On Cordial Relationships

Big City Small Talk.

Like most New Yorkers living in New York, I (used to) carefully choose which cordial relationships I planned to indulge in on a regular basis (office doormen - yes; fellow subway riders - no), especially given that around every corner and in not-so-dark shadows were eight million other people with whom to share the sidewalk. What non-New Yorkers characterize as "rudeness," us - natives - describe as "maintenance of privacy." Now, living several states away (in Denver, Colorado), where streets are significantly less crowded and bus drivers check in with their riders (via loud speaker) about the vehicle's temperature quality, I have to remind myself that cordial relationships are a given, privacy is easier to come by, and to look the other way is an act of defiance. Enjoy!

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On Mouthfuls of Romance

Making Chit Chat.

Nowadays we spend the majority of our pre-relationship courting stage(s) romancing our potential significant others via the written word - text, chat, email, facebook message - carefully selecting flirtatious one-liners to convey our savvy yet quirky personalities, denying at all costs that the thesaurus had anything to do with it. Until we're face-to-face, scrounging for five-letter words to maintain our facade of consistent witticism while hanging on to - and further scrutinizing - our i-date's ability to equally articulate. Enjoy!

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On Connecting the Dots

Advice from an i-Genius.

Since hindsight is twenty-twenty, we can only trust that with each graduate school program we invest in, each relationship we initiate, each road we cross without looking both ways, and each risk we calculate until we take, that the dots we're connecting will eventually take shape. Whether that shape resembles familiarity or otherwise is merely only one component of the leap required to put one foot in front of the other. Enjoy!

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On Starting from Scratch

The Learning Curve.

As the learning curve gets curvier with age, our instincts might encourage us to play it safe and run the other way. And yet to live in fear or seclusion would deprive us of life’s best kept secrets. Would-be marathon runners would never cross their finish lines. Black bean discriminators would never taste the savory flavors of all things hummus. And mathematically-wounded grade-school veterans would never realize the satisfaction (and confidence) associated with solving a perfectly harmless quadratic equation. Enjoy!

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On Psycho Therapy

The Modern Family.

Although easier to blame our troubles on everyone other than ourselves, a little introspection in the form of a journal entry, therapy session, blog posting, or happy hour cleanse does a mind, body and soul the occasional good. When all else fails, blame the ones who brought us here in the first place – our parents! – with decades of research suggesting this option is more than just an easy way out. Enjoy!

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On Moving Out

Jumping Around (Life).

Whether moving around the corner or across the ocean, there is a brief moment of symbolic recognition during which we realize the implications of our latest impending relocation. Memories of first dinner parties, (un)reliable landlords, breakups and make-ups, and impromptu movie nights with friends of friends (who, surprisingly, ended up together, albeit temporarily), remind us of the unforeseeable events of our next (geographical) endeavor, as new paint colors are carefully selected and coffee routes are recalculated...if only to try something new. Enjoy!

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On What Comes Next

A True (Love) Story.

If we’ve learned anything from other people’s love stories, it’s that it can happen anytime, anywhere. And yet we tend to fantasize for the narrative that makes us stand out from the rest – the story worthy of retelling our imaginary children and grandchildren, as if the details of a truly unbelievable fairytale would predict what comes next. But the truth is whether it happens at a New Year’s Eve party as the clock strikes midnight or during the office water cooler debate, happily-ever-after does not discriminate. Enjoy!

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