So, the other day I was working from home, but had run into a bizarre policy issue that got me tangled up in a whole buncha interpersonal conflict mess. I decided to take a break and go to Noho to get me some pipe tobacco.

On the way I saw that my car was running on fumes, so I pulled into a gas station to fill up. It was a beautiful day, and as I was leaning against the car I happened to glance up - and who should I see but my friend Steph pulling in to the same station. She was headed out to the beach, for a day of surfing and camping, and had cycles dangling off the back of her car and stepped out in cool shades, ready to relax.

We yelled out to each other, exchanged greeting hugs, and chattered briefly before we both kinda zoned out into our own preoccupied worlds, fiddling with the gas pump. Steph had just gotten back from a sailing trip where she had run into some interpersonal conflict mess too, and I did not really feel like talking at the time.

I got into my car, with a mumbled “take care man”, to which Steph’s half-mumbled reply of “you too” only barely grazed my ear before I shut my door and drove off.

As I drove off I realized the metaphor of the encounter: we were both refueling, on our way to doing something we hoped would refuel our selves. Was it coincidence that we both ran into each other in similar states? Or is the word “state” evocative of a deeper quantum connection? I wondered what Steph would make of the metaphor.

For some reason that brought a smile to my soul and put me in a much more relaxed frame for the rest of the day.

Here’s to you, Steph