This post was originally written on 12/24/17 for subscribers of the daily taryn, a daily email newsletter/writing project . Now's the perfect time to join, so I'll hold while you do so by clicking this. Love u.
I hate distance. I hate that people live in different cities, states, countries. I hate that you can’t always buy your favorite people a cup of coffee when you want to… except… you can.
Coffee's on me this Christmas Eve
About 30 minutes ago, I was sitting outside reading when a friend popped into my head. I haven’t seen them in a few months, but I get glimpses of their life on Instagram every day. These glimpses, honestly, suck. They’re nice, because it’s cool to have some idea of what they’re up to as time passes, but they suck. They don’t do your relationship, or the person, justice. The 10 second clips and filtered photos are just not real. It all pales in comparison to sitting across from them at a cafe or bar, being with them. Hearing them laugh. Seeing them smile. Making eye contact. Touching their arm, saying “OH MY GOD,” and spilling some real gossip that you’ve been dying to tell them.
I stopped reading. I closed my book (aka turned off my Kindle) and pictured all the people I felt this way about, just in this moment alone. The people I wish I could sit across from over coffee or gin & tonic. The people I would see on Christmas Eve if my family wasn’t around.
I pictured all those people at a table together. It was a dope table, filled with all the friends who I didn’t see enough of this year. I removed my roommates, coworkers, or friends I see often, and was left with a table of people who don’t live in the same areas and don’t know each other well. It was my dream table. Oh how I wish I could buy them coffee.
So, I did.
I whipped out my phone and sent a $5 venmo to the 16 people who sat at that table in my mind, drinking warm coffee and catching up. As I mentally walked around the table and sent venmos, I thought to myself, “wow, it would be epic if even one of these people paid it forward.”
CALL IT A CHRISTMAS EVE MIRACLE:
Hope this inspires you to do the same. Think of your dream table, then reach out. Don’t let money be an issue — think of ways to pay it forward with a personal note, a “gosh I miss you,” an “I would love to buy you coffee.”
Merry Christmas Eve everyone — hope it’s the coziest one yet.