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It's a small world after all.

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Small-world coincidences always throw me for a loop. I don’t know why. I suppose it’s that it seems outrageous that in this world of nearly 7 billion people, we can be connected across cities, states and continents, that the theory of six degrees of separation is true. Maybe I’m way too independent and comfortable with anonymity, and such connections are a tap-on-the-shoulder, wake-up call that I’m really not as detached as I think.

But they’re also neat when they happen.

For example.

Meet Dave.

Dave and I worked together at my first job in NYC — along with fellow hard working, hard playing 20-somethings who were taking the NYC PR scene by storm (so we thought). The lines between life and work constantly blurred, which brought an inordinant amount of drama, as you can imagine. But it also forged possibly life-long friendships. I was on the periphery of the main, inner circle: friendly with everyone, invited to the parties, but since I was younger (and more junior), I was slightly removed.
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Connection in an isolating age.

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I was talking with a friend this weekend about something that happened to her weeks ago, but I didn’t know about it. She responded, “Oh, you didn’t see it on Facebook?”

Nope.

I’ve been pulling back from the book of faces recently, only because I’m realizing it’s not real life. There are so many ways to get your feelings hurt, and it’s not rooted in any sort of reality. (Back in June, the NY Times discussed this: “An Ugly Toll of Technology: Impatience and Forgetfulness“) We’ve stopped communicating our major life events in person, over the phone — even over email — and we just put it up for our sister’s husband’s third grade next door neighbor to read.

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