I get it. Its just a bunch of zeroes and ones commanding different colored pixels into an order that depicts the face of a chick taking a selfie someplace undistinguishable.
Really, that's what it is. Ones and Zeros. In the end it really doesn't MEAN anything. So then why is it that when I see this photo It makes me smile?
OK a bit of backstory (I promise I'll make this as painless as possible). It was almost exactly a year ago this time, summer in NYC. About 6 months prior I had moved to The Bronx where I'd commute to and from the Upper East side of Manhattan to walk dogs and sit in coffee shops between walks looking for digital work I could do overseas [insert foreshadowing here]
I was a walker with Wag and every day I'd roll out of bed at 6 am, bandage the blisters on my feet, and get my ass on the 233rd St bus, that took me to the 2 train, then the 4 and then the 6. Here are two of my regulars, brothers Sparky & Sebastian. I mean, look at those faces....
Seriously, I worked months without taking a single day off, I'd walk nearly 12 miles a day and would often take home only $50 bucks, and I was TIRED.
Theres a very simple reason for the smile on my face in this photo.... this dude -> @teamhumble. It was only a little over a year before that we had even met for the first time, (on the interwebz as nerds do and in person a few months later), but still, there are very few people in this world where the just the thought of them makes me want to laugh and smile and cry all at once. I'm sure we'll get to the full story of how we met and the way things unfolded (seriously, it's a doozy) soon enough, but for now I'll say, I found my person. <3
If you haven't noticed already, @teamumble lives in the UK, which was a problem, and also the reason why I was working my damn ass off (literally, I lost nearly 25 lbs!)
I was going through a lot and I was sick of only seeing him by way of a 3x4 square, also in pixel form via video chat.
I'd often swing from deep depression caused by not being where I wanted to be financiallly/creatively/ geolocationally, to crippling anxiety about how the heck I was ever going to walk enough dogs to change things.
It's hard living a life separate from the version you know will make you truly happy. Especially when you've spent so much of your life very, very unhappy. Borders, finances, and logistics have a soul crushing way of making you feel like giving up...
Now back to the photo. I honestly have no idea what the context was here. I was probably in between walks. And I don'r remember what we were talking about, because we communicated (and still do) over Slack (now Fleep), all day, every day. BUT if I had to take a guess, he was probably telling me how proud he was of me for busting my ass in the rain, shine, snow, wind and blisters, as he does countless times throughout our times apart.
New York City can be one of the loneliest places on earth. And I can't quite say I've ever felt more alone walking the streets, navigating the subway system, updating my design portfolio from coffee shops those 6 months. But when we sent our messages throughout the day it allowed me to time travel to a day where things were a little easier. Hope is a powerful thing my friends.
The ability to know that your circumstances (no matter how shitty) are ALWAYS temporal and not a life sentence is the most valuable skill I've picked up this past year.
I often screw up. I let my head run wildly exploring alternate scenarios of doom and destruction, I get stressed, and cry and sometimes don't even want to get out of bed in the morning.
But the difference is now I can always find my way back, because I found my person. :)
And THAT is why I always want to remember this picture...
Thanks for listening!!
Wait, If you're thinking, Who the heck is this chick?? Hiya! (waves) I'm Dayle and I'm new here on Steemit! Here's my introduce yourself post, if ya have a moment, pop on over and say "Hiya!" yourself! @dayleeo/where-was-i-yep-roger-that-i-was-writing-my-first-steemit-post