Connector Field Notes #13

Suspended in the space-time continuum

I'm so fascinated by human behavior and interactions on planes. It's this unique situation of a pseudo-public space that is also a temporary construction for a set amount of time. Once the plane pushes away from the gate, everyone is in the shared space for the duration of the flight- no more, no less.

Everyone shares in common a destination (though not necessarily a final destination if some passengers are connecting on to somewhere else)- and pretty much nothing else inherently in common. Within a single plane, people could be flying for business, a wedding, a funeral, a vacation- a full spectrum of emotions and occasions behind the motivations for travel.

There's a specific set of norms- sort of the behavioral equivalent of jargon- that people largely adhere to with regard to boarding and sitting and luggage and small talk. There is of course a shared collective interest in successfully reaching the destination- but this collective interest evaporates the moment everyone gets off the plane and scatters into the airport and back to their separate lives.

Childhood friends

There's something powerful about spending time with friends who have known you for a long time- since high school, since you were 10, since you were babies.

They'll remind you of all the great things about you that have always been core to who you are. The personality traits and goals that have threaded through your entire life. The memories of when your far off future lives were just ideas that you never could have imagined with the precision and detail you now live every day.

You may have scattered to different cities and you may not see each other or even talk all that often. These are the friendships that you can pick up right where you left off, no matter how long it's been. And when there's a big life milestone, you show up.

Brief sidewalk encounters

I ran into a friend last week on my way to pick up lunch, as she was on her way back to her office from picking up hers. We had actually just been texting, having missed each other at yoga the night before because I had an event and couldn’t go to the class time where we often see each other.

We stopped to talk for maybe two minutes, but we were both so excited by the serendipity! It was an energizing interaction, a touchpoint in our friendship, and contributed to my feeling connected to my community.