Which means, of course, that it’s time for my quarterly blog update. I’m currently on a Southwest flight home for the tail-end of 2009. Trapped in a narrow seat for nearly an hour without an internet connection, I am uniquely productive (why can’t I channel this kind of focus during a typical hour at the end of the day?). Spurred by the recirculated air, clacking laptops around me, and ever-present desire to put off a Part I summary, I sit here, typing up one of these long-overdue blog entries, wondering what happened to the collegiate motivation that once propelled me through so many distant deadlines. Apparently, my current lack of discipline somehow correlates to the presence of technology and subsequent lack of direct human contact. Though I have been known to empty my email inbox as frequently as possible, so that rationale doesn’t quite hold.
True to form, I just got into a conversation with the girl sitting next to me, who turns out to be getting a PhD in cognitive neuropsychology at UCLA and, lo and behold, works with everyone I know in the department as well as a few other random grad students. It took slightly longer than it would have on Facebook, but we found all of those connections within ten minutes, give or take a few tangents about literature and market research. I’m not about to forgo my Palo-Alto-based link to 650 of my closest friends, but I have to say: there’s something uniquely satisfying about discovering those overlaps organically and in the context of an actual, live, face-to-face conversation. And somehow, I’m back to thinking about human interaction, positive affect, and transmitting this through other media… I’m nothing if not consistent. And consistently in love with my day job.
May 2010 be healthy, happy, and full of satisfying connections, both on and off the screen.