

Regardless of those past experiences, I have always felt as though text-based communication lacked something. With every text, I found myself hoping the person reading it would understand it with the same energy with which it was sent. I guess that's the predicament that emojis came to solve. 

Before video calls were an option, an audio call would suffice. The person I was speaking with could hear my tone. Sense hesitation on certain topics and hear the excitement on others.

Then the video call came. You could see the smiles and expressions of your loved ones and share in experiences from a distance.

However, nothing quite beats the energy of simply sharing a space with the person with whom you are communicating with.

Let's say a human being from ten thousand years ago stumbles on this text. Through some wormhole in space and time, they are able to find this text that speaks of a time where you do not need to be in the same space to communicate with another person. I would like to imagine that they would think it was some sort of fairytale - a kind of magic.

Today I found myself referencing an old uni project. More specifically, the means through which this project was inspired.

On a night out, I ended up in conversation with a bouncer. I had told him that I was in my final year of university and, he congratulated me. The way his congratulations came, I knew he had gone through the experience himself. I could sense he understood that making it that far was an accomplishment worthy of acknowledgement on its own. It took me out of this idealised fantasy of university that I had been haunting myself with and comparing my experience against. I had allowed myself to go so long thinking there was something wrong with me for struggling, especially when everyone else just seemed to be getting on with life.

I don't know if this experience would have carried the same level of resonance had it been carried out over text.

Maybe your friend starts working out and you notice a boost in their energy, and this makes you wonder, maybe I could give this a try. Perhaps your sibling starts taking an art class and you notice a calm in their presence, you then wonder, maybe it's time I give those piano lessons a try. You notice since your partner started their new job, the topics of conversations have changed and, you start to think about the kinds of environments you want to work in. Perhaps you interact with a person whose journey does not mirror your own and, for the first time, you take into consideration perspectives you would have never know had it not been for you simply sharing a moment with this person.

The world is so beautiful, and life is full of wonder. When we spend too much time in our own worlds, we stop noticing the beauty as it grows mundane through our eyes. Sometimes, we need to share our worlds with those who have not experienced them for us to be reminded of the beauty that surrounds us. Sometimes we need to allow ourselves to venture outside our own worlds to be reminded that life is full of wonder.

I love interacting with people who are not the same as me. They spark curiosity, they spark wonder, they inspire creativity.

Dear reader, that wraps up week FIVE!!! It feels insane to have made it this far into the challenge. Of course, when I set out the target I imagined and hoped this day would but, to be living it in is something else.

I am so grateful to you for following along on this journey. I hope my trying inspires you to try at something too. As I write this, this series is currently averaging a 3.29 views per page, with one article still sitting on 0 views. The only people really watching are your friends and family. You've dealt with their comments and judgement your whole life, what's the worst they could say. Go ahead and do the thing. Why not.

I have done my best because, it was all I could do. I am excited to start the weekend and, I look forward to seeing what ideas next week will bring. I hope you come back for week 6 after a good weekend's rest.