The love of connection

I love to help others, whether it be as my career or not. I love to help people feel understood and feel heard; to give them hope when they’ve lost it. I’d love to unlock the tragedy that lives within them and help them untangle it, little by little. We all have complex worlds of worries, concerns and regrets. We are all caught in our own inner monologue that creates splintering versions of reality. Sometimes all we need is to let someone else in to help air out the space; or to go further by seeing what’s worth cleaning out and what can stay.

I find it fascinating learning about someone else; discovering their cracks and imperfections. I simply don’t care for superficial chatter, but I will engage because it’s a great leeway into something deeper. But what I’d most like to know about is how you actually are. What is swirling around that mind of yours? What are your worries, concerns, passions and loves? How can I connect with you on an intimate level, even if we only just met?

I love the feeling of connecting deeply to someone, to anyone. To see a glimpse of them that isn’t always shown to others; the unscripted, genuine and honest side. The side that is often saved for private conversations amongst close friends or lovers.

Connection to me is what makes life worth living. I draw energy and intense happiness from meaningful discussions.

I suppose this is why I would easily trade a night out for a night in with a book because I know I can always rely on memoirs or biographies to give me this same feeling. The “welcome to my world, it’s a little weird and messed up but you’re welcome to come in… if you’d like.” And so, for however long I chose, I get to close the door on my mind and immerse myself in the weird little world of somebody else. I get to see the world through their eyes and leave myself completely and utterly behind.

What could be better than that?

What an astonishing thing a book is. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time.

-Carl Sagan