Tiny Buddha

Tag: friends

  • Staying Friends When You Wanted More

    Staying Friends When You Wanted More

    “Don’t wait for your feelings to change to take action. Take action and your feelings will change.” ~Barbara Baron

    Paul and I had been acquaintances for eight years. When I opened the door to his office one afternoon to offer our usual casual hello, an alchemical change packed a walloping charge through my body.

    When had my coworker become a handsome man with whom I suddenly wanted to share more than impersonal cafeteria trays in a crowd?

    I’m not sure what flipped the switch for me, but I’d already cheered him when he ran two marathons, listened when his wife left and they divorced, and written while he lived abroad twice serving a medical charity.

    We’ve raised money for causes and exchanged myriad e-mails about jobs, travels, and our families—my sister’s marriage, his siblings’ children being born.

    While my sudden unspoken desire was to deepen our intimacy, Paul’s signals proved alternately encouraging then confusing.

    A promised lunch together that fell through due to sickness; a lingering smile at my door one day turned into distracted “gotta run, department meeting” the next. (more…)

  • Connecting with Friends: Faster Isn’t Always Better

    Connecting with Friends: Faster Isn’t Always Better

    “When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another and ourselves.” ~Jack Kornfield

    In today’s virtual world, considering regular mail can feel rather absurd. Why would you send a postcard when you can instantly send an email or an e-card conveying your thoughts and good wishes, right?

    But what happened to the charms of opening your mailbox and wondering what lies within? Hasn’t the walk back from the postbox become rather boring with only bills and flyers to expect?

    Though the digital age has done a marvelous job at getting the world closer, it hasn’t been able to incorporate the personal touch that the physical world offers.

    The tummy just doesn’t tingle on an electronic signature saying, “Miss you,” and the joys of hearing from someone are short lived, extending only to the length of the email message itself.

    I myself had forgotten the charms of the snail mail until recently, when I met a young gentleman during my travels across the globe. As we exchanged contact details and said our goodbyes, he managed to startle me as he said, “I’ll write to you.”

    Now being from the twenty-first century and deeply sunken into the virtual world, I found this statement to be rather preposterous.

    “You mean email me,” I said sarcastically.

    I failed to understand why someone would want to write to me through regular mail, since it may take weeks to arrive, when I could possibly be reading the message almost instantaneously.

    Though something in me suddenly cherished the idea of getting physical mail. The simple yet thoughtful words “Hold tight, you should be getting something in the mail soon” made me feel like a child again, impatient and excited about what lies ahead.

    The excitement of figuring out the postman’s timings and running to the mailbox as you see the mail van cross is priceless. The actual present at this moment is irrelevant; it’s the thought that makes all the difference. (more…)