I like how Meg Ryan's character Kathleen Kelly in You've Got Mail states, "I like to start my notes to you as if we're already in the middle of a conversation. I pretend that we're the oldest and dearest friends- as opposed to what we actually are, people who don't know each other." So simplistic yet yearning and true. Do we all sometimes see someone or something and wonder what it would be like to be a part of their life or part of that something?
What I find, that makes this truly beautiful, is that we also begin to add on to that image of connection: We begin to give it a story. Whether we take the time to map it out or let it sketch in the back of our head, it forms, and it will continue to form until the moment we meet that person or join that group.
But what if we never meet? Sometimes we make a first glimpse at this someone or something and hope to see it again for a many number of reasons. Perhaps we want to add onto our cleverly crafted fantasy that was formed by our first viewing. If the person or group seemed intimidating yet promising at first, maybe, after a growth in confidence, we want to return and make that effort to start the relationship that already existed in our head. The possibilities are endless (cliched to death, I know). But sometimes, we never see that person or group ever again, and if we do, it isn't for a number of years later. We go on vacation, see someone that seems magnetic and inviting. Alas, it is only a vacation and we return home after having only seen this person from afar only once. Who are they? Who are they like? What would they see in me? How would we have met, had we met all those years ago? The questions begin to create answers which give birth to an informal-mental relationship.
Or maybe we never see this person at all. Perhaps this person is a collection of people that we have encountered throughout our life: The someone that will always be there and always knows you when no one else can. I personally tend to see this type of people a lot in lazy daydreams as I go about my menial tasks. Some started when I was very young, but most of them have shaped after having experience with an array of different kinds of people and personalities. This category of people becomes more well-thought of and static as we begin to see them in our dreams. They become more predictable and human like as opposed to this intangible being that seemed to good to be true.
Sometimes this person that we have either given a connection or completely made up becomes a huge void in our thought for some time. We constantly await the moment were we see them again: We become fixated. We start shutting off our other acquaintances or opportunities so that we can make time for this spectral part of our inner thoughts.
Whether it is as extreme as the preceding example or as un-involved as taking a few seconds to paint a lucid picture in your head, I believe that at one point or another, we all experience this feeling, this act. Is it crazy? Only if Fox News says it is, and then it's just hilarious.
