Image credit: Matt Botsford
I recently received a voice note from a dear friend of mine, and a few words into it, I realized I was tearing up.
We don’t get to speak very often because of time zone differences and general life busyness, but when we do it always feels precious and like no time has passed.
I realized that I don’t usually leave voice notes because it feels so intimate, and I worry about how I’ll sound. I like to think of myself as a vulnerable and open person, but realized that I can actually be really guarded in many ways. It’s something that I want to work on.
I remember listening to a podcast about a woman who lost both her parents and kept turning to their voice notes for comfort even though the words were very perfunctory, but the sound of their voice became a time capsule of that moment and was infinitely precious: https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/05/25/408845097/kiss-everybody-voice-mails-live-on-after-parents-are-gone.
After listening to that story, it made me want to make sure I never lose voice notes from loved ones but also reminded me to call them more often too. There’s something so poignant about hearing the voice of a loved one regardless of what they’re saying when you miss them ♥️.