A love letter to distance

 

Dear distance,

 

My life has always ensured that distance is a big part of my day, at least subconsciously. Growing up bilingual, family and friends all over the place, you name it. One of the hardest things to give my mind some peace is trying to make sure I make time for everyone and everything while most importantly not forgetting myself in the process. You know the cliché saying ‘distance gives us reason to love harder’? Well, maybe that is one of the only positive points that come with a distance that separates you. Also, you always try to value the time more when you are physically together.

 

Sometimes I wish things were different. I’m grateful for everything I do and I am able to do, but missing because of distance hits hard on some days. Always counting down the days. You know that you are going your way and following dreams and chasing goals you want to achieve, but you can’t let life slip away in the process. Maybe that is why I have such a love-hate-relationship with distance in general.

 

Stepping away from the distance between people for a moment. Traveling involves a lot of distance as well and in that context, it is absolutely beautiful. It is no secret that I absolutely love to explore new places. I love that it brings people together (even over long distances), I love that you make a ton of new memories that you’ll carry with you for a lifetime and I absolutely adore the growth and adrenalin kick you have as a person while traveling.

 

The world is such a fascinating place if you think about it. While we all see the same moon, the same stars and the same sun, we see them at different times from so many different places during our life. Honestly, sometimes you wish that you could teleport yourself to a certain place even though you know better and you know that that is not a possibility.

 

Why is this still a ‘love letter’ to distance, when it seems like there are so many negative sides to distance? Because sometimes it gives you the things, you’ll be the most grateful for and it will give you beautiful and fascinating experiences. Distance requires effort in whichever way it is needed at that specific time. As long as every party who is involved puts in the effort and the energy there is a way to make distance work. At that point there is a way to keep in touch and communicate with people, there is a way to travel and see the world.

 

There is a question you can ask yourself when it comes to suffering from the distance between yourself and someone or something. Does it have a positive impact on your life? Does it make you happier or a better person? Do you feel like you are getting more positive things back than you give while suffering? Would life be worse if you didn’t have that someone of something in it? As long as this is the case it is worth pursuing and worth it to fight the distance.

 

Fortunately, digitalisation has made it a lot more bearable. Nowadays there are so many ways to keep in touch, to connect and to communicate with each other. Traveling gets a lot easier as it was and being away from the people you love still is hard, but you have the option to see them and to talk to them even if it is through a screen. Even though it doesn’t always seem that way, surviving the distance has become a lot easier over the years.

 

All my love,

 

Anna