It was election season. Sitting on top of a pile of papers to recycle was a letter from a politician, soliciting donations for their campaign. Various denominations were listed, along with ‘other’ next to a blank line. My brother had checked the ‘other’ box and had written ‘a million billion dollars’ on the line.
That’s what I missed while on the road. When you talk on the phone every couple weeks (or months or years), people usually leave out these funny, everyday moments. They seem too small.
But these moments help separate one day from the next. These lighthearted attitudes help get us through the day in a decent mood. They mean something.
When you run into an old coworker or friend or classmate and they ask what you’ve been up to since they last saw you, it can feel like a pressure situation, like you need to say that you scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro, or won a Grammy, or that you cured Parkinson’s disease, or you opened your own successful five-star restaurant, when in reality, maybe you’re barely keeping it together, trying to wipe up the edges of the puddle before it spills off the counter and all over the floor.
The next time someone asks you what’s new and you can’t think of a piece of major news, instead of saying ‘same ol’, same ol’,’ why not share a little anecdote? All they want is to connect with you. If you can make them laugh, even better.