Splash No. 164 - Familiar
Familiar
I spent the better part of the last week in New York City, my first time traveling for fun since 2019 (!). Flying across the country, breaking my routines, and returning to the city that I called home for a few months some years ago were needed, a kind of reset button.
I reunited with friends — seeing some for the first time in years. We reminisced about the days when we first met, the last time we saw each other. “Can you believe it’s been 2 years?” As we hung out, it felt like we were simply continuing as we always had. We remembered the good old times and experienced the timeless. Our shared worlds were bigger as we could reflect on the past we remembered together while still filling in the pieces that we missed as we lived apart. At once, it was seeing old friends and meeting new versions of them — multiple years’ worth. Kahlil Gibran: “And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”
And I wondered what it would be like to live among all of these people once again, to share a city with them like I once did, to grow closer again until their presence felt mundane. I wondered what it would be like to grow familiar with subway lines and coffee shops, to have a go-to bagel shop or a bodega. I wondered if I could fit into a city with so many people. And maybe I could one day when the time is right — but not now. Not while I’m still learning to love San Francisco.
By the end of the trip, I was weary, craving my own bed like any good homebody. I had spent time discovering new foods and museums, new art and parks, new feelings and finds. I learned about different neighborhoods and what they had to offer and how easy it was to walk to anything I might want to try or do. And after all of that, the simplicity of my everyday life sounded perfectly peaceful. There was beauty here, but its difference from my daily life, the novelty it offered simply reminded me of the beauty of my own life — of just right beds and recognizable strangers, of slower mornings and routines.
Now, I lay in my own bed, lit up by my familiar bed, full from a familiar sandwich from the neighborhood deli from the guy who always calls me “buddy,” in the familiar state of writing a letter on a Wednesday night. Among it all, I can’t think of a place I’d rather be.
Drops of the Week
PLAYLIST - july 21 - mostly upbeat dance music this month!
ARTICLE - "Any Offline Activity Counts as Reading" by Sarah Hagi - reading is hard, being offline is hard, let's say they're the same.
POEM - "73 degrees in San Francisco" by me - a poem I wrote was published in Chen Chen (a favorite poet of mine)'s twitter poetry journal!
With each day, we can move closer to a more equitable world. Reminders:
Donate to South Bay Youth Changemakers Fundraiser Mutual Aid Networks
Anti-racism resources
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As usual,
Nikhil