Imagine you’re a ghost.
You drift through the world but nobody sees you.
You’re disconnected.

Then one day, after years of being invisible, someone sees you!
You get to know each other, and become friends.
Through that one connection, your life begins.

I have few memories of childhood, maybe because it felt like nobody saw me.
My life began at age 12 when I met my first best friend.
We talked hours a day for years, sharing all of our thoughts — comparing experiences and emotions.

The seed of who I am might have been there before.
But the interaction with a friend made it sprout.
That’s when this tree began.
Conception versus birth.

If a tree falls and no one hears it, did it make a sound?
When your thoughts are acknowledged and reflected back through another, it’s like reverb.
It’s validation.

It’s confusing to be mis-acknowledged.
A tree falls and the reverb comes back as a duck quack.
Someone seems to hear you, but always misunderstands.
It screws with your identity.
(Am I actually a duck?)

I recently knew someone that would listen but never respond.
Thoughts went in but never came out.
I loved her but was lonely around her.

I’m so thankful for dear friends that play catch with me — tossing thoughts back and forth.
Mutual reverb, growing our sprouts, demonstrably seen and connected.