Back in the day, people lived in the same place throughout their lives. Life was simple. Staying in touch was never a challenge, it wasn’t even an idea. It was just something that happened by default. Why wouldn’t it? You went to school with the same friends all throughout, you married your high school sweetheart, got a job in the same town. Everyone you knew lived within a couple of miles. Now of course things are different. Migration is a lot more common than it has ever been in human history. You move to different states for college, again for work, and maybe again when they change jobs, and so on. And if you’re like me, maybe you’ve moved to a different country. Personal aside: I spent the first 14 years of my life in Delhi, India. Then moved to Mumbai in 2010, where I spent the next 4 years of my life. I then came to college in upstate New York, where I spent the next 4 years. And few months ago, after graduating I moved all the way to Seattle in the West coast. Naturally, my close friends from both college and high school are now scattered all over, and across countries. Such a story is certainly not uncommon in 2018. And so, staying in touch becomes a challenge and an aspect of life that I’ve come to realize requires conscious effort. You would think that with technology, things would be easier- we have tools at our fingertips that enable us to share our lives in whatever format we like- text, video, pictures, voice. Yet, so often I hear people say things like ‘I’m really bad at staying in touch’ … why is that?

Dear Future Me,