Thursday, October 30, 2008
the world is so _________
i have been using facebook to reconnect with several of my old friends from high school and college. it always brings a smile to my face and a spur of excitement to my spirit to find someone that i adored in high school or college, yet upon graduation, we lost the 4 walls of an educational institution to bring us together.
it always amazes me that i hear from all these people that STILL live within 20 miles of me, except i never see them anywhere. one of my old high school friends is a photographer now, although she got a degree in elementary education. it was not surprising to me that she specializes in photographing babies, kids, and families. (i.e. she does NOT do weddings.) she photographed kendal for his 1-year photos and our family/maternity photos. she did such a great job (for a VERY reasonable price, just a little more than places like sears and JCPennies with MUCH better quality!) - i'd recommend her to anyone. (www.blinsonphotography.com) weird enough, though, she actually lives nearby - close enough that we shop at the same stores - and i've never run into her!
this amazement goes for college friends too, since my college roommate (one of them) lives only 5 miles down the road from me. The only place i see her is at the doctor's office (she is a nurse at kendal's pediatrician).
last month as you know, nathaniel and i traveled out west for a vacation. about 5 days into our trip, we ventured to a tiny national park that was about 45 miles away from any major roads (or gas or food). it was there that i ran into richard spruill, who taught me all i know about hydrology (he was one of my favorite professors). he also happens to be one of kate's current professors, and also part-owns a hydrogeologic company that is our competitor.
dr. spruill told me his theory of people.. he said that there are only 400 people in the world and everywhere you go, they go too. so you always run one of those 400 people. just the next week, my friend stephanie (another college friend) saw him in houston.
stephanie lives in raleigh, and i never run into her anywhere around town. again, she lives close enough that we shop at the same stores.
so is the world big or small?
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this is for you, chris!
ReplyDeletehttp://disney.go.com/disneyrecords/sing-alongs/themeparks/media/SmallWorld.wav
Haha, you need to add this... ;)
ReplyDeleteTry living 3,000 miles from where you grew up and see how many people you run into. Although, my 7th grade girlfriend does live in Raleigh about 5 minutes from where I work...
ReplyDelete400 people in the world, eh? 398 sounds better to me.
So, there must be some sort of Facebook bug going around. I just joined while up at my parents' place after reading in my high school alumni magazine that my class had a group there. My sister just joined, too. Now, there are all sorts of people who I know there. Though Tara and I had a conversation about how Facebook and texting are both interesting social commentaries...specifically, that we conduct relationships easily over the computer and in sound bites but rarely have lengthy face-to-face conversations. Similar to how I feel about some subdivisions/apartment complexes where people live feet away from each other but never interact more than a wave. Ah, the world is a-changing!
ReplyDeleteThis past week (and before I even left) I'd reconnected with a lot of people. While I was in California, we took a lot of pictures, and, in every single one of them (except maybe the golf ones) I am beaming. Grinning. Ear to ear. Because I was with my friends again! I told Mr. B it really did my heart good to see all of them. In particular, when there was a huge group of us together wine tasting. I felt like sort of a matriarch bringing everyone together.
ReplyDeleteBut, my point is, really, the world shrinks and expands in direct relation to how much a person reaches out to others; whether it be via phone, mail, email, Face Book, Blogger, or face to face.
Similar to my theory on reading (it doesn't really matter what you read so long as you read) and wine (the wine you LIKE is a good wine); whatever mode of keeping in touch that works best for you is fine as long as you communicate/keep in touch SOMEHOW!
So, me personally, the world feels just right at this moment!