12 Comments

  1. Dina
    January 21, 2011 @ 2:44 am

    Distance is relative indeed. It seems like the distance between me and my friends/family feels different for me and them. I left them. I know where they are, I know what they are usually doing, I can picture them, I can understand them, therefore I feel “close”. But I feel the distance is big for them (with a few exception), because they don’t really follow what I’m doing, they don’t understand reasons behind what we are doing, and so on. A few of my best friends can’t really feel me when I’m away, even though as soon as we meet in person, nothing has changed, we are right away really close again. Perspective…

    • Andrew
      January 23, 2011 @ 5:36 pm

      That is an interesting perspective Dina. That the idea of distance can be different from either side of the relationship. They all the distance to grow while you keep it close. Thanks for that perspective.

  2. Megan
    December 17, 2010 @ 4:31 pm

    Well, I think in the (ugh, I hate to say it) digital age, that distance seems like a lot smaller problem than in the past. Yeah, I’m far away from home, but it’s easier for me to stay connected, so while I”m physically far away, I can still keep track of most of the goings-on of my friends and family members.

    Yay for Sesame Street!

    • Andrew
      December 21, 2010 @ 9:11 pm

      Thanks for the yay. I realized I so could have linked in the Near Far video as I found it really easily. Oh well.
      Yes, the physical distance thing is so much easier to deal with the way the internet connects us. It just makes the emotional distance more interesting a concept.

  3. Sabina
    December 17, 2010 @ 3:00 pm

    Oh, this is true – being physically far from something gives you perspective on it. And how! I’m half a world away from home and although I’d always planned to go back, now I realize that the home I left is the most powerful home I have – really the only home. I loved it while I was there and now that I’m gone my love has increased. This amazes me. I never thought I’d feel this pull. But I feel the way I feel. I never would have appreciated the area of the world I’m from and the people who are in it if I hadn’t traveled so far away and stayed for so long. This really has given me an entirely new perspective.

    • Andrew
      December 17, 2010 @ 4:22 pm

      Wow that is an amazing story. I have always felt the pull to being away from the home I grew up in. Now I feel the pull to stay where I am. Not as strongly as what you talk about, but I get the sensation.
      Yay, for new perspectives. Especially when they give you the ability to be happier.

  4. Jen
    December 16, 2010 @ 4:01 pm

    Great post! I know I have had so many life-changing moments while traveling, when I am completely out of my normal environment and have distance on my daily life. It’s like a rebooting of the system.

    • Andrew
      December 17, 2010 @ 4:17 pm

      Yup.. Ctrl alt travel. 🙂

  5. Jeremy Branham
    December 16, 2010 @ 8:37 am

    I appreciate this thought provoking post. I have a greater appreciation of most of my travel experiences long after I left a place. Sometimes, I take what I have right in front of me for granted. The idea of distance is something we all wrestle with. It’s why we have music like “Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone” (my all time favorite song by one of my favorite bands – Cinderella).

    Honestly, it absolutely kills me if I can’t see my family every day. The closeness we have means that much to me. Meanwhile, I am somewhat disconnected emotionally from the family that raised me. Yes, I talk to them every week but physical distance has nothing to do with it. What’s important is that no matter our distance, we see clearly, with the right perspective, how much the people in our lives matter.

    • Andrew
      December 17, 2010 @ 4:17 pm

      A touching comment, thanks Jeremy.
      That idea of being too close to something to see the full picture is one thing, but that being too close obscures details too and makes you take things for granted is another. I don’t even think holding a middle ground helps. Got to look at things from multiple perspectives.
      I would love to see my best friends and girlfriend everyday. I used to almost do that in high school, but now not so much. It will change though. Physical distance doesn’t affect that emotional connection. For good or bad.

  6. Ali
    December 16, 2010 @ 3:57 am

    I love your deep thoughts posts. My closest friends all live at least 2000 miles away, and as hard as it is sometimes that they live so far away, they’re still extremely important to me. Not being able to see the people you love every day is rough, the distance is tricky, but sometimes it’s really worth it.

    • Andrew
      December 17, 2010 @ 4:13 pm

      Thanks for the comment. Good to know that my philosophical mutterings help.