Day 3: part 3 - Meeting an old friend

After rushing through two museums, I jumped on the train towards Osaka Station. I met my friend in a hotel lobby, and we had a nice lunch. We had originally met while she was on a prolonged stay in New York. It feels like it was several years ago, but it must have been after 2008; maybe 2009 or 2010. In any case, it has been a few years.

It is always interesting to see old friends that we may have lost touch with. I experienced this in Los Angeles, where I met an old friend that I hadn't seen for years. He now has two children, a dog, and a house, quite a different life than when I had seen him last. I suppose that we all have changed over the years, but our own change seems so gradual, day by day, even minute by minute, that the overall growth is often missed unless we give ourselves the chance to reflect on this arch of life.

As for myself, I seem to often arrive at the conclusion that my life has somehow gone in a wrong direction, or is not taking advantage of its full potential. But this would only imply that there is a right direction. Even though from a rational standpoint my own cynicism and pessimism would precludes me thinking that way, the thought still appears. But meeting old friends, it typically turns out that there is a mutual admiration for what the other has accomplished with life in just the few years that we have seen each other. Hearing this alternative perspective, I can appreciate my own life that much more.

That's what made it so hard when we separated after lunch. This having been the first time on this trip that I shared more than a few words with someone, it only reminded me of my loneliness once we finished lunch and she left. Perhaps some people are good at travelling on their own, and I wish I was one of those people, but it seems I am not.