If I Could Have Just One Wish...

It would be the coolest thing ever to know everyone in the world.  All 7 billion-ish of them!  But considering it would take roughly 111 years just to glance at each person for half a second, not factoring in the population growth that would've happened in that time...  Yeah, not really possible.  

On a smaller scale, it would still be cool to know every person in Indianapolis (about a million if you count the suburbs).  Even if I only knew them by name, wouldn't that be something to be able to greet every single person I pass on the street?  Or to recognize every cashier, waitress, and driver waiting next to me at a stoplight?   

Then I get to thinking about EMU.  Much less impossible.  Only about 900 traditional undergrad students, and most of them pretty friendly.  I know a fraction of these people well and a good number more names and faces.  But how many of the people I know by name would I approach if I saw them in a coffeeshop or store or restaurant?  What would it mean to actually talk to all of the people whose names I know?  What would it look like to be able to sit down with any one of those 900 fellow students and have a meaningful conversation?  

There is in fact a limit to how many people we can have close relationships with as well as a limit to how many acquaintances we can actually keep up with.  It's impossible to sustain 900 relationships with any kind of depth.  So the question is: do you have to know a person well to be able to talk about something important, something that matters?  If not (and I think not), how do you go about having such conversations?  How do you allow yourself to be vulnerable enough with an acquaintance to get past small talk?  Some people can do it naturally; I am not one of them.  But if it's possible to learn, I want to do it. 

Pilot

I decided to join the crowd and make a blog mostly because I'm spending this spring in Guatemala, and I'm of course going to want to tell you all about it.  And let me just say, I'd rather share stories and show you pictures than answer that loathsome question "How was your trip?"  If that's what you really want to know, well, you can have your answer right now: my semester in Guatemala is going to be challenging, surprising, enlightening, and oh so amazing!  Anyway, I'll also throw out some non-Guatemala-related thoughts, stories, and wild ideas from time to time.  Welcome to my journey.  :)