Member-only story
How to Bring More Awe Into Your Life (Without Going to Space)
4 practical ways to make the ordinary feel extraordinary
It was time to say goodbye to the Formica table that had graced my kitchen in Chicago, in New York and in suburban Los Angeles. The thing had so many memories tied to it, though — irrationally long dinners with friends; a brunch date with my friend Jo and her octogenarian aunt; countless letters penned on it — that I hoped it’d go to someone really cool.
I got lucky. S— answered my ad. Later, she sent me a text of my table looking happy in a corner of her home, with a plant on it and everything. We started following each other on Instagram. And then we became Facebook friends. I could see from the things she posted that we were well suited to each other. She likes architecture and Morro Rock, for instance. ME TOO!!
I could see us going to museums together one day. Or maybe the roller-skating rink. I suggested something like it, and S— quickly agreed, but then, the pandemic.
Craigslist is a great place to make friends, said no one, ever
I don’t go around actively hunting for new friends, but the pandemic made it virtually impossible to encounter new people. My husband and I hunkered down and tried to take care of my parents the best we could; we nurtured the friendships we already had that we needed to keep going.
Throughout it, S— kept posting, and so did I, and so our friendship kept on growing, in an organic kind of fashion — she “met” my dog through my posts, and I experienced her neighborhood, and we didn’t see anything in each other’s feeds that could have really put the brakes on a new friendship.
This past weekend, we finally managed to meet in person again, our first time since our transaction-based meeting back in January or February of 2020. I invited her to a small museum I like a lot. I posited that we’d have coffee and a chat first at the museum café and then wander the museum and then go for a drink after.
