Connect- Connected- Connecting

My friend Olga often says that I am a connector.

I know, one hears that word and automatically thinks of Malcolm Gladwell and books like Blink or of random cliche 2.0 jargon, but Olga used to call me a connector before the book had been written or Zuckerberg had even stepped out of Exeter. (God I'm old!). In this context, it was about connecting human life and experiences. She's always been one step ahead :)

Anyway, the reason she calls me a connector is because I try to make sense of my own life by bringing all the people in my life together to bridge, and subsequently validate, the different aspects of my existence. And I do it even when they have nothing in common except for me (which as far as I'm concerned, is plenty).

If I have to call myself a connector, I would say that this is simply because I need to find comfort in what would otherwise be unfamiliar. The more people I know, and the more people I can bring together, the least likely I'll find myself alone. And I use the word "alone" not because I am afraid of being physically alone, but because a memory or an exchange becomes so much more real if there is someone else who can also tell the story.

My life has been rewarding and satisfying but I can't say that it's been a straight path or a plan that was followed to fruition. It's been more like a book of short stories rather than a novel with a clear beginning, middle and end. I do like new beginnings and maybe this is why I have had so many of them...

I don't know that I would recommend the way I live to anyone since I know that it's flawed and not really very practical. Still, every once in a while, when I find myself in a room full of people and run into someone I've randomly connected with at some point, it makes a difference. It is at times like these, when the world seems so incredibly small, that I feel like maybe I haven't been so wrong after all.

And then I wanna recommend my life to everyone :)