Tonight, I want to follow up on a promise I made earlier this year, to spend more time with friends. Well, today, I over-delivered on that idea. I scheduled a lunch with a fellow dad from our daughter’s school. As I was waiting outside, I saw a very familiar face. My former Twitter colleague, Josh, who had the desk next to me for more than a year, happened to be in town, and was heading to a scheduled lunch date at the exact same restaurant at the exact same time as me!
I was ecstatic to see him, and we made plans for something more formal when he’s back in the Bay Area in three weeks. My Dads Date™ lunch was remarkable as well. There’s something very calming about sharing your fears and expectations and recommendations with another guy trying to figure it all out. There’s no handbook for parenting, and any and all advice is great right up until you try it. But just having an trusted ear to bounce even the most ridiculous ideas off of and not getting judged is really calming for even the most anxiety inducing fears.
From there, I biked to my favorite section of Valencia Street, grabbed a couple of books for a very important 9-year-old, and headed to a regular hang with one of my oldest friends. When someone has know you for — at this point — most of your life, there’s a lot of pretense you can dispense with. That’s one of the many reasons I love these regular get-togethers. As well as comparing notes about perfect albums.
So, this is a reminder, both to myself and to you: Slow down and make time for your friendships. A bit like houseplants, they take a little work, but give you back way more than you put into them.
A Splice of Space Jam
02 February 2023
Take your time.
Tonight, I want to follow up on a promise I made earlier this year, to spend more time with friends. Well, today, I over-delivered on that idea. I scheduled a lunch with a fellow dad from our daughter’s school. As I was waiting outside, I saw a very familiar face. My former Twitter colleague, Josh, who had the desk next to me for more than a year, happened to be in town, and was heading to a scheduled lunch date at the exact same restaurant at the exact same time as me!
I was ecstatic to see him, and we made plans for something more formal when he’s back in the Bay Area in three weeks. My Dads Date™ lunch was remarkable as well. There’s something very calming about sharing your fears and expectations and recommendations with another guy trying to figure it all out. There’s no handbook for parenting, and any and all advice is great right up until you try it. But just having an trusted ear to bounce even the most ridiculous ideas off of and not getting judged is really calming for even the most anxiety inducing fears.
From there, I biked to my favorite section of Valencia Street, grabbed a couple of books for a very important 9-year-old, and headed to a regular hang with one of my oldest friends. When someone has know you for — at this point — most of your life, there’s a lot of pretense you can dispense with. That’s one of the many reasons I love these regular get-togethers. As well as comparing notes about perfect albums.
So, this is a reminder, both to myself and to you: Slow down and make time for your friendships. A bit like houseplants, they take a little work, but give you back way more than you put into them.
See you tomorrow?